Page 71 of Side Hustle
“You liked my cat ones, so I figured peacocks might float your boat,” I whispered as we both caught our breaths. My neck ached from being pressed against the cabinets, but I didn’t mind. It’d so been worth it.
Rip stood up straighter, but didn’t pull out of me quite yet. His lazy smile made me want him to stay that way all day. Under my skin, in my heart, and connected by flesh.
“I think you need parrot panties next.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Um, okay. If that’s what turns you on.”
He kissed me quick and pulled out, straightening my underwear and helping me down from the counter like he just remembered to be a gentleman.
“Oh! And I thought of something else!”
Rip gave me a funny look. “I need like five minutes. Ten tops.”
It hit me what he meant. “No! Not that. Well, not right now. I thought instead of the cliff jumping we could go to the gold cave and do the dirty there. It’d be warmer. And I know we found gold without having sex, but it wouldn’t hurt to christen the place and really live out the town legend.”
Rip grabbed my hips and pulled me close, his eyes sliding half shut. I knew that look. That was the look that said he fell just a tiny bit more in love with me.
“Absolutely yes. I like the way you think, woman. And maybe I can keep a closer eye on who’s on my land. We never did find out who the guy was that day you were on the hill. Guess Auburn Hill has yet another mystery.” He shrugged and spanked me on the ass. “Go get dressed before I get distracted again. We have pastries to make.”
“Eek!” I held my fists in the air and shook them, I was so excited. I ran out of the kitchen, calling over my shoulder, “I have some black beans we could put in brownies!”
I wasn’t sure, but I could have sworn I heard Rip grumble something under his breath. No matter what he might have said, I was too excited about Hazel Day to worry about what he thought of my healthy recipe experiments. We didn’t have to actually eat it after it came out of the oven. I mean, I’d just gotten good dick with the promise of more later. What was there to be bummed about?
I pulled on my comfiest stretchy jeans, sans underwear—I had a fiancé booty call later today, thank you very much—and the sweater I knew Rip liked. Today might be all about my favorite activities, but little did he know, driving him wild was my most favorite activity of all.
“What is this?” I walked back in the kitchen to hear The Temptations crooning about having sunshine on a cloudy day from the tiny speaker by the sink.
Rip spun around with surprising finesse, holding out his hand, a carefree air to him that grew by the day lately. I slipped my palm into his and he immediately twirled me into his chest, swaying us from side to side. “Dance with me, sunshine.”
“Lord have mercy, my man wants to dance,” I murmured, all too happy to dance with the man I loved in our kitchen.
My cheek lay against his warm chest as he led us in circles, singing softly in my ear about being his girl. Something huge and life-altering filled every not-so-secretly lonely corner of my body, blotting out the insecurities I’d carried for a lifetime. With a grin splitting my face, a stray tear of happiness slid down my cheek and onto his skin. Happy tears only. Always.
All it took was opening my heart to the boy I hated, and I found heaven right here in Hell.
Epilogue
Hazel
Nature had mercy on us and kept the winds off the ocean at a light breeze. The cliffs were a magical place for us Auburn Hillers and today was no exception. Rays of light streamed through the trees as the midday sun bathed our gathering on this, the first day of spring.
And our wedding day.
Hazel & Rip forever. Or “Rizel” as our friends had nicknamed us as a couple. I eyed the tree down below, seeing its top branches. Rip and I had come down here just days after our engagement and carved our initials into that tree down by the marina. The very one I’d wanted to carve our names into junior year of high school. Some dreams just took a little longer, but it made them that much sweeter.
Popping my head around the corner of the white tent structure that would house our reception, Lucy swatted at me to get back. “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong started playing through the speakers, and everyone milling about in their Sunday best hurried to sit down. I sucked in a deep breath and willed my tear ducts to behave. They’d made no promises and I feared even the waterproof mascara would buckle under the emotional weight of a wedding.
Roxy trotted down the aisle in her fluffy white flower girl dress, the top of her blonde hair bobbing up and down as she spread the rose petals across the white runner. My Hell Raisers gave me the hell they were known for as they waited to head down the aisle before me, but I couldn’t stop peeking. This was my one and only wedding day. I wanted to see every gorgeous second of it.
Lucy left first, getting to the head of the aisle and giving Rip a kiss on the cheek. The two of them had bonded so much since finding out they were brother and sister. Lenora walked down the aisle, then Finnie and finally Amelia. The song ended and I held my breath for the first notes of the wedding march that was my cue.
Instead, the first drum beats to “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge lit the quiet air, the pounding of the waves below us the only other sound. I gasped when the first line of lyrics screamed through the speaker. And there was my Rip, so handsome in his retro white tuxedo with the black lapels and the ruffled shirt, standing at the foot of the aisle, holding his hand out. My old-fashioned hero. I didn’t think, I just ran. Right into his arms, contrary to all wedding tradition. My Jackie O straight-line lace dress didn’t allow room for my legs to hook around his waist, but I jumped just the same, knowing Rip would catch me.
“When a man loves a woman, he doesn’t let her walk alone,” he whispered gruffly in my ear, setting me down.
My heart melted into a puddle and I knew without a doubt I’d lose the war with my tear ducts before the day was through. I looked over at the crowd now standing and waiting for me, not seeing a dry eye among them. I didn’t have a father to walk me down the aisle, a fact that hadn’t affected me much as we planned this day, knowing I had Rip waiting for me. But here he was, making sure even that tiny detail was looked after. My face crumpled and I had to bat my eyelids like a hummingbird’s wings to keep from ruining my makeup.
Rip pulled my hand into the crook of his elbow. “You look stunning,” he stated and turned to walk me down the aisle, his spine ramrod straight. He kept his pace slow, allowing me to soak up every second and smile hello to a beaming Granny, and my friends and neighbors, all the while knowing I was the luckiest woman in town.
