“Easy,” a deep voice commanded when I turned to find the bathroom. Eli’s hands gripped my wrists, and his thumbs pushed into the pulse point on each one. “Breathe in and out.”
I let the intensity that always seemed to roll off Eli pour over me, and surprisingly, the whole thumbs-on-the-inside-of-my-wrists was really helping.
“Good girl, keep breathing. Deep breaths,” he said, and suddenly he was at my ear. “You okay, sis?”
“I’m good, just got a little light-headed there for a minute.”
“You sure you weren’t about to take off out of here? You need to get away, just tell me. You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
I laughed shakily as more of the nausea left me. “No, nothing like that, Eli. I’m ready for this . . . so ready. I really just felt sick for a second.”
“Are you okay now?”
“Yeah, much better. Thank you.”
He kissed my forehead and stepped back. “Let me see if I can go find a Sprite or something around here. But you should get dressed soon. It’s supposed to start in ten minutes. Unless, you know, you need to run.”
“Eli, no.” I pushed him back and smiled at him. “I would love the drink, but not an escape.”
“All right, I’m just making sure.” He winked and slipped out the door.
He was back in no time, and I sipped at the carbonated drink slowly to help with the last of my uneasy stomach. As I did that, I stepped out of the loose clothes I’d been wearing, and Candice and Maddie helped me get ready.
I loved the lingerie we’d found a few weeks ago, and I couldn’t wait to see Kash’s reaction to it. I just didn’t know if I was going to last in the white corset that was covered in lace if my nausea came back. We’d just gotten on my favorite part of the lingerie when there was a knock at the door.
“Is Rachel decent?”
“No!” we all shouted back at Eli.
“Okay, then someone catch this, I’m not going to look where I throw.”
“Wait! What are you throwing?” Maddie shrieked and turned toward the door just in time to catch the package sailing through the air.
“Crackers.”
“Why crackers?”
“Rachel said she didn’t feel good. Make her eat those,” he said, and then shut the door.
Maddie eyed me through the mirror, and I’m sure Candice would have been doing the same if her face wasn’t near my butt at the moment. “You don’t feel good?”
“I just got a little queasy earlier, I’m feeling better, but those will help.” Oh Lord how those would help. “It’s just nerves.”
She handed me the little package and I quickly opened it up and popped the first one in my mouth just as Candice jumped up.
“Okay, it looks perfect!”
I turned in the mirror and smiled at my underwear. “So cute,” I said through a mouthful of cracker.
It was a white thong with a thick band of see-through material, ruffled on each side of the band, and a mix of cotton and lace for the rest. But the best part was the satin bow that covered anything that shouldn’t be seen. Thong or not, I still wanted it covered.
The girls made me finish the crackers before they helped me put on my dress, and as soon as I saw the completed look, with my hair in a low bun off to the side just as Maddie had done it in the dress shop, an overwhelming feeling of peace settled over me.
My mom would have loved to see me like this, my dad would have been proud of the man I had chosen. And now, I couldn’t wait to get to that ceremony so I could finally become his wife.
“Naked or not, we’re coming in,” Mason said as the door flung open.
“Mason!” Candice and Maddie scolded him, but he just shrugged.
“You look beautiful, Rach,” Eli said and pulled me close to whisper in my ear. “And I really don’t like that guy.”
“He’s harmless, I promise.”
“Uh-huh.” He gave Mason a look as he stepped back, and Mason stepped in to get his hug.
“For real, the dude hates me!” Mason hissed at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “But you look gorgeous, Kash is gonna die when he sees you.”
“Thanks, Mase.”
I watched Eli and Mason leave with Maddie and Candice, and then turned to see Candice’s dad, George, tearing up.
“No, no! Don’t cry. Because if you cry, then I’m going to cry, and I so can’t cry right now, George!”
“I know, I’m not crying. It’s just dust or something.” He wiped at his eyes and held his arms out for me. “So proud of you, baby girl. Your mom and dad would’ve been too.”
I hugged him hard before releasing him. “I know they would have.”
He blinked a few times before turning away. “Damn dust.”
“Yeah . . . damn dust,” I said and fanned at my face so the tears gathering in my eyes wouldn’t spill over.
“Come on, let’s go do this before the dust ruins my makeup.”
My head jerked back and I looked at him before busting out laughing. “Oh yeah, your makeup would definitely be all over the place.”
Putting my arm in the crook of his, I let him lead me out of the room, and we waited until it was our turn to walk down the aisle. The second my eyes found Kash standing at the end of it, my body warmed and my heart took off. He was standing there in black slacks, a light gray button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, and a black suit vest. He looked amazing, but what I couldn’t take my eyes off was the huge smile that spread across his face as he watched us walk toward him.