The Song Remains the Same (67 page)

His arms slipped around my back, his hands sliding up over my shoulder blades and neck to cradle the back of my head. He pulled me into him, my legs between his, and our bodies were flush from groin to chest. Without opening his eyes, he lowered his head and stole my mouth in a kiss that would normally mortify me to display in public—hot, wet, and tongue-suckingly terrific. His fingertips dug into my scalp, pressing into the scar tissue hidden by the recent hair growth.

In surprise, he pulled back and stared down into my eyes. “Your hair!”

Laughing because I couldn’t care less
—I’m in his arms, for fuck’s sake!—
I said, “Me? What about
your
hair?”

His fingers stroked over the thick scar tissue, and then there was a dawning in his eyes, horrified and shining.

“It’s done with, babe,” I told him. “Over. We can talk about it later, okay?”

He pressed his Third Eye to mine, filling me with his joy, his love, and his devotion. Our combined excitement at just being together once more glowed around us, a brilliant aurora.

“Never again,” he whispered. “I don’t want to live if you’re not with me, Baby Girl.”

“Me neither.”

“I love you. Fuck, I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” I replied, my throat closing around my voice, straining my words.

Kissing my Third Eye, he sucked in a sharp breath through his nose. “I gotta…”

“Go.” I laughed.

Looking down into my eyes, he said, “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Not without you.”

Phil

“This makes no fuckin’ sense, Jace. Why don’t you two just get fuckin’ married like normal people?”

“Because Sheri wants it this way,” he replied, sounding irritated.

He wasn’t the only fuckin’ one. This was ri-goddamn-diculous.

Jason had decided to propose to Sheri—all well and good. But instead of busting out a fuckin’ ring and popping the fuckin’ question, they’d decided to have a mock wedding ceremony to show everyone they meant it

On the
day before
Halloween, here we stood, in the gazebo in my backyard with two hundred fuckin’ guests. The whole place had been done up to the nines for a fake wedding/engagement party for the two blond weirdos to declare their diva-love to the world. Our friends and Sheri’s grandparents had flown in for this thing. Even Jason’s Granny had crawled out of her bayou shack in the swamp to see this farce.

And their fake honeymoon getaway?
Three fuckin’ months in an ashram in India! An
ashram
, where the loony fuckers planned on purifying their souls and eating lentils—
so fuckin’ glad I’m missin’ out on
that—
before coming home and getting married for fuckin’ real.

“Just think of it as more of a rehearsal, yeah?” said Jason. “We might get married in India. We don’t know. This way, we’ll have a weddin’ with all y’all, and then when we finally do it, we still have a memory of bein’ married with everyone around us.”

Yeah, I got that. The thing was…I was fuckin’ jealous.

Since the day we were supposed to get married, Kenna and I hadn’t talked about it again. Badgering my Baby Girl into planning another wedding didn’t seem cool. She had been so stressed out with planning the first one that I didn’t want to put her through that again. I wanted Kenna to mention it. Until then, I was gonna keep my mouth shut even though it was killing me to do so.

Things between us had never been better. Kenna was my best friend, and I was hers. Our sex was off the fuckin’ chain. We were on a frequency that was just beyond anything we’d ever had before.

“Tantric,” my Baby Girl had called it
.

The feel, the sight, the scent, the energy within us were focused only on each other. Amazed by the level of love we had for one another, it was tangible on all planes of existence. Transcendence would blaze bright golden light when we came together. Two hearts, two minds, one soul were reunited.

She could still piss me off though. It wasn’t
all
fuckin’ peachy keen. I’d piss her off, too. But it was fun making up. It would be weird and boring if we didn’t fight. I liked her feisty.

Speaking of feisty, I’d woken up to find Kenna
gone
. She
knew
how pissed I would get when she pulled that shit. So, I’d had to do my yoga alone. I liked doing yoga with my Baby Girl. She would help me do it right, and I’d fuckin’ get to watch her do all sorts of badass bendy shit.

When I’d called her, she’d said she was too busy to talk to me, and she would see me later. Later had come and gone with no fuckin’ Baby Girl.

Then, Connor, Jason, Flipper, Devon, and I’d had to go and get ready for this charade. Sheri had demanded we get haircuts and styles, which I’d protested my ass off about. I’d been growing my hair out for Kenna, but Sheri had wanted us looking like we gave a shit about how we looked. So, my hair had been cut in a style that made me look like a fancy Civil War veteran—long on top, stiffened up with some sort of paste, and cropped real close at the sides and back. The only cool thing was that the dream catchers kinda showed.

Sheri had suggested that I shave off my beard, and I guessed I had a bit of the diva in me, too, because I had gone apeshit. I’d spent
months
growing and maintaining my magnificent fuckin’ face fuzz, and I’d be damned if I was gonna lose that as well. Sheri had settled for a trim. I’d been ready to do damage.

I just hoped Kenna would be all right with it. I thought she missed my long hair.

Still,
I hadn’t seen my Baby Girl. She could have at least tried to see what I looked like and told me what she thought. Maybe cop a feel. That was always nice.

Sheri had planned everything to the last detail. A fake autumn wedding meant that we were dressed in brown vest suits, minus the jacket since it was still hot as balls in Louisiana, with ties the color of orange sherbet and cream-colored button-down shirts. I had to hand it to the woman. She knew how to make us look good.

What was fuckin’ badass were the decorations. Jack-o’-lanterns carved with swirly patterns lit the walkway to the gazebo. Streamers made of fake autumn leaves in reds, gold, and browns and white fairy lights wound around the posts and lined the aisle where the girls would walk down. Little bouquets of Kenna’s favorite lotus blossoms in creams and oranges bunched with leaves and ferns were everywhere. Jason had the biggest, fattest lotus blossom I’d ever seen stuck on his vest, and I wanted to flip Sheri the bird for using my Baby Girl’s favorite flower.

