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Chapter Five

“I just don’t believe it,” Nick said as he drove us back to the hotel. “The words “Kevin” and “divorce” don’t go together.”

I sighed. “I know. It says a lot about him that he’d still ask Kristin to be here for the wedding.”

“That’s because he always thinks of everyone before himself,” Nick said.

We pulled up to the hotel. I had abandoned my oven in the backseat and I was more than ready to get into some comfy pajamas. Nick came around to my door, lifting me out of my seat.

“You’re going to break your back if you keep doing that,” I said. Nick smiled.

“You forget that I’m packing these guns,” he said, flexing his arms. “I’m licensed and heavily armed.”

I snorted; yes I actually snorted. Nick burst out laughing. God bless Nick for loving a nerd.

We headed to our room, hand in hand. With another early morning looming ahead, I couldn’t wait to get under the soft Egyptian cotton sheets and crash. Nick sat at the end of the bed and tugged off his shoes as I yanked the tight black shirt over my head.

“So about those tricks with my rolling pin…” Nick said.

I looked at him like he was crazy. “It’s almost midnight.”

“Yeah?”

“I have to wake up at seven to meet the girls by eight to get our hair done.”

“It takes six hours to get your hair did?” The wedding was at two.

“We’ve got hair, makeup, getting dressed, touch-ups, pre-ceremony pictures,” I rattled off. Nick shook his head.

“I’m not meeting the guys until like ten,” Nick said.

“Yes, but you’re guys,” I said. Nick laughed.

“No, we’ve had years of experience changing costumes in thirty seconds.” He stretched out languorously across the bed. “So I’m guessing you’re taking a rain check on my baking skills?”

I slid his Celtics jersey over my head and crawled in beside him. I kissed his shoulder and rested my chin on his chest.

“I’m living proof of your baking skills, Nick.”

His fingers slid under the shoulders of the jersey. “This is a good look on you.”

I laughed and kissed him softly.

“Good night.”

Nick sighed. “You can’t blame a guy for trying.” He gave me another kiss, this one long and incredibly sweet. “Good night, Livvy.”

He reached over and clicked off the light. A few minutes later, soft snoring filled the room.

I drifted off to sleep thinking about all of the wedding plans Nick and I needed to get started on. Even though it seemed like so far away, August would be here before we knew it. In my mind I could see Nick standing in a tux, barefoot on the beach.

It was a great way to fall asleep.

-------------------------------------------

My alarm clock shrilled way too early the next morning. I hit snooze three times. On the fourth blare, Nick picked the clock up and tossed it across the room. The sound of the plastic crunching against the wall finally told me to get up.

Nick grabbed my wrist as I started to get out of bed.

“Don’t,” he mumbled. “I’m cold.”

I highly doubted it. During the course of the night, he had managed to kick all the covers almost completely off the bed.

“I’ve got to go.” I picked up my cell phone. I was late. “Oh shit!”

I scrambled around the room, getting dressed and collecting panty hose and shoes. By the time I stuffed everything into a duffel bag, Nick was sitting up bleary eyed watching me. I rushed over and gave him a kiss.

“See you this afternoon,” I said. I flew to the door.

“Don’t speed,” Nick warned. “I don’t care if you’re a few minutes late.”

I assured him that safety was my middle name and headed out to the van. I arrived at the hair salon twenty minutes late.

“I’m so sorry,” I said as I breezed in. Five heads wrapped up in twists and curlers turned in my direction.

I wasn’t the only one missing.

“Where’s Kristin?”

“She left for LA late last night,” Leighanne said softly.

“I have a replacement bridesmaid on the way,” Rochelle added. She sounded exhausted.

I sank down in a salon chair and handed the stylist a picture of the up-do I wanted. She set to work while I got caught up on events.

“She called a taxi and slipped out during dinner,” Leigh said. “No note or anything.”

“And now AJ’s freaking out,” Rochelle said bitterly. “He’s always looked up to Kevin. Last night AJ looked at me and said ‘If marriage didn’t work out for Kev, how do I stand a chance?’”

“He didn’t,” I said. Rochelle just nodded. “Oh, he did.”

“Luckily, Brian and Howie intervened,” Leigh said.

“When did this all happen?” I asked. I had thought that everyone had left at the same time Nick and I did.

“Well, Kevin realized Kristin was nowhere to be found when we were all getting in our cars. It all went downhill from there,” Leighanne said. “Thank goodness Mason was fast asleep. I think that would have made it ten times worse.”

“I think the thing that made Kevin the angriest is he didn’t want AJ and me to find out until after the wedding,” Rochelle said. “He actually apologized to us. I mean, he didn’t have anything to apologize for.”

“Well, as much as I hate to say it,” Leigh said. “I think we should try to push it out of our minds today. After all, it’s your day, Ro.”

“If AJ actually makes it to the alter,” she responded.

“What? He’ll make it,” I said. “You’ve said all along that he’s probably been more excited than you for this day to get here. I don’t think anything’s going to change that.”

“I hope so.”

Conversation drifted off as the stylists continued to work on our hairstyles. Luckily I had chosen something extremely simple. With the help of bobby pins, the curling iron, and sprigs of baby’s breath, I was actually out of the chair before Rochelle and Leigh.

Rochelle’s emergency backup bridesmaid came rushing through the door while Leighanne and I watched Regis and Kelly and licked cinnamon bun icing off of our fingers. She looked to be about the same size as Kristin but her hair was a bright purple.

