Page 99 of Power Play

epilogue

. . .

Al

My head is pounding, my stomach is in knots, and I have the strangest urge to hyperventilate. Why am I so nervous? We’re already married.

Tony hands me a bottle of water. “Drink this,” he says, leaving no room to argue.

My hand shakes as I try to unscrew the cap. The crinkle of the plastic in my fist sounds like a shotgun echoing.

“I don’t know, man,” Chuck says, his voice too loud in the cramped room. “I don’t think water is going to cut it.”

“Fine.” Tony holds his hand out, and I blink as Chuck hands him a flask. My brother pours a shot of clear liquid into an empty Styrofoam cup and then pushes it into my hand. “Drink this,” he repeats.

The putrid scent of tequila makes my stomach roil. “I’m not getting wasted before my wedding.”

We had a few beers last night, sitting around a bonfire in the backyard, and even though I only had a few, the idea of drinking again so soon makes me want to hurl. Wait, that might be the nerves. Maybe both.

“One shot won’t get you wasted,” Chuck says. “If it does, I feel sorry for your tolerance levels.”

Grumbling under my breath, I take the cup and down the shot in one gulp, shuddering at the taste. “Fuck.”

“Why are you so nervous?” Tony asks.

I bite the inside of my cheek. “What if she changes her mind?”

He rolls his eyes. “She won’t.”

“But she might.”

I could hardly sleep last night, holding her in my arms and dreading this. My ring on her finger isn’t enough. She has to want this. Want me.

I think she does. After all, she agreed to go through with this. But now that it’s the eleventh hour, all my doubts keep rushing in.

“Except she won’t,” Chuck says. “You’re already married. This is just for show. A giant party with all of your friends.” He glances around the tiny, barren “groom’s room” that is essentially a storage closet with chairs. “Are… are we your only friends?”

“Mitchell’s running late. And we didn’t want a huge wedding party.” Riley is slowly expanding her social circle, making friends with the other players’ partners and also at the Grizzlies Foundation where she volunteers, and she’s still close with Vanessa, Audrey, and Bex.

Six months ago, I never would have expected Mitchell and Bex to be in our bridal party, much less civil enough to walk down the aisle together. But now, with everything that’s gone down since his injury, and with the way he’s stood by my side from his first day in the dressing room, I know there’s nobody else I trust more to have my back.

After Tony and Chuck, of course. The bonehead still thinks we’re brothers-in-law, and I don’t have the heart to correct him anymore. If he wants to be my family, I certainly don’t want to push him away. He’s a good guy at heart, just a little… Chuck.

Family is the people we choose to keep in our lives. Blood relatives, friends who become family… We get to pick who we keep close to us. Who’s important to us.

Cari is in the wedding party, too—she’ll be escorting our flower girl down the aisle. Riley invited her to be the maid of honor, but someone has to make sure our little girl is safe, sound, and hopefully calm during the ceremony, and my sister volunteered for the gig.

She also insisted on wearing a flower crown on her head. Riley and I didn’t care either way; as long as Emmy is there, Cari can wear a bikini and we’d be fine with it. The priest, on the other hand, might not be.

A knock raps on the door, and my dad sticks his head inside without waiting for us to answer.

“They’re ready for you.”

Sweat beads along my palms, and I rub them on my pants.

“It’s going to be fine,” Tony says. “All you have to do is walk a hundred yards without falling on your face. Can you do that?”

“Fuck off,” I mutter. “I can walk just fine.”