Page 111 of Protective Love

He growls and snatches his tie from my hands, wrapping it around his neck.

"Fine, but I swear to God, if she thinks she's turning my apartment into some pink wonderland like she has this wedding, she's got another thing coming."

Damn, this bastard's grumpier than usual.

"Okay, well I'm sure that's a rule you can put in place once she's there. Until then, be nice to the woman, will ya? She's uprooting her whole life and moving here by herself, and I can guarantee she also isn't thrilled about this marriage."

"You can get out now," he shouts, shaking his head at me. "Send my pops in here, please. I need some help with this pink piece of shit," he says, referring to the tie that he rips away from his neck.

I leave the room immediately, breathing a sigh of relief once I'm out of there and then I go find my uncle and tell him he's needed.

Hopefully he has better luck with that ogre than I did.

My eyes scan the room, spotting Aurora at the front of the isle, sitting next to a very pregnant looking Sophia who has Kaleb, and my sister sitting to her left. I make my way over to them, hoping they'll have a more positive attitude than Dominic does right now.

"Hey, darling. Missed me?" I ask, leaning down and kissing Aurora's forehead before sitting in the seat between them.

"Of course," she says, smiling up at me sweetly as I wrap my arm around her shoulders.

I glance over at Sophia to see her glaring at me.

"What?"

"Switch seats with Aurora. Now," she demands, grimacing and leaning away from me on her chair, moving herself closer to Kaleb who's sitting beside her.

"Why? What did I do?"

"You smell disgusting," she states, her nose crinkling before she turns her face into Kaleb's arm.

I gape at her, offended by what she's said, and then I duck my head, discreetly sniffing myself.

Aurora, Jess, and Kaleb start to laugh as they stare at me, and my cheeks flame with embarrassment.

"What's going on?" I ask, glancing back and forth between them.

Aurora stands from her chair, still laughing as she gestures for me to move into the chair she just vacated.

When I shuffle over, she takes my seat and rests her hand on my thigh as she finally gets herself under control and stops giggling at me.

"You smell fine, baby. Sophia's nose is just extremely sensitive at the moment, and I think she was trying to tell you that the smell of your aftershave was disagreeing with the baby," she tells me.

My jaw drops and my brows furrow.

"So, you're telling me that her baby doesn't like the way I smell? That's not exactly making me feel better!"

Aurora and Jess cover their faces as they begin to laugh again, Sophia looks at me just to roll her eyes and shake her head, and Kaleb mutters something about me being an idiot.

Dominic was right, this wedding is a shitshow.