Page 42

Chapter 41

Scuba

T oday has been one of the best days of my life. I still couldn’t believe Annie agreed to get married almost right away. The fact that we pulled together something in a month was a miracle, especially given the fact that we were in the middle of the first round of playoffs.

I was on a great high after saying “I do” with Annie. But before we could get to the reception, we had to take a bunch of pictures with the wedding party. I was posing with Eric and Annie, who looked fucking gorgeous.

Eric was getting antsy about the number of photos we had to take before the reception.

I lifted him into my arms. “Just a few more, pal, okay? ‘Cause I want to remember this day forever.”

Annie hugged my waist and put a hand on Eric’s back. “Come on. Just a few more."

There were more flashes, and I had a feeling this might result in some of my favorite photos of the day because it had the most important people in my life.

Eric’s head collapsed onto my shoulder. I wished we had a babysitter lined up for the day. Well, we did, but I didn’t want him to go with my mom now. It was too damn early for her to miss out on all the reception, and they both needed to eat before they headed up to the hotel room.

Just then, our party planner came out to the hall and said, “Wrap it up. We’re about ready to make the wedding party announcement.”

“Thank fuck,” Gavin exclaimed and then looked away, realizing he swore. He had never loved modeling the way I did. In fact, about a half hour ago, he started making jokes with Jetski as a way to pass the time.

I was still so glad that some of the guys from the Sound were able to show up for the wedding. It sucked demoting Gavin from co-best man to just a normal groomsman, but he was tied up with his own playoff series out east. He, Klaus, Shoresy, and Weber would be flying back to Cleveland at the end of the reception. Hell, even Coach Weiland showed up and talked with Petey, Legacy’s owner and his ex-teammate, and that was probably the only reason we could get the guys out to the wedding.

Eric’s head popped up from my shoulder. “Language, Mr. Tree Boy.”

I laughed so hard at that. Cupping my mouth, I whispered into Eric’s ear, “That was awesome. Please always call him that.”

Gavin gave me the side eye, though he probably wanted to slug me in the shoulder. He had been desperately wanting to forget the Tree Boy nickname, but I just couldn’t let him forget it. It was just too funny.

Before he could say anything, the DJ started to announce the wedding party, and Gavin had to walk into the reception with Sabrina. After that, Carter and Siobhan were announced, followed by Klaus and his girlfriend Alex, and then, last but not least, Spencer and Natalie.

Annie asked, “Do you want to walk in on your own, Eric, or do you want your dad to carry you?”

Eric squirmed and said, “I’ll walk.”

I placed my kid down, but he immediately reached up for Annie’s and my hands. While there was a part of me that would have preferred to hold Annie’s hand, it was nice to do it with all three of us.

Finally, we heard the formal announcement to walk into the packed reception. It was all cheers, and it was so easy to dance in and soak in all our friends just celebrating our wedding.

God, I loved moments like this, but I worried about Annie and Eric. I was less worried about Eric since he was so much like me, and his smile reassured me. But Annie was so private. I was glad to see her wide smile and wanting to dance.

I swore I heard some tinging of glasses, so I reached over and kissed her lips, which caused a bunch of my teammates to holler and call for more. Which meant, of course, I continued kissing my wife.

Damn, knowing Annie was my wife was a dream come true.

It didn’t hurt that the lawyers said it would help our case to keep our son in our hands. Granted, Luke, with the protective orders against him, didn’t have a leg to stand on in the first place.