Page 142 of The Genius
“You’re not mad at me?”
“No, Shelly is an adult. She makes her own decisions.”
“Your mom is going to be angry, though. She made Shelly promise not to marry me.”
Rochelle waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry about it. Shelly found a way to get our mom’s approval before she married you.”
“How? That’s impossible; she only just agreed to marry me tonight.”
“She spoke to our mom hours ago. Let’s just say that she manipulated the truth a bit.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” I said and wondered why she hadn’t told me about her conversation with her mother. I couldn’t be angry at Shelly, because whatever she had done, she’d done it for us.
Hunter picked me up from the ground and squeezed me in a bear hug. “Fuck, you’re a lucky dog. I’ll never understand how you managed to convince someone like Shelly to marry you, except you did say that for a genius she isn’t very bright.”
I laughed. “Love is blind, my friend.”
“Oh, so we’re friends now? I though you just tolerated me.”
“That depends on if you’re willing to find another place to sleep so Shelly and I can have the tent tonight.”
Hunter smacked my shoulder. “I don’t think so. You would keep us all awake and make us men hate our lives if we have to listen to you two fornicate all night. Boulder suggested that you sleep in the gym. He says you can be as loud as you want in there.”
“Thank you. I need it. We haven’t been together for the last two days and I’m dying.”
Hunter lowered his brow in anare-you-kidding-meexpression. “Yeah, two days sounds like a real test.”
“Sorry, it’s just that once you’ve been with a woman, it’s kind of addictive.”
“I know.” A ghost of sadness flew over his face but was quickly replaced by a bright smile.
“It’s time for the wedding dance.” Mila was pushing at me from behind and before I knew it, Shelly and I were pressed together and music was playing.
“How do you dance to this kind of music?”
Shelly grinned up at me. “I have no idea. Maybe we can just sway from side to side.”
“This is epic. Dancing with you and letting the whole world see that I’m your man.”
“You weren’t that interested in me when I had pimples and a monobrow.”
“I was twenty and interested in women. You were a girl, Shelly.”
“If only I could have told that young girl suffering from your lack of interest that ten years later she’d be dancing with you under the stars with a new life growing inside of her.”
I kissed her on her nose. “If only I could have told that young man to be less of a jerk to the girl he would one day be obsessing about.”
We kissed, smiled, and laughed as we moved our feet while still holding on to each other.
Leaning her head on my shoulder, Shelly sighed. “I never want this song to end.”
“I do. Otherwise we can’t get to the best part,” I teased.
“What part is that?”
“Our wedding night, of course.”
“I don’t know, Marco, I’m kind of tired,” Shelly gave a yawn. “Would you mind if we wait until we get home tomorrow night?”
