Zip, Zero, Zilch (The Reed Brothers 6)

I start to tick items off on my fingers. “One—I love you. Two—I don’t want to be apart from you anymore. Three—we just had sex, and if you refuse to marry me, I’ll think you just used me for my body.” I snake a hand beneath the covers and lay it on her belly. “Not that I’m complaining.” I tick off one more item. “And four—you punched me in the nose, so you have to marry me. It’s a rule.”

She giggles. “It is, huh?”

“Yep. So, what do you say?” I toss the covers back and press my lips to her belly. She holds my head there for a second, and then her belly jiggles with laughter.

“Can I shower first?”

I look up and see that she’s grinning at me. “Seriously?” I ask.

She nods. “Yeah.”

I jump to my feet and dig my phone out of my pants pocket. My pants are still hanging around my shins, which is kind of embarrassing, so I hitch them higher. I call Logan and put him on Face Time. Dude, I need a best man, I sign to him.

“What?” he asks, his voice groggy.

I need a best man. I’m so fucking excited that I can barely sit still.

“Give us thirty minutes,” he says.

I get ready to hand Peck my phone, but she has already fished hers out and is talking to one of her sisters. I can hear multiple squeals on the other end of the line. She holds the phone out and curses. “Thirty minutes,” she says. She nods, and then she gets up and dashes into the bathroom to take a shower.

I go with her, just because I like the sight of her ass naked, and all the rest of her too, not to mention that it’s about to be mine for eternity.

***

It’s almost four in the morning by the time she comes out of the bathroom. I went in there and showered with her, but it just made me want her again, so I climbed out and got dressed. I don’t have anything to wear aside from what I wore here, so I’m feeling a little out of sorts. Particularly when she comes out of the bathroom wearing a dress, some strappy silver sandals, and her hair has been blown out and styled. She’s wearing a little makeup, too.

I grab her and growl into her neck. “Damn, you look good enough to eat.”

She laughs and shoves me away. “Maybe later.”

I scratch my chin. “I wonder if it’s any different eating out your wife.”

She blinks her pretty brown eyes at me. “I don’t have a wife.”

I laugh out loud. “God, I love you.”

A knock sounds on the door and I open it to find Logan leaning in the doorway. He has a nice outfit hooked on a hanger over his shoulder. I recognize it. It’s one of the ones Emily’s mom gets from Madison Avenue, the clothing line they own. It’s classy. And really great. “You didn’t buy this, did you?”

He shakes his head. “I brought it just in case.”

“Just in case I got married?”

“Just in case we had to go somewhere nice on the tour.” He shakes his head and grins. “Just put it on and shut up.”

“Where’s Em?” I ask.

“She had to wake Kit up and get her dressed.”

Oh, fuck. I totally forgot about how much this would inconvenience them. “Tell her to go back to bed. I didn’t mean to mess up your whole night.”

He scoffs. “Are you kidding? She wouldn’t miss it. And she’s going to hold the camera for the rest of the crew.”

“What crew?”

“Your brothers. Pete? Matt? Paul?”

“They’re awake?”

“They are now. They’re waiting to see you tie the knot.”

My heart swells in my chest and I have to swallow past the lump in my throat.

“Go get dressed,” Logan says.

I go in the bathroom and change clothes. I can’t hear him talking with Peck, which means they’re either standing there looking stupid at one another or they’re signing. My bet is that they’re signing. I just wish I knew what they’re talking about.

I walk back out and point to my feet. I have no nice shoes. Logan toes his own black tennis shoes off and kicks them toward me. I throw mine at him and he slides them on his feet.

There’s a squeal on the other side of the door and a rapid knock. Peck opens the door to her sisters, and they swarm her all at once.

When they finally let her go, I take her hand in mine. “You ready to go get married?” I ask.

She nods, chewing on her lower lip. “I’m ready,” she says quietly.

There’s one thing I know for sure. I am the luckiest man in the world.

Peck

Sam takes my breath away. He’s dressed in a blue button-down shirt that makes his eyes even bluer than normal, and black pants. We walk to the first drive-through marriage convenience center we see, and they do have an Elvis impersonator to perform the ceremony, so Sam is happy. They sell him a package, including rings for the two of us, flowers for me to hold, and they give us petals for Kit to toss, although she tries to eat them all first.

When the owner of the chapel finds out we’re Skyping all the family in, he hooks our phone up to his big screen, so we can see them all. They’re all at their own houses, but the screen is split so we have Matt and Sky, Paul and Friday, Reagan and Pete, and Marta and Emilio on conference call. I see one extra box on the screen. I lean toward it and say, “Who is that?”

Sam grins. “Henry.”

I wave. “Hi, Henry!”

He waves back.