Happily Ever After (14 page)

16

Sean

“I need a picture of the bride and groom,” the photographer said.

I was too busy kissing Scarlet to notice. Now that she was my wife, I had never been more aroused or excited, never felt so much happiness or love burst from my chest. I just wanted her—all the time.

“Um, excuse
me?”

Scarlet pulled away and chuckled. “We should let him take his pictures.”

“He can take all the pictures he wants. I’m not stopping him.”

We were standing outside near the ocean. The photographer had us line up with our wedding party to take pictures. I only had eyes for Scarlet. She looked so beautiful that it was impossible to describe. The dress she wore was perfect on her. I couldn’t wait to take it off.

Scarlet pulled my forehead to hers and looked into my eyes while the photographer snapped the photos. When he was done, I dipped her and kissed her, wanting to reenact our first kiss.

“This is great,” the photographer said.

I just held Scarlet to me, lost in my own world as I touched her and kissed her. She smiled at me while I cherished her, rubbing her nose against mine. The moment between us was intimate, but we didn’t care about what was happening around us. It was just her and I.

“If you wait a few minutes, you can get a shot of them going at it on the green,” Ryan said.

Without breaking our kiss, Scarlet extended her arm and gave her brother the finger.

“Take the picture, take the picture!” Cortland said.

Ryan laughed. “That’s going on the refrigerator.”

I chuckled as I kissed her.

“Can we have some pictures with the rest of the party?” the photographer asked.

I didn’t hear him. “I want to make love to you so bad right now.”

“We have a whole week.”

“That’s it?”

“And then the rest of our lives.”

“Let’s sneak away.”

“Sean, we have to wait.”

“Just so you know, we can hear everything you’re saying,” Ryan said.

It was my turn to give him the finger.

Ryan laughed. He turned to the photographer. “Sorry, man. I tried to help you.”

Scarlet pulled away from me. “I want to take a picture with my maid of honor.”

Ryan sighed. “Can we at least give it a better name? Like, dude of honor?”

Cortland raised an eyebrow. “Dude?”

“Whatever. It’s better
than maid.”

Scarlet grabbed his hand and pulled him to her. “Just shut up and take a picture with me.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close. He smiled at the camera and took a few photos with her. I stood by and watched Scarlet hold her brother, her best friend. I was grateful that I got to be a part of her family, the odd assemblage of her friends.

Scarlet took a few pictures with Monnique and Janice then took a few with my mom and dad. Finally, it was my turn to take photos with my groomsmen and my family. I pulled Cortland and Ryan into the pictures because I considered them to be family long before we got married. Scarlet smiled at me, moved by the gesture.

Mike and I took a few pictures by ourselves.

“This is where it ends,” he said into my ear.

“What ends?”

“Your life.
You just threw it away.”

I laughed. “I just started living it.”

He patted my shoulder. “I’m there for you when you start to go insane.”

“Scarlet couldn’t drive me insane if she tried.”

He laughed. “That girl is crazy and you know it.”

Scarlet came over and grabbed Mike’s arm. “Can I have a few pictures with my brother?”

He smiled and hooked his arm around her waist. “How do you feel about incest?”

She rolled her eyes and looked away. “I can never tell if you’re joking or not.”

“That’s what makes it interesting.”

I stepped away so they could take their pictures together. As soon as Mike released her waist, I pulled her to my chest.

“Sean, I’m hungry.”

“Don’t
worry, the cooks are have a special plate for you.”

“They do?”

“Yep. I told them to dump your plate on the ground.”

She hit my shoulder. “It’s our wedding day. You have to be nice to me.”

“I’m just kidding, baby,” I said with a smile. “Let’s go.”

We walked back to the outside terrace and waited for the master of ceremony to make our announcement. I held Scarlet’s hand in the air as we made our entrance, showing our victory. I walked her to the table and pulled out her chair, making sure she didn’t trip on her dress or her heels.

