A Lil' Less Hopeless by Tara Oakes Page B

something drastic happens. Now that we can quit searching for Pretty Boy, we can focus all of our energy on Vicky. Leo’s already shifted his search.
    “Babe! You gotta go! Quit stalling!”
    I close my eyes and shake my head, this woman is going to drive me insane today. I’ve heard the term bridezilla before, and had no doubt that women like Jessica gave real credence to it. But my girl.. she was a different breed. At least I thought so, until today. The wedding is still almost ten hours away. Everything’s already been taken care of, but Lil’s is starting to freak.
    Dressed in nothing more than a satin robe, with her hair piled high in a giant knot on her head, she marches into the bedroom.
    “I mean it Jay! You need to go, like now! It’s bad enough you stayed here last night and are even seeing me before the wedding. But you need to leave before people start getting here.”
    She positions herself behind me, placing her palms on my back, pushing hard on my leather. I play along and allow her to essentially kick me out of my own house.
    “I thought it was only bad luck if I see you in your dress?” I ask while being escorted to the front door.
    Jess stands in the kitchen entryway leaning up against the door frame, clutching her coffee mug like it was a lifeline. It had been a really late night, last night, with the impromptu rehearsal dinner at the my parents’ house. Jess isn’t used to this type of lifestyle and I can tell it’s wearing on her.
    “He’s got a point, Lil’s,” Jess calls out, pitying me, but is quickly quieted by some sort of death stare from the sexy banshee in white behind me.
    I give up the ruse and quickly turn, proving Lil’s strength futile against my own.
    “Alright, alright. I’ll go. But you know you’re secretly glad I didn’t leave.” I scoop her into my arms and quickly squash her wily protests. “Admit it that you really wanted me to stay last night and I’ll go. Admit that it was worth it.”
    She playfully throws invisible dagger at me with her eyes. Finally exhaling and relaxing her shoulders in defeat, she concedes. “Fine. I’m glad you didn’t crash at the clubhouse last night.”
    I arch my eyebrow, cocking my head. “And...?” I squeeze her just a bit tighter.
    I can see her clenching her teeth. She reluctantly speaks through them. “ And it was worth it. NOW GO!”
    I grab one last kiss before she has the reaction time to swat me away, and head out the door. I throw my shades on and climb on my bike. Damn right it was worth it. The ten shades of red that Jess’s cheeks were when I ran into her this morning while grabbing some coffee told me that Lil’s and I were just as loud as I thought we were. I’m gonna have to remember to send a prospect over to patch the wall behind the headboard.
    Fuck tradition. No way in hell was I gonna willingly give up any time with Lil’s. We may not have that much left.
    *****
    LIL’S
     
    Relax. People get married every damn day. This is nothing new. I just need to relax and it will all be OK.
    Sunny sticks another pin in my hair, smiling down at me as she works her magic. I smile back. That’s what I’m supposed to do today, right. Smile. Play it off like I don’t have a care in the world. Like everything is all rainbows and kitty cats.
    Jean comes swooping in with a makeup brush of some sorts, and I flinch. I’m not used to this much primping and pampering, and I feel like I’ve been assaulted with every type of beautification tool imaginable.
    “Just a little bit of sealer...” Ma explains as she swipes the sticky brush over my pout. “And... done.” She steps back to admire her handiwork. “Beautiful. Simply stunning.”
    There is a chorus of agreement behind her. Jessica, Charlie, and Bobby nod and coo in unison, all in various states of dress. I smile again. Just keep smiling. They all accept my show of thanks and scurry off to finish dolling themselves up. Sunny puts one last heavy dose of hairspray