Page 64 of Nothing to the Wedding
“Yes!”Jane said on a rapturous laugh.“He doesn’t care about anything like that, but for me…”
“He’d do anything for you.Don’t you think Toria and I ran the gauntlet with him?Many, many times.If either of us thought he wasn’t worthy of you, we’d have nixed this from the start.”
“How long have you known?You and Toria?Who else knew?”
“For most of the time, it was me, Z, Knox and Toria.Tripp figured it out or found out at some point, I don’t know when or who slipped up.”
“The guys?”
“Knox didn’t tell them until last night.They couldn’t believe he wasn’t going to bed with you.”
Jane’s cheeks pinked.“And his mom?His brothers?”
“I’d be willing to bet Cam heard it first, but you’d have to ask Knox about the others.”
“I’m getting married,” Jane said, awestruck, admiring the jewel that fit so perfectly on her hand.“I’m really doing it.”
“Yeah, you are.But what Toria said is true too.Don’t feel pressured into this today.We can do it later or not at all.If you’re not one hundred percent sure—”
“I’m sure,” she said.“Now I know Knox wasn’t… He really loves me.”
“He does.”
“Anyway, I would never do that to you and Zairn.This day is about all of us.”
“Zairn won’t care—” That dismayed Jane.“No, not that he won’t care.He wants to do this.Really wants to do this.Your happiness means a lot to him too.He wouldn’t want you marrying Knox unless you were sure.He and I can still do the deed whether you do or not.Unless you want to get out of here, in which case, I have a jet on the tarmac ready to go.”
On a laugh, Jane used their link to step off the podium and into a hug.A sort of hug.Wasn’t easy to get close with all that dress.
“I love you, Roxie.”
“And I love you too.”
Still holding her, Jane leaned a little back.“Are you sure?”
“Am I sure, what?”
“Knox and I might have crashed your day, but it is your day too.Are you sure you want to go through with it?”
“To marry Zairn?You know, it never occurred to me not to.Weird, right?After that moment, in the CollCom editing booth, when it finally hit me what an idiot I was… Not marrying him never occurred to me.”
“You never wanted to get married,” Jane said.“You were never against it, but it wasn’t… you didn’t care about it.”
“I still don’t.It’s not like something I have great reverence for.The institution is… whatever, you know?”
“It’s about the man.”
Always full of wonder, Jane was a prize no woman would ever top.
“It is,” she exhaled with a laugh.Toria had given that speech more than once.“It’s Zairn.Married is just a word.But to be joined with him, to throw it out into the world that we belong utterly to each other.Yeah, I’m onboard.That matters.”They hugged again.“And it matters to Zairn.”
“Which means it matters to you.You care about what he cares about.”
“It’sourlife.I want him to be happy.”
“It’s always easier for them to treat us than it is for us to treat them.”
“They like being in control.”
