Blissed Out (Chelsea & Max's Wedding) (5 page)

BOOK: Blissed Out (Chelsea & Max's Wedding)

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Chapter Nine

T
he next day
, I spend the morning getting ready for my wedding. It’s not the big fancy affair I imagined as a little girl. I’m doing my own hair instead of hiring a hairdresser. My dress is tasteful and something I’ll wear again rather than something inspired by too many Disney princess movies. Something that will spend the rest of its life in my closet.

But, simple or not, I’m laughing with my sisters as we do our hair and makeup in the master bathroom at the house. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend the morning of my wedding.

Wait.

I take that back.

I can most definitely think of a better way to spend the morning of my wedding. I could be in bed, making babies with Max. But seeing as how we’ve done that already today…

“Where did you and Max disappear to last night?” asks Dakota, interrupting my thoughts.

I blush, partly because I was busy thinking of Max naked and partly because of Dakota’s question. “What do you mean?” I ask, trying to look like someone who did
not
have sex on the deck at her own rehearsal dinner last night.

Maya sets her curling iron down with a light thunk. “You are one hell of a bad liar.”

“I’m not lying.” And I’m not. At least not yet. I’m just not actually answering the question Dakota asked me.

“You guys didn’t have bathroom sex, did you?” Dakota wrinkles her nose, but there’s a gleam in her eyes that makes me want to circle back to that question. None of us Londons are very good liars.

I lean into the mirror to check my eyeliner. “I most certainly did not have bathroom sex.” I consider leaving it right there, but what the hell? It’s my wedding day. Why not be a little shocking? “We had sex on the deck overlooking the ocean.”

The look on my sisters’ faces is so totally epic I wish I had a picture of it.

“No way,” breathes Maya.

“Maybe we actually
are
related.” There’s that look on Dakota’s face again. Impish. Secretive. And totally ready to spill the beans on a secret that’s been in her head for too long.

“What makes you say that?” I ask sweetly.

Dakota’s got her mouth open as she sweeps on mascara. She closes her mouth but doesn’t look our way. “Oh, nothing,” she says to her reflection.

“Not buying it.” Maya grabs Dakota by the shoulders and spins her around. “Not even a little.”

Dakota smiles and bites her lip. “Ever heard of the mile-high club?” She tilts her head to the side. “You’re looking at a card carrying member.”

We laugh our way through the rest of getting ready and before I know it, it’s time to get married. Max is already out on the beach with Charlie, Dominic, and my mom. Dakota and Maya walk out of the house ahead of me and dad offers me his elbow.

“I love you, Moo,” he says as we reach the door. I try not to flinch, but I do anyway.

He pauses, pulling me back into the house.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t realize that nickname hurt your feelings. When I look at you, I still my baby girl, all chubby cheeks and massive smiles, pigtails streaming behind you as you run up to me for a hug. That’s my Moo. My daughter. My little girl. That’s what Moo means to me.”

I look up at my father and, as if his words weren’t enough, the look in his eyes brings tears to my own. There’s so much love. So much pride. So much tenderness. I remember him sweeping me up into his arms when I was little, singing silly songs and chasing me around the yard.

“I just want to be good enough for you,” I say, choking on the raw truth of the words, the root of all my insecurities, a need so strong, it’s shaped me into the woman I am.

“Oh, sweet Chelsea. You’ve been more than I can ever ask for since the moment you arrived in this world.”

He kisses me on the forehead and smiles down at me, tears glimmering in his eyes. And then, without another word, he walks me outside, down the beach and gives my hands to Max.

“Take care of my daughter,” he says, his voice low and gruff with emotion.

Max smiles at him and gives a curt nod of his head. “With all that I am. With all that I have. For all the rest of my years.”