This was hands down one of the best weddings I’d ever been to—not like the last couple I went to. Nobody followed me around with a guitar. My
date didn’t drink too much because he was in love with the bride, like Nick had at Kelly’s wedding. Tonight my date couldn’t keep his hands or his eyes off me.
Jacob was relaxed and happy. I was happy.
Jacob slow-danced with Katrina. It was seriously cute. I couldn’t stop smiling at the image of him looking over at me, his eyes creased at the corners and a little girl in a tulle dress standing on the tops of his shoes.
In addition to the many cigarettes I’m sure Grandpa got, Joy wheeled him out herself and gave him a cigar after dinner.
And Jane’s date was Benny.
When I finally cornered him, all he did was shrug and say, “I didn’t tell you ’cause you just would have made a big deal about it.” Yup.
Benny was smiling the entire wedding. He was smiling like someone who had a whole life ahead of him. Because he did. In a week he’d have a new kidney. A new start. He was seeing someone he was excited about. He was looking forward. I had to call him Ben the whole night.
Jacob let me have his cake. It was from Nadia Cakes and it was red velvet—and then I caught the bouquet. Everyone was cheering and I was laughing so hard. Amy came over and gave me a hug. Jacob was beaming.
It felt like one of the best nights of my life—like the first day of all the rest of my days, for some reason. And it made me start to think about what Jacob said about me marrying him.
It was way, way early for that. I’d never wanted to get remarried. At least I thought I didn’t. But as Jacob had a tendency to do, he made my No turn into a Maybe.
I didn’t hate the idea of his family being my family. Of Joy being my mother-in-law, and Jewel and Jane and Jill being my sisters.
And I adored the thought of being his wife. Of him introducing himself as my husband. It made me feel proud. Like maybe wife was a title I wanted again all of a sudden.
So maybe. Just…maybe.
We stayed until the very last song.
When the lights came on and everyone started trickling out, Jacob took my hand and I grabbed my bouquet and we headed through the hotel lobby with Lieutenant Dan to the elevators.
I was holding my shoes. Jacob’s tie was draped around his neck and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. He had his sleeves rolled up and he’d put his jacket around my shoulders.
When the elevator doors closed behind us, he drew me in and kissed me. His mouth tasted like the champagne send-off toast. He ran a hand under my ass and pulled me into him. “When we get back to the room, I want you to sit on my face,” he said, his voice husky.
I was breathing hard. “Like, sit on it, sit on it?” “Sit on it, sit on it.”
“Okay. If you die, you die.”
He laughed and devoured me again.
I was going to let this man snap me in half like a glow stick when we got up to the room. I wanted to break the bed.
I’d had more sex in the last month than the entire last two years of my marriage. On our days off we didn’t leave the room except to grab the DoorDash delivery off the front porch and let out Lieutenant Dan. We ran out of condoms so many times that Jacob finally went to Costco to get the bulk box.
The elevator pinged two floors down from ours. We stopped making out, and he moved his hands to my waist as a courtesy for whoever got on, but we were still panting and looking at each other’s lips when the doors opened.
“What do you think about room service?” he asked quietly, rubbing his nose to mine.
“Yeeeesss. I’m starving.” My stomach had been gnawing at me for the last two hours. “If we order now, it’ll show up right when we’re done,” I whispered.
He laughed a little. Then we both noticed that the door was still open but nobody had gotten on.
Jacob glanced over first. Then I turned too. And my blood ran cold.
It was the Tower of Terror at Disney World on my twenty-fifth birthday. The elevator doors opening to show you something awful and confusing before plummeting you to your death.
It was Nick and Kelly.
They stood frozen, like deer in headlights. Nobody moved.
They were dressed up. She had her arm hooked in his. Nick’s brown hair was shorter. He looked fitter than before. He was tan. He had a band on his wedding finger. Kelly’s blond hair was down around her shoulders. Pink
lipstick. Dangly gold earrings that looked like leaves. She was wearing an enormous diamond wedding ring. She was glowing.
And she was pregnant.
I felt instantly nauseous. Lieutenant Dan made a crying noise in the silence. Time stood still.
Nick cleared his throat. “Uh, we’ll take the next one.”
I stood there for another painful, paralyzed moment. And then the doors closed in slow motion.
The whole thing had taken less than fifteen seconds. And the bomb was nuclear.
“Briana?” Jacob said, staring at the side of my face.
I couldn’t hear him. My ears were ringing. My knees were weak, my vision was getting dark around the edges.
And then I threw up all over his shoes.
