Chapter Nineteen

“You can’t wear leather pants to your own wedding,” Jules insists with her fists planted on her slim hips and a scowl on her gorgeous face.

“I’m marrying a rock star, Jules,” Sam says with a laugh. “I think I could wear cut off shorts and a tank top and it would be okay. Besides, we’re in Vegas. The JP will just be thankful that I’m sober.”

“You plan on being sober?” Stacy winks at Sam as she stares lovingly at the red stiletto Louboutins in Sam’s hands.

“Absolutely. Jesus, you guys. I had no idea that he wanted to get married.”

“Seriously?” I ask and grin when I see a text from Mark come across my phone. The girls are all in Meg and Will’s presidential suite on the top floor of the hotel. This place is bigger than my mother’s old house. The guys have made themselves scarce for the next two hours until the wedding because, like Natalie said, it may be unconventional, but it’s still bad luck for Leo to see his bride before the wedding. Jax and Logan chose to go with the guys because they’d both agreed they’d had enough estrogen for a while.

Pussies.

Is Sam nervous?

I glance up at her and smile at the dreamy grin on her face.

No, she’s excited. Leo?

“We haven’t talked about it since the beginning of things,” she insists. “We agreed that marriage wasn’t for us and never brought it up again.”

“Well, I guess he changed his mind,” Brynna says. “I love Leo, Sam. He’s so great.”

“Women all over the world are going to be in mourning when this news hits,” Nic says with a shake of the head. “I’m not afraid to admit that I would have been one of them a few years ago.”

Sam turns to her and chuckles. “And now?”

“Now you’re my friends and I couldn’t be happier for you. You deserve your happily ever after with your rock star.” Nic hugs Sam close then pulls back with a gasp. “We need to find cake! Damn it, Sam! You can’t get married without cake!”

“I’m sure we’ll find something,” Stacy assures her and then bounces on her toes. “Sam’s getting married!”

“Where’s my baby?” Lucy demands as she comes into the suite with Neil right behind her.

“Mom!” Sam runs to her mom and hugs her close, and I feel my heart catch, suddenly missing my mom something fierce.

Leo can’t stop smiling. He looks like an idiot, Mark responds, making me laugh.

“I can’t believe you decided to get married today.” Lucy laughs as she pulls back to look Sam in the eye. “Are you sure?”

“Never been more sure.”

“I’m heading down to hang out with the guys and scare my soon to be son-in-law,” Neil says as he hugs his daughter. “But I wanted to come up and hug the bride first.”

“I’m so happy you’re both here,” Sam replies with a grin. “I guess having Luke around for times like this doesn’t suck.”

“The boy is resourceful,” Lucy agrees. “Okay, Neil, shoo. This is a woman-only zone.”

“I’ll see you all soon.” He waves at all of us and heads out of the suite.

Your dad is on his way to you. Lucy is with us. I send the text to Mark and watch quietly as all of these beautiful women fuss around Sam, laughing and hugging and sipping diet sodas. Lucy fits right in, her face aglow in happiness. These women, this family, is magical. They’ve circled around Sam as if they’re her sisters.

What I wouldn’t give to be with my sister on her wedding day.

I tuck the sad thought away for now, determined to be happy for Sam, to concentrate on her happiness today.

Someday, she might be my sister-in-law.

The thought stuns me and makes me giddy all at once.

He’s here. Miss u. Mark’s text makes me grin and my heart light.

You’ll see me soon. Love u.

I tuck my phone away and laugh when Jules continues to glare at Sam’s black leather pants.

“She’s not going to change her mind,” I say to Jules.

“Black leather pants,” Jules says again, pointing at the offending clothing. “How can she get married in these?”

“They’ll look hot on her.” I shrug. “The top is beautiful.”

“You’re wearing black leather pants?” Lucy asks with wide, stunned eyes.

“Yes. But look at the top!” Sam holds up a white tank top with a high neckline. It has large, white lace flowers and is cropped to hit her right above her pierced navel. “It’s white.”

“And the sexiest red shoes I’ve ever seen,” Stacy adds.

“Well,” Lucy says after a moment of consideration. “It’s Vegas, last minute, and you’ve always marched to the beat of your own drummer. I think it’s fantastic.”

Sam sends Jules a smug grin. “See? It’s fantastic.”

“It’s ridiculous.” Jules shakes her head and sighs in exasperation as the rest of us chuckle at her. “You should be wearing a beautiful dress.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Sam smiles and pulls Jules in for a big hug. “It doesn’t matter what I wear, Jules. I could be in ratty old pajamas and it wouldn’t matter. All that matters is that I’m marrying Leo. He’s the best part. Not what I wear.”

“Except the shoes,” Stacy says fiercely.

“The shoes are always the exception,” Sam says with a wink.

“I’m so happy for you,” Jules says with a hoarse whisper. “We all know what you and Leo have gone through, and no one deserves to be together more than the two of you. Natalie will make lots of babies for you to spoil.”

“Yeah, I will,” Nat agrees with a grin.

“What are you doing about vows?” Meg asks. “Knowing Leo he’ll want something original.”

“We already wrote them.”

“You did?” I ask. “You’ve barely seen each other today.”

“We did it in the cab on the way to get the license. He writes songs for a living. This was a breeze.”

“I can’t wait to hear them,” Nic says with a sigh. “It’s all so romantic.”

“When do you think you and Matt might get hitched?” Brynna asks.

Nic looks surprised by the question, then just shrugs. “No idea. Eventually, I’m sure.” She bites her lip as if she’s thinking about it for the first time. “There’s no rush.”