By the time he sang, “Take my hand…” she could scarcely see him through the tears in her eyes. She blinked rapidly, sending warm droplets cascading down her cheeks. His hand moved from her waist to the back of her head, and he pressed her face into the hollow of his neck. She tightened her arms around him and pressed a kiss to his throat, immersing herself in his scent, his warmth, and the broad, hard length of his body. She was drowning in the sound of his voice and the emotions it stirred as she clung to him.
The song ended much too soon. Why couldn’t he have chosen “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” as their song? Not nearly as romantic, but it would have lasted much longer. He extended the microphone from his body until Max came to reclaim it, and then wrapped her in both arms, kissing the top of her head. She lifted her face so she could look at him.
“I really couldn’t help falling in love with you,” he said.
She nodded, unable to find her voice or strong enough words to describe what she was feeling for him. Love seemed too ordinary a word for the overwhelming rush of emotion swirling in her chest, clogging her throat.
“Can we play our version now?” Max asked through the microphone. Sed gave him a thumbs-up.
Jessica turned to the stage. Jace climbed out from the piano that had been hidden near the back of the room, and Eric handed a pair of drumsticks back to Exodus End’s drummer, Stephen. Knowing that a pair of Sinners had taken over to make her first dance with her husband as romantic as Sed had intended warmed her heart. What a couple of saps.
“How many more traditions do we need to endure before I can get you naked?” Sed whispered.
“Hmm… tossing of the bouquet and garter,” she said, speaking loudly since Exodus End had begun to play. The band didn’t know the meaning of understated or quiet. “That’s about it.”
Monica tapped Sed on the shoulder. “May I have this dance?” she asked her son.
“You forgot the mother/son dance.” Sed beamed and kissed Jessica before releasing her and tugging his mother into his arms.
“Not sure how to dance to this kind of music,” Monica said.
“Just improvise,” Sed said, and then he swept her across the dance floor.
Jessica smiled as she watched. She hadn’t forgotten. There would be no father/daughter dance for her. She started to leave the floor, not wanting to be completely conspicuous in her lack of a paternal parent. Before she could find a spare seat, she ran headlong into a very tall and lean body. Surprised, she stared up into the smiling face of Eric Sticks.
“Now that Sed is occupied, I’m faced with the opportunity to finally seduce you,” Eric said.
She laughed, so grateful that he’d spotted her dilemma that she could have kissed him. In a totally platonic way, of course.
Eric took her hand and led her to the center of the dance floor. Their dance was anything but seductive—it involved a lot of head banging, thrashing, and a bit of air guitar. Soon others began to join them until she was completely surrounded by family and friends and having the time of her life. Instead of playing their own songs, Exodus End took great liberties with the standard list of popular reception songs. This made it fun for everyone as they tried to figure out if the wailing guitar music, thudding drums, and hard core vocals was Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” or the Temptations’ “My Girl.” The band even did a metal version of “Ice Ice Baby,” made awesome by Logan’s skill on bass guitar. Jessica had never been to a more rockin’ reception. She was drenched in sweat by the time Sed took her hand and led her off the dance floor.
“We need to leave!” he shouted over the metal version of “Twist and Shout.”
She nodded. “Just let me get my bouquet.”
She rushed back to the table and grabbed her pretty-much-demolished bouquet before heading to the stage with Sed on her heels. They waited for the current song to end and then climbed the stage to orchestrate their final tradition of the day.
“All the single ladies are needed in the mosh pit,” Max said, winking at Jessica. “Time to toss the bouquet.”
Jessica waited until everyone who wanted to participate was standing before the stage. She already knew who she was aiming for, so she took a mental snapshot of the crowd and turned to face the opposite direction. She tossed the bouquet over her shoulder and then spun around to see if she’d hit home. Aggie stood staring at the bouquet in her hands as if she didn’t recognize what it was. Score! Jessica barely suppressed her victory dance. Aggie received numerous congratulatory pats, but she didn’t seem to notice or remember how to blink. It was only when Jace approached her and gave her a playful shove that she awoke out of her stupor.
Jessica laughed when Jace interlaced his fingers and stretched his arms in front of him, limbering up to catch the garter. Jessica was directed into a chair on the stage, and Sed knelt on the floor between her feet.
The look he gave her could have melted the polar ice caps.
“All right,” Max said in a farcical emcee voice, “it looks like the bachelors need to line up for the delivery of their life-without-parole sentencing.”
Most of the younger men entered the dance floor only when shoved forcefully in that direction. Lawyers and rock stars alike fidgeted as they waited for the verdict.
“Jace,” Jessica whispered to Sed, and he nodded.
He nibbled on his lower lip, as if hungry with anticipation while he waited for his cue. His cue was a chorus of “take it off, take it off” from the married gentlemen in the room. Sed delved beneath her skirt. Not just his hand but his entire upper body, including his head and both hands—which he immediately put to good use.