36
All the guests are waiting for us inside the reception area while Reese and I stand at the back of the bridal party line in front of the double doors. Juls and Ian are directly in front of us, stealing kisses every few seconds while Ian doesn’t try to keep his hands off her belly. And Joey and Billy are in front of them. I hear a few words of their not-so-lovey conversation over the music pumping underneath the door. Straining to hear more, I lean to the side and see Joey shove Billy before storming back toward Reese and me.
“Joey!” Billy yells.
My fuming assistant stops next to me, connecting with Billy over Juls’ head. “I’m not walking in with you. Why should I? You’ve barely spoken to me all goddamn day! Fuck you. Walk in by yourself.”
I grab his arm and yank him forcefully. “What the hell is going on?”
He opens his mouth to answer me when the doors are opened and the voice of the DJ spills out into the hallway.
“The wedding party is ready to make their grand entrance! And starting us off, we have Groomsman Billy McDermott and Man of Honor, Joey Holt!”
“Joey, get up here,” Billy harshly orders over the cheers of the guests.
Joey crosses his arms, firmly holding his ground next to me. “Fuck. You.”
Juls tries to pull him in the direction of the room. “What are you doing? Are you not going to walk in?”
“Not with him I’m not.”
We all look over at Billy who gives his forehead a quick rub. “Fine. Whatever.” He walks into the room by himself, disappearing into the crowd.
I smack Joey on the arm. “That was really mean. Now who the hell are you going to walk in with?”
He thinks silently for a moment before pulling out his phone.
I ignore him and turn to Reese. “Do you know what’s going on with them?”
He looks at me, shaking his head impassively. “Why the hell would I know what’s going on?”
Before I can answer him, the DJ interrupts me.
“And now please give a warm welcome to our Best Man, Ian Thomas, and his beautiful wife, Matron of Honor, Julianna Thomas!”
Reese and I step forward as Juls and Ian enter the room. Brooke slides past them and waves at us.
“Hey. I told the DJ. Now what?” she asks, pulling down the hem of her dress. She looks from Joey to Reese and me. “That ceremony was so beautiful. I cried my eyes out. Well played, Reese.”
Joey grabs her arm and slips it through his. “Come here. You’re being introduced with me.”
“What? But I’m not in the bridal party.” She tries to pull her hand from his grasp but doesn’t get anywhere. “No way! I’m not being introduced!” The DJ’s voice comes overhead again.
“And now our Man of Honor is ready to grace us with his presence. Everyone please show him some love. Mr. Joey Holt!”
“Joey!” Brooke protests as Joey moves her with him into the room.
“Billy wasn’t acting weird or anything when you were with him earlier?” I ask Reese as we step up to the entrance. “Joey said he was avoiding him or something.”
He places his hand over mine. “Dylan, Billy and Ian could’ve been fucking each other in front of me and I wouldn’t have noticed. I was too busy pacing the room.”
Billy and Ian? Shit. I’d pay to see that.
I give him a cheeky grin. “Oh, man. You just gave me the hottest image. Would you ever watch gay porn with me?”
Not that I have, but let’s be real here. I’ve read some crazy hot M/M books recently, and I’d be lying if I said I haven’t gotten heated over Logan and Tate’s sex scenes. In fact, Reese has benefited greatly from my extracurricular reading habits.
He glares down at me as the DJ’s voice comes booming out into the entryway.
“All right, folks. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Everyone please go crazy for the couple of the hour, MR. AND MRS. REESE CARROLL!”
“Ready?” he asks, but he doesn’t give me time to answer before he bends down and hauls me over his shoulder.
“Reese!”
I wrap my arms around his waist as he carries me into the reception hall. A mixture of cheers, laughs, and whistles greet us and I lift my head, smiling at everyone the best I can as my hair falls into my face. Once Reese stops walking, he slides me down the front of his body, depositing me on my feet. I look around and see we’re in the middle of the dance floor, the crowd fanning out around us.
I smile up at him, watching as he lifts his gaze off my face and connects with something or someone over my shoulder. His lips part slightly, and a look of admiration washes over him as he studies whatever or whoever it is with deep concentration. I turn, looking through a gap in the crowd and instantly narrow in on what he’s looking at.
Our cake.
He takes my hand, moving me with him across the dance floor. He holds a finger up to the DJ before we slip through the mass of people and step in front of the dessert table. He leans down and studies my creation with great interest as he tightens his grip on my hand.
“Do you like it?” I ask, expecting him to glance over at me. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t take his eyes off our cake.
“It looks like your dress,” he says, moving around to the side and back to the front, making sure he takes it all in.
“And it’s all mint chocolate. The icing. The filling. Pretty much the whole cake.”
That makes him straighten up and turn to me. He brings our conjoined hands up to his mouth and kisses the back of mine. “The perfect union of flavors.”