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Everyone’s piled outside now, and I watch in astonishment as my teammates grapple a guy to the floor.
“What the heck is going on?” I yell.
“Paparazzi,” someone replies.
“Gerroff me,” the guy yells. “Let me go.”
“Not a chance,” Levinski, one of our centers, growls. The guys are all pretty strong, but Levinski isn’t someone to mess with, which makes this all the more pleasurable for me to watch.
Everyone is now out of the tent, cheering the guys on as they march across the gardens with this guy hitched on their shoulders like a carpet.
“Out. Out. Out,” everyone chants.
When the guys move out of sight, we all pile back into the heat.
“Well, that was exciting,” Emma breathes, her cheeks glowing from the cold.
“And this is just the beginning,” I say with a grin, leaning down and brushing my lips against hers.
When the guys get back from taking out the trash, the caterers serve the four-course dinner, and laughter and conversation fill the air while a string quartet plays mood music in the background. And then it’s time for the speeches.
“When I first heard that Ryan was planning on marrying Emma,” Steve says, “I took Emma to the side and asked herif she needed to go and see a doctor.” A low chuckle ripples through the room. “Or at least an ophthalmologist.”
More laughter while Emma giggles beside me.
Steve’s grinning over at me while I smirk and shake my head. “Funny guy,” I mouth.
“Emma’s an educated woman. She could have any guy she wants, which is why I was so worried.” The audience is now tittering. “But hey, she told me her eyesight was fine, so who am I to judge?” Steve grins over at me. “Seriously, though”—he looks at me in a way that only I know, and that reminds me of the bond we’ve shared for years—“this guy has been my friend since high school. In the first couple of years, I didn’t have a great time, and it was Ryan who helped me get through it. He got me into sports, helped me with my school work, and really carried me through.”
Emma glances up at me with a soft but surprised smile. She still doesn’t know everything about me.
“And all I can say is, I couldn’t be happier that he’s now found love with Emma. Even though I still think she needs glasses.”
The audience laughs and claps, and Steve gives me a look. I wink back and nod.
When all the speeches are over, Emma and I move to the dance floor for the first dance. When “Eternal Flame” by the Bangles starts playing, Emma suddenly giggles.
“You didn’t?”
“I did.” I grin down at her. “I figured, it was kinda our song.”
She gazes up at me, her face beaming with a huge grin. “I suppose it is. Though it is the cheesiest song in the history of cheesy songs.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I tilt my head. “It could be worse.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
“What about Bryan Adams, ‘Everything I Do, I Do It For You?’ Or ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You’ by Stevie Wonder?”
“Oh, no,” she balks. “You’re getting your cheese mixed up with your classics.”
“Will you just shut up and enjoy our dance?” I say, grinning down at her.
She grins then. “Alright.”
Later on, I disappear from the marquee tent and get ready for Emma’s big surprise.
*****