The sentiments that came from my man’s mouth…
“I love you, too,” I gasped lightly when he hit a sensitive spot with his cock. “You feel good.”
He felt like everything in that moment.
And when I burst apart, and he followed right behind me, I couldn’t tell him he was wrong.
Because nothing that felt that right could ever be wrong.
“That wasn’t the best decision on the planet,” I whispered into his throat a few moments later.
He chuckled.
The sound was so raspy that I nearly orgasmed again just by the feel of it against such sensitive skin. That was a lie, of course, but still. The sound. It was music to my ears.
“Been thinking about it for a while.” He trailed his lips along my throat. “Wanted to give it to you as a wedding present.”
My eyes welled with tears. “He won’t be able to walk me down the aisle.”
He trailed a finger down the length of my cheekbone before he curled a lock of hair around my ear. “We won’t walk down the aisle then.”
I shook my head. “I’m having a big ass wedding.”
“Then have it,” he said. “But swear to Christ. Not one single tear better be shed.”
I snorted. “You’re delusional.”
CHAPTER 25
Me: I’m finally happy.
Life: LOL, wait a sec.
SOPHIA
One week later
Social media post by Sophia Madden
Madden (long story short on this, my dad didn’t have a last name. He decided to change it after a rough childhood) was the best, most awesome father you could ever imagine.
I remember a time when I was eight years old that I had a softball game, and my dad came from his own baseball game (he played college ball) to watch me play. He still had dirt smudged on his white pants, and he had his batting gloves tucked into his back pocket. I totally and completely missed the bag when I was running to second, and then to third.
Turns out, when you don’t touch the bag, you get thrown out.
I didn’t know at the time that I missed it, but my dad did. He was the one who called me out and told me to stop acting like a baby when clearly I was in the wrong.
At the time, I thought he was a big fat jerk.
I told him so, too.
Want to know what he did when I called him that? Better to be a jerk than a man that doesn’t look out for his kid, even when she’s in the wrong.
My dad was larger than life.
I can give you multiple examples of the man he was.
I can tell you about how there was one time, when there was a stranded mother on the road with two tiny kids, how he helped change her tire, and nearly got his leg ran over in the process by passersby.
I can tell you about the time that he was racing home to pick my brother and me up for dance and wrestling practice and he saw an old lady trying to chase down her dog. How he stopped, and helped her get that dog, and then was ten minutes late picking us up. But he made up for it by taking us out for ice cream later.
I can tell you about the time he won an award for heroism in the line of duty—saving a young girl from being ran over by a car in the middle of the interstate. Narrowly missing getting hit himself.
I can tell you about the time he performed CPR on a young girl that he helped pull out of a swimming pool, who later died. But then he went to that young mother’s graduation and stood for her and clapped when she no longer had any family of her own to do it for her.
I can tell you about the time that he walked through a burning building, lit himself on fire, all because he wanted to save me.
I can tell you that his last words were ‘I’m so proud of you, honey. Tell your babies about me. I love you.’
I’m sorry to announce the passing of my father.
I’m sorry to say that he won’t be there to walk me down the aisle.
I’m sorry to think about how awful it will be without him there.
I’m scared to think about what I’ll do now when I just need my dad to talk to and can’t.
Thank you for all the thoughts, prayers, and well wishes.
They mean the world to me.
But for now, I’m taking some time off.
There will not be a funeral, because that was not what he wanted.
Go to a bar, have a beer in his name.
Think about him when you drink it.
Love, Sophia.
CHAPTER 26
If my mouth doesn’t say it, my soon-to-be wife definitely will.
-Haggard to Bram
HAGGARD
One month later
The big ass wedding was happening.
And all in a month’s time.
She’d been busying herself for the last month, doing nothing but wedding planning and dealing with insurance companies in regard to Madd CrossFit, her father’s business with Taos. Taos and she had spent quite a bit of time together planning out the new gym and making sure everything was covered in the end. And I was all for it if it kept her from crying on my couch all day.