I pulled her chair close to mine and kissed her ear. “You look so gorgeous. I forgot to tell you that.”

“I think it was implied.”

I placed my hand on her thigh, feeling the fabric of the dress. “I love this.”

“Ryan picked it out.”

I laughed. “Of course he did.”

“And he did my makeup on the way here.”

I looked over at Ryan. “I’m starting to think Janice is a cover story.”

“Shut the fuck up,” he snapped.

I laughed then kissed Scarlet’s neck. “You taste so good.”

“Thank you, I guess.”

I rubbed my nose against hers and felt the flash of the camera. “I hope this is everything you wanted it to be.”

“It’s more than that, Sean,” she said as she kissed me.

The waitresses brought the food and placed it before us. Like usual, Scarlet practically inhaled her food. I watched her with a smile on my face.

“I didn’t eat anything all day,” she said.

Ryan picked up a ravioli and dropped it on the ground. “Just for you, baby sister.”

Cortland grabbed a grape, stepped on it, then picked it up. “Now it’s Manhattan style.”

“I’m this close to getting into a food fight with you,” she said.

After we finished our dinner, the speeches began.

Ryan took the microphone first. “Good evening everyone. I’m Ryan, Scarlet’s older brother. When she asked me to be the maid of honor, I’ll admit I wasn’t too excited at first. I don’t know anything about dresses, cakes, flowers, or center pieces, but after I heard her talk about the wedding, I realized how important it was to her. That’s when I realized how honored I felt that she chose me.

“Scarlet and I are closer than most siblings, so close that people wonder if we’re Greek.” The crowd laughed at his words. “I admit our relationship is odd, but when two people love each other as much as we do, of course we’re going to be a little different. My sister was the first person who told me it was okay to pursue my dreams. When I told her I wanted to draw tattoos for a living, I knew she wasn’t excited about it, but she was supportive anyway. When my shop almost closed and went into bankruptcy, Scarlet gave me her entire savings to avoid that when she had her own loans to take care of. My sister has always put me first, puts up with my jokes, tells me I’m being an asshole when I deserve it, and she loves me unconditionally.

“My sister always tells me that I’m the better sibling, that I’m strong, smart, and caring. I never told her this because I didn’t want her ego to get too big, but she’s the better person. I give into the darkness sometimes and let myself fall. She never does. When she came to me because she had fallen on hard times, she picked herself up and started over. She claims I was the one who fixed her, but that couldn’t be more wrong. She did it herself.

“I love my sister more than
anything, even though I hate her at the same time because she’s an annoying brat that I just want to punch in the face sometimes, but the love I have for her is forever. And I know the love she has for me is just as strong.

“When I knew she was going to marry Sean, it was hard for me.
Not because I don’t love Sean like my own brother, but because I knew I wasn’t the man in Scarlet’s life anymore. Now she has her husband to deal with her problems, thank god.” The crowd laughed again. “And I’m not the one she runs to. But I realized that our love will never change. She’s married now, and I’ll be settling down too. Even though we have our spouses, the love between us will never change. I’ll always be her best friend and she’ll always be mine.

“Now, I have a few words to say about Sean. I’ll admit he wasn’t my favorite person for a while. He did a few things that warranted an older brother ass-kicking, but he picked up the slack and made amends from his mistakes. Nobody is perfect, and I know I’m certainly not. I see the way Sean
looks at my sister. While there’s obvious heat there, as everyone has seen tonight, there is the love he has for her every time he looks at her. The reason why I recognize it is because I give the same look to my own girl. I don’t doubt Sean’s love for my sister. I know there will be fights, nights when Scarlet ruins my sleep because she wants to bitch about something Sean did, but I know their life together will be happy and full.

He put down his glass and placed
his hand on Scarlet’s shoulder. “We’ve been through a lot, Scarlet. I’m very happy to see that you made it and got your happily ever after. You picked a good guy to replace me. I love you.”

