Page 80 of Vera Stein Is Fine
“I might have perused the jewelry counter at the rental shop.” I pulled the simple gold band from my pocket. It was genuine gold and the inside was engraved with a ring of vines. It was shockingly overpriced for what it was, but I didn’t care. If I was going to marry Vera Stein—even just for a day—I was going to do it right. “It’s not a rental,” I quickly explained. “This is for you to keep. A souvenir.”
Her lips slipped into a perfectO, her shoulders slumping in disappointment. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything for you.”
“Kids, I don’t mean to ruin the moment, but my next couple is teed up to go in just a few minutes,” said Fake Gene Simmons as he swallowed a burp.
“Oh, right,” Vera said to him. “Sorry.”
I held the ring up and she offered me her left hand. “With this ring,” I said, my voice so low that I wondered if she could even hear me, “I thee wed.”
“Hell yeah,” Fake Gene Simmons said, throwing his hands up in the rock-and-roll gesture. “I now pronounce you dude and babe.”
We both turned to him, our brows furrowed.
“Husband and wife,” he clarified. “You may now suck face.”
Oh fuck.Kissing. We hadn’t discussed this.
“Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!” Brody chanted behind me.
Vera’s smile faltered for a moment at the sound of his voice.
I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and make her understand that he didn’t see how special she was.
I couldn’t tell her that. But maybe I could show her.
I stepped forward slowly to give her the chance to back away. “May I?”
She nodded slightly and tilted her face up toward me. The purples and pinks and oranges of the neon signs reflected off her cheeks and white dress. She looked like a sunset, and I knew I needed to close my eyes to kiss her, but was it so wrong that I wanted to watch her too?
I lifted the front of her veil and smoothed it back as best I could before wrapping an arm around her waist. “Hold on,” I whispered.
Vera’s eyes went round and I silenced her startled shriek with my lips pressed against hers. I wanted so badly to deepen the kiss, but I had to leave that to her.
Instead, I braced her body against mine, and with each of her inhalations I exhaled. Then I did the single smoothest thing I have ever done in my life and I dipped Vera Stein in front of a pink Cadillac and a Fake Gene Simmons.
As I righted her back on her feet and began to pull away, her lips chased mine, parting just enough for her tongue to swipe against mine, and the softest, most erotic moan slipping from her mouth to mine.
Blood rushed straight to my dick.
She pulled back first and I held on to her until I was sure she was steady on her feet.
In front of us a camera flashed, and Brody gagged into his fist before puking onto the pavement.
“Joey,” Fake Gene Simmons called, “I need someone out here to hose down this spot before my next ceremony.”
“How romantic,” Vera murmured, her lips curling into a smirk.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“You’re a rat,” I said plainly. “My best friend is a rat.”
Tess groaned and dragged her hands down her face, her phone in its holder as we shared a video call while she sat in traffic. “I’m sorrrrrrry. I wanted to get drunk, okay? I never get to drink and I just wanted to be irresponsible for one night and then I saw Brody and you know I can’t be trusted after two drinks.”
“You do have a two-drink limit,” I confirmed.
I stood in my room, folding my laundry, as she chattered.
“But he showed up to win you back,” she said suggestively. “That’s pretty hot.”
