Rebekah’s laugh was accompanied by several others.
Eric glanced at her dad. “Well?” he said, eyes wide with expectation.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
“Fucking finally,” Eric said and drew Rebekah against his body.
To a background of laughter, catcalls, her mother’s open weeping, and one incredibly sensual guitar solo, Rebekah Sticks kissed her husband for the first time. The press of Eric’s lips against hers was even more tender, emotional, and passionate than she’d anticipated. Her throat and eyes ached with unshed tears. Happy tears. The happiest.
Eric’s strong arms tightened around her, drawing her closer, enveloping her in love and tenderness and heat. She couldn’t ignore the heat between them.
“Get a room!” Trey yelled.
She felt Eric smile against her lips, and he drew back to gaze down into her eyes.
“Best advice I’ve gotten all day,” he said.
She had to agree.
Her dad cleared his throat and spoke in a loud, clear voice. “This day Rebekah and Eric entered as two and now leave as one soul united,” he said. “May I present Mr. and Mrs. Eric Sticks. May their love shine more brightly with each passing moment.”
She beamed at her daddy, who was blinking far more than necessary. Her mother squeezed her arm, and Rebekah turned to find her smiling through her tears. Eric shook her dad’s hand and then helped her down from the single step at the front of the church so they could exit.
They didn’t get far.
Chapter Seven
Eric jerked unexpectedly as he was hugged vigorously from behind. He turned his head to find Jace—all denim and leather and tough guy and maybe a few tears—with his face buried in Eric’s back. Eric grinned and patted the pair of hands clasped tightly together at his waist.
“Now, Tripod,” Eric said, “you had your chance with me and settled for Aggie.”
He caught the stunned look on Rebekah’s face and offered her a wink. The tension immediately drained from her body and she smiled, cocking her head to peek at the man behind him.
“Fuck you,” Jace said, his words muffled by Eric’s back. He attempted some strange variation of the Heimlich maneuver. “Just… Fuck you.”
After a moment, Jace took a deep breath, drew away, and settled for pounding on Eric’s back with enough force to fracture bones.
“Yes, you like me,” Eric said, chuckling. “I get it. Stop trying to break me. Aggie, control your sub.”
“You’re such an ass,” Jace said.
Well, what did Jace expect? If he didn’t turn Jace’s uncharacteristic emotional display into a joke, he’d have to put on an uncharacteristic emotional display of his own.
Jace circled Eric’s neck with both hands and pretended to choke him. Not one to be left out of a gag, Eric let his head loll loosely and stuck his tongue out as if he were in true distress.
Rebekah’s mother tried to step in—presumably to save his life—but Rebekah caught her arm and shook her head. That slight motion made Eric love her all the more. The woman understood him in a way that completely baffled him. He figured most women would be pissed to have her first moment as a newlywed standing beside her husband interrupted by a bunch of immature male-bonding bullshit, but not his Rebekah.
Since it didn’t seem like they would ever make it back down the aisle, the spectators rose from the pews to offer their hugs and congratulations.
Eric kept one eye on his bride, who kissed his hand and then released it so she could hug her family—now his family too, he thought with a smile. Aggie stepped up to help Jace get his out-of-control emotions back under his command. She pinched his ass, and he immediately dropped his hands from Eric’s throat. Eric grinned to himself. Nope, he obviously wasn’t her sub at all.
Sed took the opening to give Eric a customary slap on the back of the head before capturing his arms in a full-nelson so Trey could bless Eric’s nose with his sticky cherry sucker.
“Hold still,” Trey said, tracking Eric’s jerky head motions with his lollipop.
Brian emerged from the choir loft, where he’d been playing his guitar, and wrapped a protective arm around his pregnant wife’s shoulders before approaching Eric.
“Words of wisdom from one married man to another,” Brian said, turning his head side to side as he tried to track Eric’s gaze. After an exasperating moment, he released his wife and hugged Trey from behind, pinning his arms and his sucker to his sides. Trey immediately went still.
“Guys, really?” Brian said. “The man just got married. Show him some respect.”
“Yeah,” Eric said. “What he said.”
Sed released Eric’s aching arms.
“You can harass him after I’m through with him,” Brian added.
“And I thought you were on my side.”
“I am. I’m going to help you out here. So listen carefully.”
Eric nodded, having rarely dealt with any of his band members speaking to him with such earnestness.
“You only need to remember three words to keep your wife happy,” Brian said, releasing Trey so he could draw Myrna against his side.
“I love you?” Eric said.
“No. Any idiot can try that route. The three words are: she’s always right. If you remember that, your life will run smoothly.”
“But what if she’s wrong?”
Brian stuck a finger in Eric’s face. “No, dude. Listen to me and remember. She’s always right.”