I stepped in and shit, but the place was a mess. Sarah, clearly hammered, was tidying, smiling a lopsided hammered grin at me.
“One drink, then I crash. Where’s Tia gonna be?”
“Bianca’s putting her to bed with Lisa,” Sarah answered. “You got the master, but you gotta be out by eight o’clock so we can start getting ready.”
“The ceremony’s not till sunset.”
“And?”
I rolled my eyes and moved to the bar area to grab the drink Dare had poured for me.
“I love youuuuu, my ice cream parlor hottie!” I heard called down the stairs.
I didn’t hide my smile, though she couldn’t see it. “Love you, baby girl,” I called up. “Go to bed so you can wake up and marry me.”
“Alrighty then!”
The Wedding Day
Tia
With “love, honor, and obey” came smirks and snickers from me and my groom. Our officiant had to clear his throat to get our attention. We were sort of ‘eye-fucking’ for a while.
Dario cleared his throat, too, and I dragged my eyes away from Tommy.
The look in his eyes as he recited his vows? I knew he meant them. He would love and protect me. We would last forever.
The breaking of the vase was fun, too. We obliterated that thing. Stomping hard. More proof of many, many years together. Happy ones, according to the ritual.
The weather was perfect. Everyone looked great. It was smiling faces all around. A wedding. Something to celebrate. The Ferrano family needed this and we definitely celebrated.
***
It was the last note of At Last, by Etta James, the end of my first dance as Mrs. Thomas Vincent Ferrano Jr.
“Happy wedding day,” I said, kissing his chin. He looked absolutely heart-stopping gorgeous today. And I would never forget the love in his eyes as he watched me walk down the sandy aisle toward him.
He smiled and put his mouth to my ear. “Wife, when your husband takes you to bed to consummate our marriage, he’s going to rip that fucking vanilla dress off you and fuck you like you’ve never been fucked.”
Whoa.
He looked into my eyes. My wide eyes.
“I’ve got handcuffs and a spreader bar, some toys, and a tub of blackjack berry thunder ice cream.”
I had a top to toes full-body shudder.
“We stay another hour and then we’ll grab a cooler bag with the ice cream from the kitchen. I had the head chef with the catering company whip it up for us. The limo is taking us to a hotel in the city. They can party all night. We’ll come back tomorrow. And I’m gonna make you edge all the way to that hotel.”
I nodded, still wide-eyed. I looked virginal in my off-the shoulder white lace dress, my hair done in loose curls that hung down my back (the veil carefully packed away in Bianca’s suitcase after the ceremony) but inside that dress my nipples were puckered and my panties were drenched. I wa
s tingling everywhere at the sexy look in his eyes.
He lifted my hand high and used it to twirl me around. We danced to the next song. I stumbled a little, making him chuckle, clearly pleased at having affected me this way.
An hour later, we’d had more than our fill of food, dancing, booze, and revelry on a perfect day with the water, a beautiful sunset, and surrounded by loved ones.
I was no longer little Tia O’Connor. I was grown-up Athena Ferrano. Well, technically I was also sort of Valentina Caruso on paper, but inside, I was Tommy’s baby girl. And our real names were on our marriage license.