Nash sucked in a breath and swung his eyes to me. “Fuck, Madison, where you been hiding this chick?”
I rolled my eyes. “Nash meet Serena, Serena meet your new biker boy,” I hurriedly introduced them, “Now, what’s the plan here, Nash? There are only two bikes but four of us.”
He raised his hands in a defensive gesture. “Settle, babe. We’ve got it under control.”
At that moment, a black Jag eased its way in to park behind the bikes, and Blade stepped out. He directed his gaze to me but I couldn’t see his eyes as they were hidden behind a pair of dark aviators. As he walked towards me I noted that he was dressed in black jeans, t-shirt and suit jacket, and heavy black boots.
He joined us and took his sunglasses off. His eyes were soft as they took me in. “You look beautiful, babe,” he murmured.
I loved it when he was soft and as this wasn’t often, I savoured it. Smiling up at him, I said, “Thank you.”
He turned his attention to Nash. “You’ve got Madison, and the girls are with me, yeah?”
Nash nodded. “Yeah.”
Griff stepped in, his intense eyes focused on me. “Time’s running out. You ready to go, Madison?”
“Yes,” I said, expecting nerves to hit my stomach. I’d been expecting them today because it’s what I’d been told to expect on my wedding day. But I didn’t feel nervous at all. For the first time in a very long time, I felt calm and sure.
Marrying J was exactly what I was supposed to be doing today.
***
“You ready, sweetheart?” Blade asked me, looping our arms together and holding my hand.
I smiled at him. “More than you know.”
I lost him for a moment. His gaze became unfocused; something very unlike Blade. Then he came back to me and softly said, “I’ve come to see that you and J were made for each other, and I understand that type of love; the kind that only fate brings.”
I nodded at him; I was too emotional to say anything because I knew that Blade was referring to his fiancé who had died.
He squeezed my hand. “Let’s get you married.”
My heart expanded as I took in the scene before me. Blade and I were about to walk up the ‘aisle’; a grassy walkway created by bikes parked on either side. At the end was a marquee and our guests were standing in front of that. J was up there; I could see him, and my belly did somersaults as I watched him watch me.
Blade took a step and I followed, and a song began playing. There were speakers set up and I could hear it clearly, and my heart almost burst out of my chest. J hadn’t wanted much to do with planning our wedding but he’d asked to be in charge of a couple of things. One was my transportation to the wedding and the other was the music. He’d been especially adamant that he wanted to choose the song for me to walk down the aisle to and the song we had our first dance to.
The song he’d chosen was “I Will” by Matchbox Twenty. We both loved this band and I knew this song like the back of my hand. Tears pricked my eyes at the meaning behind the song, and I struggled to hold them back.
Blade must have sensed this and he pulled me closer and gripped my hand tight. Amazingly, I made it all the way to J without crying, but when he stepped towards me and took my hand from Blade, the first tear fell and more followed.
J’s gaze caressed me and he smiled before lifting a hand to my cheek and gently brushing the tears away. He moved so he could whisper in my ear, “I’ve got you now, babe.”
I took a deep breath. My emotions were all over the place, but mostly I was happy.
“I know,” I whispered back, and we proceeded to promise ourselves to each other.
***
I smiled at Nash as he stood to make a speech. He winked at me and raised his glass. Then he looked at J. “J didn’t ask me to make a speech but the fucker did ask me to make sure Madison got to the wedding on time, so I’m gonna take it upon myself to give a speech anyway.” He turned his attention back to me. “This wedding’s taken a long fuckin’ time to happen, sweet thing, but J finally got his shit together and I have to hand it to him; I can see how happy he’s made you.” Looking back at J, he said, “You and I have had our differences, brother, but I can finally see what Madison sees in you. Doesn’t mean though, that I’m not watching out for her still. Keep her happy and we’ll all be fuckin’ happy.” He paused and then broke out in a huge grin. “Here’s to the happy couple; may they continue to piss each other off for the rest of their lives.”
Nash sat back down and I couldn’t help myself. Leaning over to J, I asked, “Why did you choose Nash to get me to the wedding?”
“You love him, and I love you. Plus, Nash knows how to handle you; knows how to calm you and I figured you might need that today.” He grinned at me. “I’m trying to change my asshole ways, babe. Trying to get along with that fucker for you.”
“Well you scored points today, J. Lots of points.”
His eyes lit up. “What the fuck do those points get me? Cause I’m ready to cash them in right now.”
I kissed him and then murmured, “That. Anything else, you’re going to have to work for.”