Page 6 of Say I Do

She didn’t understand why they weren’t helping her. Was it such a bad thing she just wanted them to be married and together forever?

“Please, Uncle Bashy,” she said, sounding broken and pitiful. “Pleeease.”

Addie snickered behind her, but she didn’t know why. Uncle Bashy let out a long breath and gently pulled her away from him so he could look at her.

“Fine,” he sighed, using his thumbs to wipe at her little cheeks. “But if they don’t wanna go through with it, we can’t make them and you can’t be upset, alright?” She thought for a moment.

All they had to do was show up, why wouldn’t they go through with it?

“Okay,” she said, nodding a few times. “I want it to be a surprise.” He grinned at her.

“Oh, I thought as much,” he laughed. “Come on, kid. I’ll tuck you in.”

5

TAKODA

“I’m thinking lilac and white,” Addie said and Bash nodded mindlessly.

“If that’s what you want, baby,” he sighed as he scrolled on his phone, looking and sounding tired. She rolled her eyes, glaring at the side of his head.

“What about—”

“Ad, we don’t even have a venue or a date,” he said gently as he looked up. “I don’t think we need to decide on this shit right now.”

“I just want to have it all planned,” she said through clenched teeth. I took a long sip of my tea and sat quietly next to Addie on the bed.

I was not getting involved.

“The plans will change a million more times between now and then,” he said. “Just relax.” She took a deep breath and turned her back on him, looking over at me with a murderous expression.

“Hey, Bash? Can you get us a snack or something?” I asked sweetly. He mumbled something about Addie being hangry under his breath, then pushed to his feet with a soft groan and waved his hand at us as he passed.

“Be back in a minute,” he said when he reached the door.

“Thanks for the warning,” Addie mumbled dryly. He grinned and shook his head, staring at the back of her head before he left the room, a look of pure love and adoration on his face. “Ugh! He’s insufferable!” She made a frustrated sound. “Can you believe him? He doesn’t think I should be planning our wedding.”

“Well,” I said gently, wincing at her expression, “he kind of has a point. We’re in the middle of this stuff with The Horsemen and Montgomery, do you really thinking wedding planning is the best idea right now?” She shrugged and flipped through her binder in front of her, pouting.

“I just wanted to get this done so we don’t stress later,” she muttered.

“I know,” I said, putting my hand over hers. She turned her green eyes up to me, looking at me through her lashes. “But I think he’s stressed. He’s dealing with a lot—the threat to the club, the not knowing if they’re going to attack here again, your pregnancy… He’s overprotective at the best of times, he’s way more on edge now. And I think he’s extra grumpy since you made him cut out sugar. Give the poor guy a break.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, rubbing her small bump. “Yeah, you’re right. I just want this shit to be over and for this kid to be out so we can just get married already.” I laughed and squeezed her hand. Her face fell as she looked over at me. “And Heather… I’m worried about her.”

“Me too,” I said quietly. “Has she spoken to you at all?”

“No,” she huffed. “Surprisingly, Bash has been able to talk to her a few times. Mostly when she’s out back beating on the punching bag.”

“Really? Bash? She hates him.”

“She doesn’t hate him,” she said, then laughed. “Okay, she kinda hates him—but it’s the way you hate your gross brother.”

“I wish she’d just open up to us,” I sighed, my shoulders slumping. “We can help her.”

The door opened and Axel and Bash walked in together, each holding a plate full of fruit. Axel grinned at me as he made his way over, kissing me as he set the plate down. Bash, the asshole, put Addie’s plate at the end of the bed and used a hanger to push it to her.

“I didn’t want my hand bitten off if I got too close,” he said conspiratorially, glancing at me. “She’s known to bite.”

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