Page 76 of Iron Will

More sure than I’ve ever been of anything

This life with Rourke Powers is going to be a wild ride, I’m sure. One I never could have imagined before we met.

But I know who he is. And I’m pretty sure I know what we have.

It’s a first. For both of us. And it’s exactly where I want to be.

For the rest of my life.

Epilogue

ROURKE

“They look like they’ll be very happy together,” I murmur to Laney as we watch them cut the cake.

“No they won’t,” she whispers back cheerfully. “But they’ll be rich and important, and maybe that means they won’t notice it so much.”

Laney’s sister Lindsay and her new husband Nick stand together beside a wedding cake that’s taller than either of them, with so much decoration and frosting that it looks more like a sculpture than anything edible. And I guess that’s probably the point. It’s got dozens of real-looking flowers cascading down from the top of it, and gold leaf patterns that look more to me like wallpaper than anything, but whatever.

When I said we’re watching them “cut” the cake, that’s an exaggeration. What we’re really watching them do ispretendto cut the cake. The two of them stand there, frozen smiles in place, as a group of photographers wind all around them, taking pictures of their rings, their hands on the knife, looking into each other’s eyes, her pretending to laugh at a joke he’s pretending to tell… Jesus Christ, it goes on forever. We all stand around pretending to give a shit, while we’re just waiting for the whole goddamn thing to be over.

Or maybe that’s just me.

Thank God I managed to make friends with one of the bartenders earlier. He’s got a bottle of Jack back behind the bar with my name on it. That bottle may be the only way I manage to get through this reception, I swear to Christ.

Laney told me they even have a social media consultant for this thing. Hashtag wedding of the fucking century, or some shit like that.

Laney’s sister and her new husband finally cut the goddamn cake. We all raise our drinks and clap for them while the photographers take pictures. I notice none of them are aiming their cameras at Laney and me. My bet is, they’ve been told to keep us out of the photos as much as possible. Suits me just fine.

Laney’s family, man… they’re really something else. Her mom is so uptight, it actually looks like someone’s surgically implanted a broomstick up her ass. She doesn’t give a single opinion on anything in Laney’s dad’s presence without looking at him for approval.

Her dad, Senator Hart, smells like money — the dirty kind. He’s a silver-haired southern politician right out of central casting, shaking hands, kissing babies, and laughing this big, fake-ass booming laugh. But even his flawless southern hospitality doesn’t quite extend to the likes of me. When Laney introduced me to him and her mom last night at the rehearsal dinner, I swear I thought they were gonna call the whole wedding off just so they wouldn’t have to deal with the scandal of having their older daughter show up on my fuckin’ arm.

And I even broke down and wore a suit for this.

The whole family, Laney’s sister included, was pretty much horrified to see her arrive with the likes of me. I’m pretty sure they already thought Laney was as much of a disappointment to them as she could be, but I guess we’ve done a damn good job of proving them wrong. I am clearly their worst fucking nightmare. It’s pretty obvious it’s killing them to have all their rich society friends see Laney show up on the arm of a guy with tattoos and grease under his nails.

It’s hilarious how fuckin’ scandalized these assholes all are. But the best part is, Laney’s at least as amused by it as I am.

And even though if there’s a hell, it will probably be an eternity of this fucking wedding, I wouldn’t miss being here with Laney. I love watching her give zero fucks when her mom gives her the side-eye for not playing the good little senator’s daughter. It cracked me up to see her parents flip their shit when she left her chair at the head table during dinner to come sit with me in the cheap seats.

Looking at her now, with her hair all pulled up away from her face, smiling up at me, Laney’s the most beautiful woman in the whole damn room. She even puts the bride to shame. Whatever her family thinks of her, everyone here can see it.

And she’s all mine.

Standing nextto her now among all the other guests, a glass of champagne in her hand and a beer in mine, I can’t help but laugh at how different this weekend is from last weekend.

The Lords had a fundraiser for Paisley and Bethany, to help them pay for Paisley’s hospital stay. The entire club was there, helping out. Hell, even Laney’s friend Katie the nurse was there. I’m pretty sure she still doesn’t like me all that much, but I think she might be starting to come around. We didn’t manage to raise enough to wipe the whole hospital bill out, but we came damn close. And from what Yoda says, he and Bethany will be able to pay off the rest by the end of the year.

Bethany moved in with Yoda a couple months after I convinced Laney to move into my place. Bethany fits right in with the club, and Yoda’s one happy motherfucker. Paisley's arm healed up just fine, and she’s doing great. She and Addi are pretty much best friends, too. Which is great for Paisley, because now she’s a cool kid by association at Ironwood Elementary. She doesn’t get bullied anymore.

As for Mickey, well… he’s long gone. Skipped town, just like that. At least, that’s what Yoda told Bethany. And for all intents and purposes, that’s what I told Laney, too.

The truth? Well, that’s a little more gruesome. But hell, he’s alive. He should consider himself damn lucky for that, the piece of shit. And since he jumped bail, he’s wanted for arrest in Ohio. Not to mention, he’s wanted by Jimmy Mazur, too, for failure to repay his loan.

I guess the Vietnamese got to him after we did. Turns out, Jimmy’s not the only one he still owed money to. They got their payback, though, from what I hear. With interest.

Let’s just say Mickey will never flip anyone the bird again.

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