Series: Lee Savino
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
All this energy made my video conference call with Daisy go smoother. I swear she was seconds away from breaking down and weeping. At one point, Everest, who was crammed in our living room in his giant bear form, gave her a hug. Daisy’s voice shook, and she looked every one of her ninety-two years.
I didn’t know how to tell her I’m getting married. To Matthias. I kept it vague. I told her I was okay, and she should get some sleep. She looked like she hadn’t slept last night.
I feel like I’ve lived several lifetimes between yesterday at 2 p.m. and now.
Someone raps on the dressing room door. “How you doing?” Axel asks.
“Fine.” I try to reach the buttons up the back, but my arms are too short. “Actually, can you help me?”
The door opens, revealing Axel in a black tux. I gasp. “You look like James Bond.”
“Except I do my own stunts.” He swings his hair back, so it falls in a shining cape over his shoulders, and looks me up and down. “Maisy, you look beautiful.”
“Thanks.” I blush. Even though we’re friends, I’m aware of how handsome Axel is. Everyone in my senior class had a huge crush on him. Even Missy, though she always acted like she didn’t like him. “Can you button me?” I present my back to Axel, and he deftly does me up. I can’t believe how well this dress suits me. The neckline is wide and very flattering, almost off the shoulder.
I smooth down the satin skirt and turn to face him. “How do I look?”
“Perfect.”
“The triplets got me this.” I show him the dinky plastic tiara with a little white netting for a veil. The “Bride to Be” sign pasted on the front is peeling off, and underneath it says “Happy New Year.”
“I think we can do better than that. Here.” He pulls a black velvet case out of his pocket and opens it to reveal a dazzling diamond necklace inside.
“Oh my God,” I gasp. The necklace looks like something a celebrity would wear on the red carpet. Or a princess attending a ball. I’m not a princess…I’m not even Cinderella. I’m one of the mice scurrying around, holding a clipboard, making sure the wheels don’t fall off the pumpkin. “Axel, I can’t accept this.”
“You can.” Axel is quiet, but he’s stubborn, and when he wants something, he gets his way. “It’s a gift from Matthias. I guess he robbed a bank or something.” He winks. “Turn around.” He sets the necklace around my neck and does the clasp. “Perfect. It matches the ring,” he adds, and I blush harder.
I can’t believe Matthias got me diamonds. A real diamond ring and necklace with the papers to prove it–not a cubic zirconia or something. How did he get the money for them?
I can’t believe I’m really marrying him. I mean, it’s to protect me from some mob guy’s crazy plan, but what even is my life right now?
A few rooms away, a microphone crackles and a man’s voice booms out, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to welcome you folks to the little Las Vegas Chapel of Love. Let’s get this party started.”
“Who’s that?” I ask.
“Elvis.” Axel grins. He puts his hand on my back, guiding me forward, and we both glide out of the dressing room towards the chapel.
The triplets greet us at the door. I remember when they were gangly young guys with hands and feet that seemed too big for their scrawny limbs. These past few years, they’ve filled out. They’re taller than all their brothers besides Everest, and so big and broad-shouldered, I can’t see past them to the chapel behind. They’re all so handsome, too.
“Who's going to walk you down the aisle?” Hutch asks.
“I'll do it,” Canyon volunteers. Bern puts a hand on his chest and shoves him back.
“Maisy?” Bern looks to me. “You decide.”
“Axel,” I say. “You were my prom date, so you know the drill.”
He gives me a smile and offers his arm. I take it.
“We’ll be bridesmaids,” Bern announces. The next thing I know, they’re all holding matching bouquets of fake purple flowers. Where did they even get all this stuff?
Beyond the triplets, in the chapel, the wedding march starts playing. The triplets fight for a moment over who’s going down first but then fall into line and disappear down the aisle.
Then it’s Axel’s and my turn. At the altar, Matthias waits for me, with Darius and Teddy by his side as best men. The twins are identically gorgeous in black tuxes, but Matthias outshines them all.
And me? I’m wearing a designer dress and tens of thousands of dollars worth of diamonds about to marry my long-time crush. Not even in my wildest dreams could I have thought of this moment.
Axel must feel how tense I am because he leans close.