Page 34 of Knot Your Bridezilla (High Fructose Corn Syrup Verse #2)

DAVID

I swear to God, if one more person tried to stand between me and marrying Avril, I was going to lose my fucking mind.

The moment I saw her at the ceremony, I had never wanted her more.

I couldn’t even recall a time when I hadn’t wanted to make her mine—now I got a chance to do it officially.

In front of all of these wedding guests, I was itching to claim her, legally in the eyes of the world.

I couldn’t wait to sign the paperwork and send it off to the government, telling everyone that she was taken— so back the fuck off.

Avril’s dress looked like a dream—like a web of crystals glued to her hot figure, then cascading out into a ball gown that made her look like a fairy princess. With the tiara and the jewelry, she looked like glittering perfection. Simply exquisite.

God, she was gorgeous.

Avril was luminous and serene as she made her way down the aisle to me.

All I wanted to think about was that when I peeled that dress off her, it would be with Avril legally recognized as my wife.

But the moment that I finally got my head out of my ass and realized that I needed to ‘put a ring on it’ it seemed like every other man Avril had ever romantically considered was coming out of the woodwork to try to do the same.

Avril was mine.

Standing there and watching multiple men challenge me for Avril, and being told to stand down was agony.

I couldn’t even think right now. All I could wrap my head around was that it was important to my woman—something about wedding pictures—and now I was expected to stand there and endure as pathetic man-children started whining about why they should get to take my girl.

I shouldn’t have had to listen to this; it was humiliating.

I should be the one in the other room beating the crap out of her ex. Frankly, the little shit deserved it. There would be nothing more satisfying than having my turn making him pay for hurting my girl.

The moment that Avril’s fathers and brothers… and the alphas married to her omega sisters all returned to the hall, looking a bit rumpled but surprisingly not worse for wear, I knew I needed to act fast.

If I kept allowing all the interruptions to pile up, I was never going to get to marry this woman.

“Excuse me.” I turned to the officiator, who was still sort of dazed, as if he was still processing the craziness of not one, but two men crashing the wedding to try to steal away the bride.

I could totally understand—I was reeling from it, too.

“Neither of the objections have any legal standing, those men were just… throwing tantrums. Could you do me a favor and marry the two of us?” Specifically before someone else barged into the room.

I needed to get this locked down and make her mine before the next interruption.

The officiant nodded and took a deep breath.

For a moment, I was worried that he was going to say that he was going to need to review the objections or postpone the wedding. I’d heard that in some religious ceremonies, any sort of objection automatically halted the marriage proceedings.

Instead, the officiant held out his hands, gesturing to Avril and I. “By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

Oh, thank fuck.

I swept Avril into my arms, pulling her close as I pressed my lips to hers, claiming her with a kiss.

I wrapped my arms around her back, pulling her closer to me, as the rest of the world disappeared—nothing existed but the woman in my arms. My beautiful Avril—my wife.

I ignored the ruckus around us—one of Avril’s brothers was hollering “get it, girl.” Another yelled, “Do it lady,” whatever that meant, while the rest of her siblings cat-called her and cheered.

None of it mattered. I ignored all of them, completely wrapped up in bliss, as Avril stroked her little hand against my jaw, staring into my eyes…

That was until I heard a woman scream in shock.

I pulled away from Avril, heart pounding for a different reason, ready to face whatever the danger was…

To see Avril’s very pregnant mother standing over a puddle.

Did she…

That wasn’t pee was it?

She was right in the front row, and her silky floral dress was very clearly soiled as she stared down at the ground in shock. Avril’s less pregnant mother called out, “Ragnar, Genesis, get the bag. Her water broke.”

Oh.

That meant that…

Ohhh.

Yeah, that wasn’t pee.

Then utter chaos broke out.

Ragnar Stryker gathered the other men close, giving out rapid fire directions, then Avril’s fathers were running in all different directions.

Then Ragnar approached us, concern etched across his face, as he approached Avril like he was about to defuse a bomb.

His massive palm dwarfed hers as he held her little hand.

“Peanut, are you going to be alright? Should we leave Pa Nix, or Papa Diesel behind?”

But Avril shook her head, unbothered by the latest drama. “You saw me get married, you walked me down the aisle. It’s fine. Go take care of Momma Rain before she has my sibling in the parking lot.”

Then Ragnar Stryker’s gaze darted over to me.

“Don’t worry, I got her.” I put my arm around her. “If the ex comes back, I won’t let him bother Avril.”

Maybe this meant I’d finally get a chance to smack some shit into the little cheating bastard; it seemed like every single other man invited to the wedding got a turn, anyway.

Ragnar raised a single eyebrow. “No, we called an ambulance for him already. Dylan shouldn’t be a problem.” He reached for my shoulder, gripping me. It kind of felt like getting patted by a friendly boulder. “You’re a good man. Take care of my baby-girl.”

With that, he turned and sprinted, moving much faster than what looked physically possible for a man of his size.

“Well, there goes the rest of the photos with all the family. Here, I had almost started thinking that I was paranoid about having the bridal party photo shoot before the ceremony.” Avril had her hand on her hip as she watched the last of her parents running out of the door.

“You aren’t upset?” I scrutinized her expression, looking for signs of tension—she was, after all, abruptly abandoned by every single one of her parents, on what should be the happiest day of her life. Either she masked it well, or Avril really wasn’t letting this phase her.

“Why would I be upset?”

I snapped my mouth shut. Avril’s tone wasn’t sarcastic at all. She was genuinely curious—like it wasn’t even a thought that all of the interruptions to her wedding should ruin her mood. Okay, if this craziness wasn’t bothering her, I would not be the one to say anything about it.

Avril smiled again, tugging my arm toward the reception hall.

“Come on, husband, let’s go get some wedding cake.”

Husband…

I really liked the sound of that.