Chapter 3
Aiden
The chaos of my alarmscreeches and I almost shove my phone off my nightstand trying to make it stop. Eyes barely open, the sunlight is seeping in through the drapes, and it only means I need to get up. Is it already eleven? Maybe, I shouldn’t have drank so much last night. Today is Damon’s wedding and that only means more headaches for me. Who knows what kind of mood he is going to be in? Will he be stressed out or carefree? Lucky me gets to find out.
A groan escapes as I push myself up off the bed to take a quick shower. He will kill me if I’m late. I turn the knob to let the water heat up and go on a search for a towel. Afterward, I step in and hang it on the bar outside and start to lather body wash against my skin with my blue loofah. Mornings aren’t complete without a warm shower to wake me up. Shampoo is next. I’m trying to hurry up and get out before he calls me. I get all of it out of my hair, and then turn the water off, and wrap the towel around my waist. The hand towel from the bar is used to dry my hair a little bit before I brush my teeth. Luckily, I set my clothes out before going to the rehearsal dinner. A pair of jeans and Luke Combs concert t-shirt. The suit is still in the original garment bag, hanging on my closet door, and it will stay in that until the last possible second. We have hours before the ceremony, and Tessa will kill me if I get anything on it and ruin her pictures. Bridezilla in the house.
With one foot out the door, my phone rings with Damon’s name scrolling across it.
“I’m on my way to you,” I answer and hang up.
He only lives two miles from me, and there’s still thirty-minutes to spare, so I stop and grab a Starbucks to help give me some extra energy I’ll need for today. The drive thru line is nine cars deep, but I know I won’t survive the day without a good amount of caffeine, so I wait and take my chances. Normally, they are pretty fast, and there’s only one in the town. It takes about ten minutes to get to the speaker, order my Caramel Macchiato with two extra shots of espresso, and then wisp out of the drive thru.
Liam’s car is in Damon’s driveway and it appears I’m the last one to the party. What kind of smart alike remarks are fixing to come my way? I don’t even make it out of the vehicle before Damon is standing outside his door, yelling at me.
“What the hell took so long? The ceremony is in two hours.”
He acts like we have so much to do. What all does he have planned before the ceremony? Don’t the guys kind of hang out? It’s not like we have makeup and hair to do.
“Calm down. I got a coffee. And still have five minutes to spare before you told me to be here.”
He waves his hand, and I follow him inside, where Liam is sitting on the couch. His eyes get big, and then I look at Damon. “Are you okay?”
“It’s just – I want this day to be perfect for her. She has been stressing about it since I proposed. It needs to go off without a hitch.”
It’s understandable that he wants the wedding to go well, but no one can ensure it goes perfect. Something always goes wrong on a wedding day, but it’s how you deal with it that affects the memories.
“Harper’s already called twice and seems frantic. The flower arrangements still haven’t been delivered to the venue,” Liam says.
Maybe this is my chance to show support. “I’ll call the flower company and see what’s going on. Instill the fear of god in them.”
Damon nods, and then heads upstairs to take a shower.
I text Harper to get the company’s name. Let’s hope it isn’t dreadful news.
“Thanks for calling Sharum Flower’s. How can I help you?”
“Yes, this is Aiden Jackson. I’m calling on behalf of the Jackson wedding scheduled for this afternoon. The bride said the arrangements have not been delivered to the venue.”
The woman gasps and asks me to hold on while she goes to check on the arrangements. “I’m showing the date as tomorrow, not today.”
Fuck, what the hell am I going to tell Tessa and Harper? She’s going to shoot the messenger for sure.
“It’s today and we have a bride freaking out. Can I come pick them up? The ceremony starts in less than two hours.” The skin is starting to peel on my thumb from picking at it.
She puts me on hold again, I assume to talk to an employee to see if they can have everything together in time.
“We can have them ready in twenty-minutes. I apologize for the misunderstanding and will give a discount to the bride for the inconvenience.”
Instead of responding, I hang up to update Harper. She didn’t sound too pleased with the answer, but it’s better than not having them at all.
“Don’t worry about it. They’re both stressed to the max today. It’s not personal,” Liam says.
He will be the next one to be married and I feel sorry for him. After seeing the way Tessa changed once the wedding approached, I can’t imagine having to deal with that again. Maybe Harper won’t be as bad. Or maybe, they will elope.
Instead of waiting around to pick up the flowers, I head out and grab some lunch from Lacy’s Diner right around the corner from the shop. This place holds so many memories; including me and Hazel back in school. I pull out my phone to check her Instagram to see if she has uploaded anything new since yesterday. A picture of her in an airport. Where is she flying to? Am I a little jealous of her? Yes. Only because she seems happy with her new life, and I’m not a part of it.
A familiar voice sounds behind me. “To go for Jeremy.”