Page 86 of Pit

“Are you looking forward to our party on Saturday?” I ask, pouring her a glass of wine.

“After the crazy week I’ve had at work, yes,” she says, scooping up some of her rice. “I’m looking forward to it.” I’m surprised by her confession, and she laughs. “I’m not that much of a recluse.”

“If I’d have said to you a few weeks back that you’d be partying at the clubhouse, you’d have never believed me,” I say, smiling.

“No, I guess not. But these last few days here have shown me that, actually, everyone can be nice, even Axel.”

“We just take care of our own,” I say, tucking in to my own food.

“I like that,” she says, nodding. “And I like that they’ve made room for me too.”

I place my fork down, suddenly feeling nervous. “I know we’ve not really talked about it, but what do you think about marriage?”

She stops mid-chew, staring at me. “Why?”

“I know you don’t want kids, but you never said anything about marriage.”

“Erm, I guess I never thought anyone would ask me the question,” she admits with a nervous laugh.

I slide from my chair and land on one knee. She watches me through wide eyes as I produce a ring box from my pocket. “I’m asking,” I say, opening the box to reveal a square pink diamond ring. “Tessa Dean, will you marry me?”

“Holy shit,” she whispers, staring at the twinkling ring. “Yes, of course, I will.”

Relief floods me as she throws her arms around me, falling to her knees. I laugh as she kisses me, and when I pull back, her eyes are shining with happy tears. I take the ring from the box and gently slide it onto her finger. “I’m glad you said yes cos I have Lucas booked for Saturday.”

She gasps. “This Saturday?”

I panic. “If you want to wait, we can. I just thought you wouldn’t want the fuss and organising something big and fancy wouldn’t be your thing. Unless it is, in which case I can hand over my bank card and you can go crazy—”

She cuts me off with another kiss. “Stop talking, Pit,” she whispers against my lips. “You know me better than anyone, and this is exactly what I want.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Tessa

The good thing about growing up mainly alone is that I appreciate the little things no one else seems to notice. Like the way Lexi touches me gently on the arm whenever she passes. Or how Gemma throws her arm around my shoulders when we’re all together and chatting about life. It’s things they do to one another all the time, they probably aren’t even aware they doit. But I notice, and it means something to me. It means I’m accepted and I’m liked, the two things I’ve wanted for so long, and they give them so freely.

And they all understood my reluctance to walk down an aisle alone. The thought of a roomful of bikers, all watching me walk towards my future, was too scary. So now, as I stand at the doorway to the pretty, white marquee which had originally been hired to house our claiming celebration and has now been turned into a ceremony room, I feel at peace. The things that haunted me for so long are all gone.

Lexi hooks an arm in mine, Luna does the same on the other side, and behind me, Gemma holds a small bouquet of posies she handpicked from her own garden of flowers. It matches the bouquet she made me.

Music begins to play, and I take a deep breath as everyone inside stands. “Ready?” asks Lexi.

I give a nod, and we enter the marquee and make our way towards the front, where I see Pit waiting patiently. The second his eyes land on me, he relaxes. I see how his shoulders drop a little and a smile spreads over his face. He insisted I kept the dress a surprise, even though we’ve done nothing traditionally. I only chose it last night after Lexi organised for me to have a small hen party in the dress shop. She knew the owner, who was only too happy to host us. We’d spent hours all trying on dresses while drinking Champagne and wine. It was magical.

Before I’ve reached Pit, he’s moving towards me, and I laugh. He slides his hands along my jaw, his eyes tracing over every inch of my face. “You are beautiful,” he whispers, kissing me gently.

Lucas clears his throat, and a few of the bikers laugh. Pit slides a hand into mine, and I realise the girls have all sat down in the front row. He leads me to the front, where Lucas is waiting to marry us.

Pit

The ceremony was short and sweet, exactly what we both wanted. If I could have whisked Tessa away to an abandoned island in the middle of the sea, I would have, because everyone being here wasn’t important to me. Marrying her was all that mattered.

I march over to where she’s laughing with the girls and take her by the hand, gently leading her away. “Rude,” Lexi singsongs after us.

“You’ve hogged my wife for long enough,” I call back.

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