Mine To Have (Southern Wedding 1)

"Well, the joke's on all of you," Harlow says and laughs as she stands up. "I’m guessing you aren’t going to turn around."

"You would be right," I say, getting up, and I hate that she is shy in front of me this morning. "But I will," I say, turning and dropping the towel from my waist as I put on my boxers. I hear the zipper from her dress at the same time as I zip up my own pants.

"How do I look?" she asks, and I turn around, and I can’t help but smile.

"Beautiful," I say softly, and then my eyes go to her neck, and I put my hand to my mouth. "Your neck," I say, and she walks over to the bathroom, and she looks in the mirror.

"Did you give me a hickey?" she shrieks out. "What is wrong with you?" Her head comes out from the bathroom.

"It’s not my fault." I hold up my hands. "I think it’s when you were sitting on." She walks out of the bathroom and holds up her hand.

"I don’t need a replay. I was there," she retorts, and I walk over to her and take her in my arms. She comes reluctantly. "This is crazy."

"Is it?" I ask her softly, and she doesn’t answer. All she does is look up at me, and I bend to kiss her lips.

"I have to go," she says. "Rachel is going to be waiting for me."

I nod my head at her and slip my fingers in hers as we walk down the stairs. My chest hurts, thinking she is going to leave any minute. "Well, well, well, if that isn’t the walk of shame," Presley says from the stool in the kitchen. "I don’t know what is."

"There is no shame," I say, and Harlow untangles her fingers from mine.

"Can one of you drive me to the hotel?" she asks them. "Or point me in the direction, and I can Uber there."

"I’ll take you," Clarabella says, coming to her. "I’ll be back for you guys after I drop her off."

"Thank you," Harlow says and then looks up at me, and I can see that she has so much she wants to say, but she just nods at me and walks out of the house. I want to reach out for her hand and kiss her one last time, but I know with an audience present and the embarrassment that she is feeling, she will not be happy with me.

I watch the door close behind her and then see Shelby walk past me and look outside. I hear the crunch of the tires as they drive away, and only then does Shelby turn around and look at me. "Have you lost your goddamn mind?" she shouts at me, putting her hands on her hips. Definitely not what I thought I was going to be doing this morning.

"Here," Presley says, walking to my side and handing me a cup of coffee. "Before you answer anything, drink."

"Why can’t you be nicer, like her?" I point at Presley and take a sip of the hot coffee. "And why are you yelling?"

"Because you have lost your ever-loving fucking mind." She throws her hands up in the air, and I just smirk.

"There was also fucking last night." Presley tries to make a joke, and we both glare at her. "Tough crowd."

"One, what happened between Harlow and me." I say her name again, and it’s like music to my ears. "Is between us."

"It took you two years to get over her," Shelby points out, and I roll my eyes.

"I was busy building my practice." I try to shy away from the truth.

"Lies," Presley says from beside me, and I look over at her. "He never got over Harlow."

"What?" I ask, shocked, and Presley just shrugs her shoulders.

"You can’t stand there and tell me that you actually loved Jennifer," she says, and the coffee that I took a sip of is starting to come up. I’m about to say something when she puts up her hand. "I’m sure you liked her plenty, but love." She shakes her head, sitting back down on the stool. She picks up her cup of coffee and brings it to her lips. "You didn’t love her."

"How can you say that?" Shelby says and then looks at me.

"You.” Presley points at Shelby. "Are full of shit." Shelby gasps at her while I hear the sound of tires again. My heart speeds up in my chest, and I wonder if Harlow decided that she didn’t want to be dropped off and instead wanted to come back. The front door opens, and Clarabella steps in and shuts the door behind her.

"Okay, I rushed as fast as I could." She looks at the three of us. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing," Shelby and I say at the same time.