“Guys, this is Precious,” Rochelle said. “Precious, this is Leigh, Leighanne, and Olivia. You know Denise and Wendy.”

“What do you want done to me?” Precious asked, her hands on hips. She had a nose piercing and chin piercing that were currently connected by a metal chain.

Rochelle looked over at her.

“Black highlights and an updo,” Rochelle said calmly. I knew that if one of my bridesmaids had shown up with bright purple hair that I wouldn’t have been so nonchalant.

But that was Rochelle.

“This is going to sound horrible,” Leighanne whispered in my ear. “But I can’t wait to see Kevin walk down the aisle with her. He’s going to have a heart attack. He’s such a perfectionist when he dresses up. I don’t think purple hair’s in the game plan.”

I couldn’t help it; the mental image made me smile. “Well, it will definitely provide a good distraction.”

By the time the hair stylist was finished with Precious, we were way behind schedule. It was already eleven o’clock; there was no time for lunch. It was a mad scramble to the church where facial specialists were impatiently waiting. Makeup took yet another hour and then we still had to get dressed before the photographer showed up. In fact, Denise had just finished zipping Rochelle’s dress when the photographer walked in.

“You girls ready?” she asked.

For the next half hour, she took pictures of the wedding party and bride. We shoved Rochelle into her dress prematurely; the photographer wanted to get some “getting ready” shots, so we stripped her back down and started all over.

“Have you shot the guys yet?” I asked the photographer as we all gathered around Rochelle in a circle. She stood on a chair and got an overhead shot.

“I’ve got to go back. The groom was having an, er, issue.”

That was not what Rochelle needed to hear. She frowned. “What do you mean an issue?”

The photographer looked like someone who had swallowed a cat. “Oh, nothing major! Just nerves.”

Before she could dig herself deeper into her verbal hole; she slid out the door. While Denise and Wendy reassured Rochelle, I slipped out and followed her to the boy’s room. Some might call me nosey; but in my mind I was just being a good friend.

I saw the photographer knock on the door and head in. She left the door half opened. I peeked around the corner.

It was twenty minutes before the wedding was supposed to start and the guys were a mess. Well, I should say Nick, AJ, and Brian were a mess. Kevin, Howie, and AJ’s other friends were completely dressed and calm. Even Mason and Baylee were ready. Brian was struggling with the zipper on his slacks; Nick was looking around for what I could only assume was his white dress shirt. AJ just looked, well, green. The photographer wasn’t lying; it seemed nerves had finally caught up with him.

I was ready to head back to the girl’s room when Nick turned one more time, vainly lifting up piles of clothes. I noticed a huge bandage on his back.

I couldn't help myself; I walked into the dressing room.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Every head turned to look in my direction. Nick, having succeeded in finding his dress shirt, held it up feebly, his face a mask of guilt.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"That bandage! It wasn't there this morning!"

I saw AJ duck into the bathroom; sounds of retching filled the room.

Nick quickly put his dress shirt on and pulled me out into the hall.

"You look great," he said with a smile. I narrowed my eyes.

"Flattery is going to get you nowhere," I said. He sighed.

"Okay," he looked behind him to make sure the door was closed, then he turned back to me.

"AJ and I went to the tattoo parlor this morning."

My eyes widened. "You went to a tattoo parlor? This morning?"

"Yeah. AJ was telling me at his bachelor party that he wanted to get Rochelle's name tattooed on his chest. I was going to have all of us guys go with AJ, but then there was that fight and things got kind of nuts. Then last night didn't work because we had the rehearsal dinner. So, I woke up early, picked up AJ and we went."

Nick gave me one of his thousand watt smiles.

"So why do you have a bandage on your back?" I asked sweetly. He made a face; I daresay he was hoping his story would be sufficient and I would forget about the bandage. No such luck.

"Well, I er," Nick rubbed his neck. "Friends can't let friends tattoo alone," he said.

I raised an eyebrow. "What did you get?"

Nick smiled. "Oh, it's nothing. Just a little thing."

I tapped my foot. He sighed. "You're not going to let it go are you?"

I shook my head.

"Well, it was supposed to be a surprise," he said with a smile. "But since you insist on knowing, I got your name on my back."

My eyes widened.

"I promise as soon as the redness and junk goes away that I'll let you see it," he added.

"You put my name on your back?" I asked. He nodded.

"Now it's my turn to ask a question. Why are you being such a sneak? Didn't you read the door? Boys only."

I scoffed. "I'm not a sneak. The photographer said AJ was having an issue. Which I see he is. What's going on?"

Nick grinned; it was a reaction I wasn't expecting. "At the last minute AJ decided he didn't want the tattoo on his chest. He's kinda hurting right now."

I smacked my forehead. I was tempted to ask for more details, but I thought better of it.

"He should be alright by tonight," Nick added. He grinned. "As long as she doesn't play too rough."

I saw Leighanne poke her head out of the girl's room and motion to me. I looked back at Nick.

"Well, with that great visual burned into my mind, I'm going to go get my walking instructions," I said.

Nick kissed me softly. "See you in a few."

As I walked back to the girl's dressing room, I couldn't help but smile. Nick had put MY name on his back. Sure I wasn't the FIRST girl he had tattooed on him (that honor went to Paris Hilton - thank god he was able to cover THAT up), but it still meant a lot.

Now all we had to do was get AJ married without him vomiting all over his bride.

As the organ music began to play and I took my place in line behind Leighanne, I also made a mental note to NEVER let AJ and Nick bum around town unattended ever again.