Page 59 of All The Happily Ever Afters

“Okay, keep your secrets. I have a bet with Amy that you’re fucking him, just so you know.”

“She thinks you two fucked that night,” Lauren’s gaze stays glued to my face, waiting for a confirmation.

Although my heart races, I play along with Lauren’s goading.

No one knows what happened the night of the party. And I don’t know if I can keep this secret, one of many, for that long. Not when I know I’m going to see him.

“You two make the stupidest bets,” I tell her with an evil grin and then lean in to confess to her in a hushed whisper, “And don’t you know I’m a virgin?”

She outright laughs at my joke, even though it makes my heart pound harder.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing, is ready,” Viv shrieks with a cracked voice before dropping her phone to the ground and falling onto the sofa across the bridal suite.

I take that as my cue, grateful for the distraction. Standing up abruptly, I’m quick to talk over everyone else, trying to comfort her.

“I’ll go find the event coordinator right now.” I can feel Lauren’s eyes on me, but I ignore her and wrap the tie of my robe tighter so I can leave the room and feel somewhat decently covered. We all have matching scarlet robes, other than the bride’s white one of course.

“What’s her name again?” I ask.

“Sheryl,” Viv’s voice is weak but hopeful. She’s not a bridezilla per say, but she’s certainly emotional today.

“I’m sure everything is fine,” I tell her and give her a small smile as I head to the door, “But I'll get a timeline and a checklist.” With a firm nod, I exit and nearly collapse against the door. With my own emotions running wild, I lean against the hardwood and breathe for a moment, the faint chatter of voicesmuffled behind me, and the clanging of folding tables being set up echoing through the wooden ceiling above me.

Aiden is somewhere close. Somewhere smoking cigars and laughing with Jason, joking about how he’s ending his bachelor days. I can do this I remind myself. I have to. After tonight, things will be different. No more hiding, no more secrets.

I don’t know how they can’t read it on my face.

I’ve kept secrets before, but not like this. But we all do foolish things for the ones we love.

AIDEN

I’d recognize her voice in a crowd anywhere, at any time. Even the soft hum that spills from her lips when she’s listening to a good story.

“And the centerpieces will be placed like this. She wants the larger candle on the inside,” I hear Ella say calmly as I stand at the bottom of the stairwell. The florist gives me a simple smile as she continues to pin ivory tulle up along the railing. It looks like she’s just gotten started.

I know the bridal suite is in the back, but I take the stairs one at a time, following the sweet voice as her words drift down the stairwell.

“I’ve got it all and it’s all under control. Please tell her not to worry.” A tall woman in a silver tweed suit with her hair up in a tight bun stands beside Ella as I peek around the corner, “It’s all under control,” she repeats.

My eyes drift to the short silk robe, and then lower to the tanned legs on full display.

“I told her that already, but now that I’ve talked to you, I’m sure she’ll feel better,” Ella smiles, her long brunette hair already pinned up and braided. Just seeing that gorgeous smile and the flush of her cheeks tugs at the corner of my lips. My gaze driftsdown her chest to her slender fingers, and my cock hardens instantly.

I lose control around Ella, I always have. She has a way of bringing out a side of me that’s possessive and unpredictable.

I’d do anything to have her and keep her. But what she does to me… I groan low and deep in my chest as I watch the staff leave her all alone in the expansive room upstairs. There’s not a soul in sight but her.

My jaw clenches, remembering how I lost control at the party, in the back laundry room.

Everything in the last two years disappeared into nothing and all I knew was that I needed her to be mine again.

I wanted everyone to know it. I wanted them to hear her scream my name. Instead, she clawed down my back and sank her teeth into my neck, leaving a bruised mark as I fucked her ruthlessly.

Precum leaks from me while remembering how good it felt to have her against the wall, pounding into her tight cunt while everyone we knew was just beyond a thin wall.

Before I can turn the corner, two men carrying a large white box enter, their simple black shirts have a cake on the front of them. And on cue, Ella claps her hands in delight, elated that the wedding cake has arrived.

“I’ll go tell the bride,” she tells them with a pep in her step that I haven’t seen in so long. A darkness has clouded my judgment for years. I didn’t know enlisting in the Army would change everything. Not just how I felt about Ella, but how I feel about myself and everything I’ve done.

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