Page 58 of It's Holy Matrimony, Baby

Nox glances at me, waits for me to say something. I slip my hand into his. “I’m with you. We can walk out right now if you want. Or I can sit right here and watch you perform. It’s up to you.”

“What do you say, Nox?” Dean asks, waiting for him to make up his mind.

“Fine,” he huffs, but the corners of his mouth lift anyway. Striding to the stage he mounts the steps and moves to join Dean, stopping to pick up the guitar on his way. He lifts the strap over his head and wraps his big hand around the neck.

“What are you going to play?” Dean asks.

“No idea,” Nox replies, taking a seat. He settles the guitar in his lap, plucks lightly at the strings and adjusts the pegs. He does that a couple of times before he lifts his gaze to me. He plays a few chords. Shakes his head. Tries again until he comes up with something he’s happy with while Dean moves the microphone closer. He clears his throat as he weaves chords into a progression. “I’m rusty as old nails, so don’t expect any miracles, but let’s see what I can come up with on the spot.”

He strums a few bars followed by something more complex and begins to hum, an easy smile breaking over his features. “Okay. All right.”

“Come on,” Lou pleads behind me.

Have they all been hoping and waiting for him to realize he can still be happy? Can still have his passions? I want to ask her, but I can’t draw my attention away from him. Especially when he starts to sing, though it’s disjointed and more of a story than a song.

“She was a stone cold fox in a white dress,

An angel when my head was a mess,

And I was screaming, yes, yes, yes.

Cause she’s got a fetish for what I got.

Fingers that tie her all up in a knot.”

He grins as he wiggles his fingers at me, while barely skipping a beat.

“Something about oranges

And a cat named Hollander.

If she wants to leave, then I’ll follow her.

Yeah.

She was a stone cold fox in a white dress

An angel when my head was a mess,

And I was screaming yes, God, yes.

Cause she’s got something that I need,

Maybe one day she’ll come to see,

She’s my stone cold fox in a white dress,

My angel when my head is a mess,

And I’ll be screaming yes, yes, yes.

Yeah, I’ll be screaming yes, God, yes

That’s my wifey in the tight white dress”

When he finishes he just sits there for a minute, holding the guitar on his lap with his eyes closed. My heart soars across the room to him, my smile is so big. Every fiber in my body wants to rush toward him. So this is what it feels like. This is what happens when attraction turns to something more than a chemical equation. As he puts down the guitar I fly to him. Jump up on the stage and onto his lap. People are watching us. His sister and brother are watching us, and I don’t care at all as I straddle him.

He grins at me as he cups my face between his hands and stares into my eyes. “What did you think?”

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