Page 19 of Haunting Me

“Ready?” Atlas asks, holding out his elbow to me. I've never felt more ready in my entire life. I grab onto his elbow and we set off to the little room where they hold the civil ceremonies.

Atlas peeks in the doorway and whistles. “LaLa…Holy shit-balls. Your man can clean up.”

Now I am eager to see him.

We both nod to each other and Atlas leads me into the room. For a moment in time, I stop breathing. Wes is standing next to the judge, and they are conversing quietly between themselves. But when our eyes connect, his words stop. Time stops. I am almost positive he has stopped breathing right along with me. The deep breath he took has yet to be exhaled.

Atlas gives him my hand and then moves to stand next to me. Wes takes my hand, and the judge goes through the motions of the civil ceremony, which means nothing more than a legal piece of paper to the two of us. We gave ourselves to each other with our vows in our home. There was only one thing we wanted to add to the civil ceremony, and the judge graciously allowed it. After he finishes, he gives us a nod that it’s time.

We face each other, hand in hand, and we recite together. “Ye are Blood of my Blood, and Bone of my Bone. I give ye my Body, that we Two might be One. I give ye my Spirit, ‘til our Life shall be Done.” We lean in and have our first kiss as a man and wife. Tears streak both of our faces.

Atlas is bawling next to us. We turn to look at him and he scowls us. “What bitches you never seen someone cry at a wedding?” The room erupts with laughter.

Wes extends his hand to the judge and introduces us. “Layne, this is my uncle. Judge Robert Larimore.”

My eyes widen at the mention of this man being his uncle. I take his hand and he places a kiss on the top. “Lovely to meet ye.” He turns back to Wes, “Ye let your parents know, didn’t ye, boy?”

He nods his head, “They will meet us for the little get-together afterward. It was hard getting them a flight on such short notice, but I made it happen. You should come by too, bring Ella and the girls.”

Okay, when the fuck did he have time to arrange all of this?

Atlas hugs me and tells me he will see us at Roman’s. He needs to prepare for our arrival. There won't be many people, just coworkers and concert-goer friends. Now I guess Wes’s parents and uncle will be there. Talk about nerve-wracking.

Wes takes my hand in his and leads me out to the hallway.

“Are we picking up your parents?” I ask.

He guides me down a dark corridor and pins me against the wall. Before I can even get a word out, his mouth is on mine with such ferocity, I thought he was trying to suffocate me. “You are so fucking beautiful, Ma Petite Mort. You're all mine now, Layne. Forever.”

“You’re mine now, too. Don’t forget it.” My teeth sink into his bottom lip, drawing blood. His blood drips down his chin and I swear this man couldn’t look hotter.

“I can’t wait to take you home and rip this dress off you, tie you up, and fuck my wife.” Heat pools between my thighs, tempting me to tell him to just skip the get-together.

“Let’s go. Don’t want to keep everyone waiting.”

I asked Wes if he could take us by the loft so I could change into a more comfortable black dress. He hesitates because he says he wants to rip it off of me.

“Please keep it on, baby.” He begs.

How do I say no to that?

I reluctantly agree, knowing the sex will be well worth it. Cars line the street in front of the building when we finally pull up to the pizza shop.

A car arrives, and a man who resembles Wes jumps out and hurries to the other side. He helps a beautiful red-haired woman out of the car. Wes sees where my attention is and a smile breaks across his face. “That’s my ma and dad. Come on, let’s introduce you.” After helping me out of the car, we head over to them.

“Da!” Wes shouts as he throws his arms around the man. Nearly knocking him to the ground, Wes’s dad embraces him. His mother laughs at the two of them. Wes turns his attention to her, wrapping his arms around her. “Ma, I missed you.” His mother pulls him back to stare at his face.

“Well, obviously not too much. You’ve been a rather busy boy.” She turns to face me. I extend my hand out to her. “Hello, Mrs. Larimore. I’m Layne.” She swats my hand away and pulls me into her arms, along with her son.

“I’m Ma now, thank you very much. We know all about you, love. Wes doesn’t stop talking about you.” I shift my eyes to my husband. He must have been talking about me to his parents before I was his. He gives me his sweetest shit-eating grin, knowing full well I will bring this up later.

Wes’s father ushers us closer to the door. “Well, let’s get this show on the road. I am sure everyone is starving.” We spend the next few hours laughing and enjoying the company of friends, my co-workers, and family. Wes’s uncle shows up a little later with his wife and daughters.

I have never been happier in my life.

Wes remained fixated on his phone as the night came to a close. I nudge him and motion to his phone.

“What’s the matter?”

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