Whipped (Hitched, #2)

He nods, his expression thoughtful. "I appreciate that. And I admire a person who works hard and carves his own path in life. But what I mean is, have you considered that you've maybe overthought this? That in planning down to the detail, you've erased any opportunity for magic to happen?" He holds up a hand before I can protest. "I know what you're going to say. I can see the skepticism in your eyes. Just hear me out. Try holding the intention of what you want in your heart of hearts and seeing if the details don't rearrange themselves to give you what you need—what you want—even if it's not what you think it should look like. That's all I'm saying. Sometimes, we think we know exactly what we want, but when we open ourselves up to the unexpected, we get what we needed all along."

I look at Vi again. She isn't the kind of girl I would have thought I'd be with. Hell, I never thought I'd be with anyone for more than a few nights. But she's perfect for me in every way. I consider Marvin's words and wonder how they might apply to my problem with the after-school center. Could I be holding on to a vision that's keeping me from making the true magic of my ideas work? I don't know.

Marvin pats me on the back. "Good man. I can see you're at least thinking about it." He pulls off his bow tie and hands it to me. "Get rid of this thing for me, will ya? Who wears a bow tie with a t-shirt anyways? And while you're at it, would you mind standing in as my witness? My wife already snagged our daughter, so it looks like I'm in need of someone on my side."

***

As we stand there, waiting for Vi and Angela to walk down the makeshift aisle of white and pink rose petals, for a moment I feel displaced. This could be me and Vi someday. Music starts and I see her first, walking slowly toward me in a vision of green with that wild red hair and my heart swells. The thought of us standing here in front of friends and family doesn't scare me like it would have before. I wink at her, and she grins and takes her place at the front.

Our eyes rarely stray from each other's through the service, and I wonder if she's thinking the same thing. That someday we'll be here, celebrating our love. And maybe after twenty-five years, this will also be us, with kids and family and a lifetime of memories and still having sex in bathrooms and making each other laugh.

The ceremony is fast, back-dropped by a sunset to rival all. As the sky glows in oranges and reds and yellows, we snack on the buffet provided and drink liberally and crowd around to watch Marvin and Angela open their gifts.

When Angela pulls a purple gift bag from the pile, Vi nudges me. "This one's from us."

"Us?"

She links arms with me and leans her head against my shoulder. "Yep. I put your name on it."

I watch and wonder what "we" got her parents for their anniversary. Angela pulls a box out of the bag and laughs. "Oh my!" She holds it up for everyone to see and some of the older adults gasp. "Thank you, Vi and Lachlan. I'm sure we'll put this bondage kit to good use tonight."

Well, that's decided. We're obviously driving home today, because no way do either of us need to hear that tonight. Vi grins at me as if she can read my mind. Saucy vixen probably can.

"There's one more thing in there," she says.

I think it can't get worse.

It does.

Her mother holds up a giant purple dildo and raises an eyebrow. Marvin grabs it and slaps his leg. "Well isn't this something. A chew toy. Now we need to get a dog, Ang."

I take another drink.





CHAPTER 23





VI


The store has been busy today. So busy that Zoe and I have had very little time to chat and catch up since I got back from my weekend home with Lach. I can tell she spent time crying and drinking, which I don't blame her for a bit. Even though the guy was a complete Douche (with a capital D, of course), he was in her life for a long time, and it's hard to make that kind of change, even if it's for the best. So I've been covering the floor while she stays mostly in the back doing inventory. But now we're locking up, turning off the lights and getting ready to hang out with Kacie, Tate and Sebastian, when she turns to me with a small frown.

"I think I need to pass on tonight. I'm not up for hanging out."

"Zoe, what's going on? You've been off all day, and I know it's more than just the breakup." She averts her eyes, and I can tell it's something big. "Zoe? Spill it, girl. No judgment from me, I swear."

She sighs and leans against the glass of our front door. "You know that night you said to call Tate to cheer me up?"

Uh-oh. "Yeah?"

"Well, he came over. We drank and ate junk food and watched movies, and drank some more and…"

"Oh, God. You didn't!"

Her chin drops to her head. "We did. We slept together."

My first impulse is to laugh, because while I would totally love for two of my best friends to hook up, it should not be Tate and Zoe. They wouldn't mix at all. But I can tell this is a big deal for her, so I suppress my grin and put a hand on her arm. "How do you feel about it?"

"Confused. I love Tate, but not like that. It was fun, but I'm not interested in it happening again. But what if he is? What if I've ruined our entire friendship dynamic?"

I raise an eyebrow. "You really think Tate is suddenly eager to settle down? I think you're safe on that count. Just tell him how you feel. He's probably freaking out right now thinking you want more, and he doesn't want to hurt you and fuck everything up. He'll be relieved."

A gleam of hope lights in her eyes. "Really? Because I do love him. He's the best, and I couldn't stand losing his friendship because we got carried away one lonely crazy night."