Beautiful Brute (Court University 3)

I watched my friends get married today.

And it was kinda fucking beautiful.

Royal had pulled out all the stops, his and December’s wedding a winter fucking wonderland. It helped that it was smack-dab in the middle of winter. They’d chosen to get married during holiday break before spring semester, and the January wedding provided for snowflakes and frost-covered trees in the town of Maywood Heights.

They’d brought all this shit back home, where it had all began for many of us and brought them together. There were quite a few perks choosing to get married in the Midwestern city, one of which was holding their nuptials at Windsor House, a symbolic place to us all back in high school, and what a sight to be seen that day.

Basically a storybook castle on steroids, the location provided the means for my buddy Royal to pretty much be extra as fuck. I mean, that shit was ridiculous, faux icicles dripping from the ceilings and enough ice sculptures to make Elsa herself roll her eyes. Add to that the twinkling lights and crystal dishes, Windsor House quickly transformed from the headquarters of our youth to the damn Yule Ball out of Harry Potter. It was completely my buddy Royal in spades and appeared to make his blushing bride happy. December couldn’t keep the grin off her face all day, and I had to say…

That shit was catching.

I’d obviously come to the wedding with Cleo, officially dating now for about three months, but still, once I got up to the front of the aisle I wasn’t staring at Royal and December. I mean, they took my attention sporadically, of course. This was their day and all that. But being up front with them, Knight and LJ, and the rest of December’s wedding party, I couldn’t help but stare at the place reserved for our girlfriends. Cleo sat there, tucked right between Knight’s girl Greer and LJ’s girl Billie.

And she looked goddamn beautiful.

She’d been so self-conscious for so long after her accident. She’d walked around with her arm in a sling for months and prior to that, her face swollen for weeks. It’d been a long recovery for her, for us both after the transplant, but when the painful memories of that trauma started to subside, she transformed herself. She kept her hair short on purpose now, her dark hair cropped, which gave way to her stunning eyes. Back at the hospital, she’d actually found out they’d saved her hair, and she ended up donating it.

Such a Girl Scout.

I wouldn’t take my girl any other way, her petal pink dress in frills and matching the flush on her cheeks. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her the whole fucking ceremony.

“Jax?”

I had to be nudged by Knight. He, LJ, and I had done a coin toss for who’d hold the rings since we were all the best men. I’d been the one honored with the deed, but actually missed my fucking cue staring at my girl.

An exaggerated grin as I pulled that shit out of my jacket, making the whole room laugh, but I hadn’t done it for them.

I winked at my girl in the first row, making her smile shyly. She never loved the attention, but I always gave it to her. She waved me off, which got more laughter, but tabling my antics, I made sure to serious myself up and give Royal the rings.

He passed me a bit of an eye when he received them, but that fucker wasn’t fooling anyone. He was deliriously happy, and watching both him and December throughout the day thus far told us all that. The pair had done their first look photos before all this even began, and being the nosy fucks we were, Knight, LJ, and I had looked on from a distance with our women.

Needless to say, our friend Royal was brought down to his knees by his bride, his entire face filled with emotion. December had come out in this dress fit for royalty, her train crazy. The photographers snapped away, and they’d have those pictures for the rest of their lives.

Just like this moment now.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

Royal took hell of fucking advantage of that moment, clasping December behind the neck and pressing her body up against him. The dude put it completely on her in front of about five hundred people, and I guessed I couldn’t blame him. His bride was gorgeous, and had that been my girl and me up there? Yeah, that shit would have been X-rated.

Crazy my mind even went to that place, but it did. I caught Cleo’s eyes during their exchange, and my mind may not have been the only one in that place. She smiled so warmly at the pair, her fists clasped. Then, she found me, and her cheeks—well, they shot up like one hundred degrees in color. The two of us may have only been dating for a little while, may have only been directly in each other’s lives for so long, but that ceased to matter after what we’d been through. We were linked for life her and me.

I had the scar on my side to prove it.

The happy couple raised their hands together after Royal finally let December go, and the room exploded in applause. Half the town had tried to fight their way into this bitch tonight, the social event of the season. Hell, it was even being televised, and Knight had had the idea to make some money off the venture. The asswipe had sold tickets to online access and had gotten away with it too before Greer busted his ass out. Royal had wanted him to give the money back, but Cleo had suggested donating it.

Gotta love my girl.

I snagged her arm when it was time for the procession to leave, refusing to do so with just Mallick again. As man of honor, he and I had to walk next to each other since I had the rings and needed to be closest to the groom.

Needless to say, he looked relieved as hell to see me grab my girl and actually made room for us to go ahead. Chuckling, he stood at attention, shaking his head before he let us go forward and followed behind. I supposed December could have done worse for her head attendant. He’d done right by her all day and even came to town early to help Royal and the rest of us go over things at Windsor House before the events took place.

I’d never tell him, but he was kind of a stand-up guy and would never tell him because I still hadn’t forgotten about the whole stripper thing. I obviously hadn’t given Cleo a hard time about it, but that didn’t mean I was particularly happy about what went down.

I think the other guys kind of felt the same way, but with the joys and smiles of the day flourishing around, it seemed alliances were more sought after than divisions. Happiness was more desired than history. Today was a good day.

So why linger on about things of the past?

That happiness continued on as we all walked down the aisle to “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey. This was our good friend Paige’s favorite song, a way both Royal and December wanted to honor her. It also was fitting for all of us, a fucking bop and had aged hella well. We rocked that shit, making the whole crowd laugh.