Page 102 of All of Him
It wasn’t until a half hour into the reception that Marcus opened his damn mouth. He’d been good up until that point. By good, I meant, he hadn’t said a word to me. Unfortunately, the amount of alcohol he’d consumed during cocktail hour was enough to make him forget Delia’s threat. As I tried to dance with another one of the bridesmaids, he came up behind me and smacked my ass, asking if I remembered our “good time.”
“I’m going to punch your bridesman, but I’m going to take it outside,” I said to Delia through gritted teeth.
She turned to look at me, confused, then at Marcus. I had him, as discreetly as possible, by his tie. The look on his face was of pure regret as Delia rolled her eyes, then shrugged.
“Just escort him out,” she said to me. “Marcus, you idiot, we talked about this.”
“I know. I just drank too much and…”
“Shut up,” I growled at him, not wanting to hear anything he had to say.
“Yeah, shut up,” Delia added. “We’ll talk about this another time. Thanks for taking care of it, Manda.”
I saluted her and walked as calmly as possible out of the reception. Once through the doors, I let him go and pointed toward the parking lot.
“Call a cab,” I commanded.
Unfortunately, since I was no longer holding on to his tie, Marcus seemed to have gained back some of his spark.
“Slut,” he said under his breath, turning to walk away.
Instead of letting him leave though, I stomped after him as fast as my heels and swollen ankle allowed. I grabbed his arm, spun him around, and slapped him right in the face.
Holy shit. That felt good.
“I amnota slut!” I yelled. “Now, call a cab and get the hell out of my face.”
“Bitch,” he mumbled, walking away and caressing his cheek.
“Yeah,” I huffed, “I’m okay with that one today.”
I watched him make his way to the curb, pleased with myself and my restraint. He deserved so much more pain than my tiny hands could inflict. I nodded at myself, satisfied, as he stood on the curb, waiting for a ride.
“That is one for your book.” A familiar voice came from behind me.
I turned to see Noah, standing there in a black suit and his hair styled nicer than I’d ever seen. He was clean-shaven with a smirk on his face, and no bags were under his eyes.
Oh, my heart.
“What are you…” It was all I could say. I had never seen him look so good, so happy.
He walked up to me, hands in his pockets, smirking.
“Noah?”
“It was Teel’s idea,” he answered, shrugging. “She showed up at my house and shamed me for what I was doing to you. I explained a lot of it, but she also had a few good things to say.”
“Like what?” I asked, almost unable to believe he was there.
Noah smiled and stopped walking toward me. I could have taken one more step and kissed him, but I needed to hear what he had to say. With the way he was dressed, he intended to stay the whole night, and I had a feeling it was the beginning of something I’d wanted for a long time.
“She made me realize that waiting at this point would be useless. You’re all I need. I’ve got everything possible in order, and having you from this point on will only help.” He paused, reaching out and pushing my hair behind my ear. “But you need to be aware that I’m never going to be completely better, Manda. This is a lifelong thing I have to deal with.”
“And if I get to be with you in the good times,” I said back, “I’ll be there for you when it’s rough. I’ve said that all along, Noah.”
“But I needed to realize it with a clear head,” he responded, letting his hand fall back to his pocket. “So, you can thank Teel for pushing that along.” Unable to control myself any longer, I stepped forward and pressed my lips to his. He kissed me back but only briefly. When he pulled away, I looked back at him, confused.
“Amanda, I can’t promise you that I’ll be perfect. I can’t promise you that I won’t wake up in the middle of the night, panicking from a flashback. And I can’t promise that you won’t have to yell at me to eat sometimes. But I want to promise you that Iwill bethe best guy I can be. I just want you by my side while I do my best.”
