Mary and Chris were keeping all of the kids, including Caleb, in three adjoining rooms with Chase’s older sisters helping out. Mary insisted on it being that way so we wouldn’t have to worry about anything on our trip and just to have some fun like a normal young couple.
Ally and Remy were rooming together while Mark and Teddy shared another room. Mark and Remy were still dating and going strong, but I really didn’t want Ally and Teddy to share a room, they were far from official with each other and both had already been talking about scoping out the beach later on for some new hookups.
I think they had some kind of competition going on to see who could pick someone up first. My money was on Ally. I still didn’t get the appeal of Teddy. He was a nice guy and yeah, he was good looking but the things I knew about him made my skin crawl.
“So, you think you’re ready for this, baby?” Chase asked as he unpacked his suitcase and hung things in the oversized closet that was tucked in the corner. I swear it was as big as our bedroom back home. This place seemed to pull out all of the stops, especially in the honeymoon suite.
“Well, I would really hope so. It would be kind of awkward to leave you at the altar down here and then have to wait for a plane ride home,” I teased. Really, there was no doubt in my mind but I’m sure Chase was a little nervous that there was. To say he had been shocked that I had accepted his proposal, was kind of an understatement.
He came over to me after hanging up his tan tux that we had decided on and twisted my hips around so I was pressed against his body. I breathed in his deep soap scent that I loved so much and squeezed my eyes shut to savor the smell. Hopefully, when we got old and gray, that smell would still be there. It was one of the things I loved about him so much, it was just so comforting.
“Are you doing okay?” he whispered against my neck in between warm kisses. I bunched up his shirt in my hands willing him not to stop, trying to keep his head where it was but of course, he pulled back to look at me intently with those familiar green eyes.
“Yes, I’m okay. The real question is, are you okay?”
After Mr. Barnum or should I say, Roy, left, I was kind of eerily calm about the whole situation. When Chase got home from hanging out with the guys, I explained what happened and he went a little crazy, to put it into nicer terms. He paced the living room back and forth so many times I was sure there would be marks in the carpet.
After he finally got done grilling me about what Roy said word for word about twenty times, he went off into the small office we had set up and clicked away on the computer, researching for hours. I’m pretty sure I saw a few grey hairs on his pretty little head by the time he finally came out.
“Let’s not worry about it until we get home, ‘kay? We can deal with the real world when we get back. For now, let’s worry about what we should wear to this little shindig planned for us tonight, and better yet what our friends have planned for us.”
Chapter 3
Chase
Leah was right, I needed to forget the whole Caleb situation for now and just enjoy our time together. I mean, we were down here to get married and pretty soon Leah would be my wife. How fuckin’ crazy was that? Just thinking about that guy though pissed me off and made my chest tighten. Roy Barnum, what kind of name is that anyway? One for a douche bag.
Any guy who had touched Leah’s mom had to be an idiot. I had heard countless stories from Leah about her mom’s scandalous ways. She was an uncaring woman who didn’t give two shits about her own kids and was only ever worried about her next lay and to make sure there was plenty of booze around the house.
I was convinced he was just putting on a show for Leah. She said he was dressed nicely and looked to be clean cut. Yeah, well you can’t always judge people by their appearances, right? Leah had thought I was some sort of bad boy player when she had first met me, just because I had some tattoos and a tongue ring. I had been with a few girls, nothing out of the norm, but I left the whole player thing up to Teddy. I had been his wingman for years.
Hopefully, Leah’s mother was just mistaken about this Roy character and we wouldn’t have to deal with all of that shit.
For now, I just needed to worry about Leah. And she was looking freaking sexy right about now. I couldn’t believe that was my soon-to- be-wife. She had left to go get ready with Ally and Remy after finding something to wear and I didn’t see her again until we met up for the pre-wedding blow out that Ally had planned. She had rented one of those cabana things right on the beach with a fire pit in the center.