It was just too bad that Sheri had thought of a Halloween
ish
fake wedding because I bet Kenna would love it if our
real
one could be like this.

Whenever that would be.

The music started playing, thanks to Siggie hidden behind the gazebo with the sound system remote. The congregation all turned to watch the bridesmaids begin their trek down the path. They would be exiting through the sliding glass kitchen door on the big half, which was camouflaged with a white tent and more decorations.

“Oh, shit!” cried Jason.

As his fake best man, I rolled my eyes. “What?”

“We’re in the wrong spots!” He grabbed me, pulling me into the groom’s place.

“No, I’m pretty sure we had it right.”

“No, I’m supposed to be on your left.”

“No,
you’re
the one marryin’ Sheri, Jace. Remember? I’m marryin’ Kenna.”

“I know,” he replied, his face splitting into a huge grin. “
Everyone
knows you’re marryin’ Kenna.”

“Then…”

What?

Connor smiled at me and winked, and Jason snatched my puny lotus blossom from my vest and switched it with his.

“What?” I asked out loud this time. “Shut the fuck up!”

Looking around, I saw everyone smiling at me. Some people were laughing outright. And no fuckin’ wonder! My jaw dropped, and my head and heart started tripping. The truth of the situation started to sink in, and then it fuckin’ hit.

I’m marryin’ Kenna? Right now? Today?
Holy shit!

My heart, she was exploding in my chest!

I’m marryin’ Kenna! Right now! Today!

Viv emerged from the tent, looking all sweet in a champagne-colored dress. Flipper whistled.

Is this for real?

Then, Sheri looked mighty elegant, and next to me, Jason swelled with pride for the woman he wasn’t fake-marryin’ today.

Because I’m marryin’ Kenna! As in, for real!

Then, Lili…aw, Pygmy looked stunning, and I saw her wave, wriggling her fingers, to Lewis in the audience.

What the fuck is playin’? Is it…

It was Led Zeppelin’s “The Rain Song.”

Except…that was fuckin’ Connor singing that shit.

“Oh, Baby Girl…” I whispered.

My heart, she was full to bursting.

It was as though I were having an out-of-body experience. My head was all over the place. Of course, it fuckin’ was! I’d just fuckin’ found out that my Baby Girl and all my friends had just pulled off the most awesome surprise of my entire life.

Alys looked lovely, and her eyes shone on Connor like a lifeline. When the fuck those two would get together was a running bet between us in the band. I had two grand on it happening, like, yesterday
.

When Alys took her place next to Lili in the maid-of-honor spot, the music turned up slightly, and everyone stood up.

My knees started shaking.

In my head, flashes of every memory I’d made with my Baby Girl, from the time we were little kids until this very moment, blasted through me.

The tent flaps pulled back, and my reason for existing—dressed in a simple off-white silk dress with her flaming bear of a father on her arm—stepped out. Her hair was softly curled about her precious face, and
that
dress
…it was low cut enough to show her heart
.

My heart
.

Kenna had had Darren Wright tattoo a heart identical to the one on my chest. Only hers had
Phil
across it, looking as though it’d been branded into it. She’d gotten it at the tattoo convention in London.

To top it all off, my Baby Girl was fuckin’ barefoot on our wedding day.

Fuck it.

I kicked off my shoes and tore off my socks, and I heard her laugh from the tent, the little shit. Behind me, the Notary Public laughed, too, and I glanced at her. She was an older woman, fifties probably, and she smiled at me.

“I’m gettin’ married today!” I whispered.

“You are,” she replied.

Tossing my shoes and socks aside, I stood up straight, and my heart…she nearly beat her way out of my chest. My dream come true—my muse, my goddess, my fuckin’
everything—
was walking toward me in her wedding dress, a vision I had only fantasized before now. The evening sunlight caught her coppery hair and turned her skin to warm honey, just as I had dreamed.

My imagination fuckin’ sucked compared to the beauty walking up the steps with her Da. Sigmund had tears in his eyes, and briefly, I wondered if he wore anything under his kilt.
The things one thought about during times like these…

“Are ye sure ye want m’lass?”

Nodding my head, I told Papa Soulless, “More than anythin’ in the whole universe, sir.”

Sniffling, he turned to his daughter, the gorgeous creature he’d created with the love of his life, and he kissed her cheek. “Love ye.”

“Love you, too, Da,” she replied.

Da placed her hand in mine, and before he could turn around, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her most inappropriately in front of all our friends and family.

“Man, I think you’re supposed to wait until the
I do
s,” said Flipper.

“Is this real, Kenna?” I whispered, just like I had the night she walked her sweet ass back into my life.

“I believe so,” she replied, smiling a secret sort of smile.

The Notary Public began the civil union. Unlike traditional ceremonies, I refused to stand next to Kenna. No, I had her wrapped in my arms as I stared down into her shining emerald eyes. When she realized I wasn’t gonna let her go, she slipped her arms around my waist and held on just as tight.

There were no personal written vows. We’d already said everything to each other, the last two years a promise carried through with all the words and confessions and confiding between us.

“Do you, Philip Louis Deveraux, take Zephyr Kenna MacGregor to be your lawfully wedded wife, from this moment forward, in truth, fidelity, and love?” asked the Notary.

“I do,” I replied.

Connor stepped forward and handed Kenna a simple platinum wedding band. I yanked off the DiAblo in a flash, and Kenna slipped it on my finger. It was taking every ounce of my willpower not to break out in a dance. Instead, I shoved the DiAblo back on behind
my
wedding band
. Kenna handed over her engagement ring, and Connor handed me
her
wedding band.