Wedding Time

A text from Conner jolted me awake. He’d promised to send it at nine-thirty, so I could slip out before Shay stirred.

I grabbed my suit from the closet hook and tiptoed out of the room, careful not to wake her. I softly closed the door behind me and headed to the room where she should have been sleeping.

I flopped back onto the bed, hoping to catch a few more hours of sleep. But that plan was quickly thwarted. The door burst open just as my head hit the pillow, and in walked Connor and Noah.

“Boss, rise and shine,” Connor said. “We’ve got stuff to do this morning.”

I grumbled at them. “The wedding isn’t until four. We don’t need to be ready until three. Can’t I sleep a bit more?”

Conner plopped down on the bed, making it shake. “No can do. We’ve only had about five hours of sleep ourselves. You need to get up too.”

I rolled over and glared at them. “Why don’t you two go back to sleep? We can do whatever needs doing later.”

Noah bounced onto the other side of the bed, acting like a kid. I growled at both of them.

“Come on, man,” Noah said. “We need to head into town to pick up the last few things for the wedding. The whole town is shutting down for your wedding. The shops close at noon, but we promised we’d be there by ten.”

I sat up slowly, fixing them with a cold stare. “Why can’t you two handle it and fill me in later?”

“You trust us to pick up your rings, check the wedding cake, and confirm the dinner list?” Connor asked.

“Your mom said she can’t finalize any of this. She wants your final say,” Noah added. “She’s done all the prep, but she wants you to give the final okay.”

I rubbed my face with my hands, giving in. “Alright, get out so I can shower. I’ll meet you at the front door in fifteen minutes. How are you two so cheerful on so little sleep?”

“Guess we’re just excited,” Connor said. “Our best friend is getting married and having a baby. Plus, we’re going on that amazing honeymoon for two weeks.”

Conner jabbed me in the ribs. “How can we not be thrilled?”

I smacked his arm. “Who said you’re coming with us? Maybe I booked everything just for Shay and me.”

Connor and Noah looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

“Yeah, right,” Connor said. “We’re the ones who arranged everything, remember?”

“We’ve got that three-bedroom penthouse,” he continued. “But we’ll have our own girls to keep us company, so you and Shay can have your privacy.”

I rolled my eyes at them. “How could I forget? You insisted on handling all the travel plans, making sure you weren’t left behind.”

They got off the bed, giving it one last jostle to make sure I was up. Once they were gone, I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom for a much-needed shower to wake me up for the long day ahead.

After I was done, I dressed and headed to the front door. I wasn’t thrilled about the morning’s tasks, but they had to be done.

Everyone was leaning against the wall, engrossed in their phones. I walked up and punched Connor and Noah in the arms.

“Ow! What was that for?” Noah said, rubbing his arm.

“For being jerks and waking me up for all this. Let’s get this over with so we can relax before this afternoon.” I yanked the door open and headed for the car in the driveway.

Two hours later, after visiting store after store and giving my final approval on everything, we returned to the house.

The cake was exactly as Shay had shown me on the computer; the food mom had arranged was perfect. The rings were ready, sized just for us.

I trudged back through the door, stretched, and yawned. I made a beeline for the room, locked the door, and flopped onto the bed, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep.

At two in the afternoon, Conner was pounding on the door again. “Boss, are you in there? It’s two. You need to get up and get dressed!”

I rolled over and opened my eyes just in time to hear the lock click. Conner strolled in, shoved me, and I hit the floor with a thud.

I sprang up, my fist connecting with his chest.

“Easy, Boss, just making sure you were awake.” Connor blocked my next punch aimed at his knee.

“You didn’t have to push me off the bed,” I said, landing a punch on his side.

He put me in a headlock. “Will you calm down?” he said. “I don’t need bruises for the ceremony.”

I twisted out of his grip, but he quickly stepped back as my fist missed his face by inches. “You know better than to wake me up like that,” I growled.

He caught my fist and held it by my side. “I thought you were awake. Your eyes were open when you rolled over.”

“I had just woken up when you shoved me off the bed,” I retorted, shaking him off.

Noah walked in and surveyed the scene. “Sounds like a WWE match in here. We got kicked out of our room, so we came in here to get dressed with you.

“The girls are in full prep mode, so they booted us out of our own rooms and sent us in here with you. Can you believe it? We’ve been ousted from our own territory.”

I stood up, chuckling at their disgruntled expressions. They looked like two puppies that had been shooed out of their cozy kennels. “What did you guys think? That they’d let you hang around while they primped and preened?”

“No, but they practically yanked us by our shirt collars and tossed us out. That was a low blow.” Conner folded his arms across his chest, feigning offense.

I ambled over to the closet, pulling out my suit bag as they hung up theirs. “Well, I guess it’s about time to suit up for my own wedding, right?”

Their laughter echoed in the room as we began to dress for the big event.