Te
ars were streaming down her face. She stood up and hugged him, crying into his shoulder. He held her tightly while the crowd awed at their affection. The microphone could pick up their whispers.

“I love you so much,” she said.

“I love you too, baby sister.”

“You’ll always be the first man in my life.”

“No, I won’t. But I’m happy to be the second one.” He kissed her on the forehead then sat down.

I leaned over and shook his hand
. “Thanks for giving her to me.”

“No, thank you,” he said with a laugh.

Mike took the microphone. “Hey, I’m Sean’s brother, the older and better looking one. It’s easy to tell us apart. I have to be honest. When Sean told me Scarlet agreed to marry him, I was a little confused. Let’s be real here. My brother is kind of a loser. Scarlet is beautiful, funny, sexy, and don’t even get me started on her legs.”

“This better
be going somewhere,” I said.

The crowd laughed.

“Calm down, little man. It’s all good. The moment that I understood their odd relationship was when we went to Vegas for his bachelor party, except that it wasn’t a bachelor party. Sean said he didn’t want to get wasted, didn’t want any lap dances, and didn’t want to see any strippers. My first instinct was fear. My brother had obviously hit his head. Then, when he said he wanted Scarlet, fiancé, to come I knew there was something odd going on. To summarize the trip, it was the lamest bachelor party I’ve ever been to. But I saw something else too.

“It was the first time
I’ve ever seen my brother be so selfless toward another person. To say he’s obsessed with Scarlet is an understatement. I’ve never seen him be so gentle and loving to anyone else but himself. That’s when I knew he was different. He was a new man. Scarlet completely changed his life, but I think it’s the best thing that ever happened to him.

“When we were younger, we always competed to see who could land the hottest girl, get the most phone numbers, and date the most girls. I always won, for obvious reasons. But now I realize Sean was the winner. Now he has a beautiful woman who would do anything for him. He has more than most of us.

“Now, Scarlet. She’s been a part of this family forever. I’ve never met a cooler chick. We could have been great together, but alas, I’ll settle for you as my sister.”

She smiled at him. “I can’t tell if you’re joking.”

He winked at her. “I’ll leave that for you to decide. Now, all joking aside. My brother and I have had a rocky relationship for the past few years. Only recently did we rekindle the trust and love that should have been there the whole time. And all that happened because of Scarlet. She fixes everything, makes people try to be better. She’s welcomed me into her heart and I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere more in my life. I’m very happy that my brother got everything he deserved.” He clapped my shoulder. “I love you, man.”

“I love you too.”

My mom started crying.

“A
nd Scarlet, call me if you get a divorce.”

The crowd laughed as Mike sat down.

“If I knew you weren’t joking, I would kill you,” I said.

Mike smiled. “Good think I am.”

Janice stood up. “So, I lost the maid of honor spot to my own boyfriend, which is fine because he’s done a better job than I ever could. I met Scarlet back in New York when we worked at R and R Publishing. She was smart, witty, and she never took shit from anybody. Naturally, we became friends instantly. It was because of her that I found the courage to stand up for myself and do the right thing. I’ll never forget everything she did for me. Also, it was because of her that I met the life of my life, her brother, Ryan. Good guys are hard to find, and I’m grateful that Scarlet kept him in line until I came along.

“I—I didn’t know Sean that well before he ended up with Scarlet. The first time I met him, Scarlet and I had a huge assignment to do. If we didn’t finish it by the following morning, Scarlet was going to lose her job. Sean stayed up all night and helpe
d Scarlet, proofreading her manuscript while she looked up historical facts. Scarlet claimed they were just friends even though I teased her about it, and I’m glad to finally say that I was right.” She smiled in victory. “When I saw how loving Sean was to her, I wished that I had a friend like that, not just a guy friend, but someone in my life that would do anything for me without me even having to ask. It’s amazing how far these two have come, from best friends to passionate lovers. I’m really glad I got to witness the change and see my chest friend get everything she deserves. I love you, Scarlet.”