Eternal: A Seaside/Ruin Crossover Novella (Seaside #6) (9 page)

“Follow me,” I said, while sending a group text for everyone to meet us.

I’d like to think we looked badass as we made our way stealthily through downtown Seaside. All three of us guys, in tuxes, walking the tourist streets.

Instead, the rain poured harder.

Jaymeson was limping.

Gabe kept mumbling something about baby powder in his mouth.

And Wes? Well, Wes seemed more concerned about my mental state than anything. He kept looking at me like I was going to snap.

Fine. I was fine.

And then…

“Demetri!” Jaymeson yelled. “Don’t move.”

I froze.

All three guys looked above my head.

“Uh, guys?” I held out my hands. “What’s wrong? We don’t have much time before the crazy people come back.”

Jaymeson nodded, his eyes widening even more before he whispered, “Holy shit, it’s like you have a siren’s call for those things.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t!” Gabe yelled.

Just as I looked up.

And saw not one, not two — no, not even three — but four seagulls perched above the very door I was just about to open.

“Think of it this way.” Jaymeson sighed. “If you can get married and conquer the fear of being tied to someone for the rest of your life, you can take down four seagulls.”

“Was that your speech?” Wes whistled under his breath. “Seriously?”

“We need to go in…” I nodded.

The guys all waited.

“If I perish…” I cursed. “…give my guitar to Alec.”

“Damn, Thought we’d gotten close enough over the last few days for you to at least give me the triangle or something,” Gabe muttered.

“On the count of three.” I held out my hands. “One. two. three!” I jerked open the door and ran inside, the little bell dinging behind me.

The guys followed.

And no seagulls made it through.

I imagined that feeling soaring through my chest was exactly how Christopher Columbus felt when he discovered the New World.

Awe.

Pride.

Amazement.

All were extremely short-lived when Gabe looked around and sighed. “A taffy store? You want to get married in a taffy store?”

“It’s romantic.” I shrugged. “This is where Lyss and I first started our little love affair, though it was more of her making fun of me, me making an ass out of myself, and then her glaring at me through the windows.”

The guys all shared a look with one another and then glanced around the store.

I tried to see it through their eyes.

A small white counter lined the front of the store, and on every inch of wall space was a different container and flavor for taffy. A few posters were sliding off the wall, and the place smelled like sugar and bleach.

Shit.

Alyssa was going to kill me.

But I was out of brilliant ideas.

Out of romance.

And the seagulls were officially guarding my escape, even if I did get a better idea than the one I was currently losing faith in.

The door dinged open.

Alyssa filed through with Kiersten and Saylor holding an umbrella over her head. The rest of her small family and Pris followed.

But my eyes, they were trained on my girl and how gorgeous she looked.

Her dress was strapless with lace covering the bodice. The lace spread out around her hips and dipped below her knees in pieces, making it so I could get a glance at her tan legs and garter. Dear God, I wanted to see another flash of that thing. It was blue, taunting, sparkly.

“Dem?” Alyssa snapped her fingers.

“Sorry.” I glanced up. “You look… beautiful.”

Her grin was mesmerizing. It transported me back to a time when I didn’t know who I was or what I was doing with my life. All I’d had was music and a drug addiction.

Then she’d walked into my world.

Or, actually, had stomped across the street and thrown my taffy bucket in my face.

I’d never been so turned on or surprised.

It was like she’d looked past the image I’d tried to put out and seen the insecure asshole inside.

We’d found each other.

And then purposefully, had lost our pasts when we joined. That was how it should be when you found your other half. Rather than dwelling on your past or even constantly looking at it so you don’t mess up again, you lose it. You throw away the bad and take only the good. Besides, why fixate on something horrible when you could focus on the positive?

I was a firm believer in focusing on the triumph — not the tragedy.

Alyssa was lost.

I was just starting my journey.

And rather than let her consume me, I took her with me, carrying her when she needed it, holding her hand when she didn’t have the strength to keep walking, and in the end, she’d returned it all, full force.

That was love.

When you don’t go at it alone.

Because you don’t have to anymore.

I still remembered the day I told her she didn’t have to carry the burden of her scars on her shoulders anymore. She’d been pissed, pissed that I’d intervened, and pissed that I’d been right.

Love was telling someone the truth, even if the truth could cause you to lose the very love you’d spent so long trying to establish.

“Dem?” Alyssa tilted her head. “Why are we in the taffy shop?”

“Because…” I grabbed her hands. “…this is our love story.”

She smiled.

“This is where everything started. The smell of sugar reminds me of your smile…”

“And the bleach?” Jaymeson just had to pipe in.

“Not now, England,” I barked and turned back to Lyss. “The beach fell through, and then it started raining, and honestly… I just want to make you my wife, and I want to do it in a place that matters to both of us.”

She reached up to cup my face. “It’s perfect.”

I shrugged and looked around at the taffy decorations. “Yeah, it really is.”

Wes coughed. “I hate to be the person to break this up, but… don’t we need a minister?”

I burst out laughing. “Dude, do you really think I’d forget the minister?”

Wes gave me a look that said he thought that and more.

“Jaymeson...” I turned behind me. “Where’s he at?”

“Er…” Jaymeson scratched his head. “…I, um, may have forgotten to tell him we moved to the taffy shop.”

“So call him,” I said through clenched teeth.

Jaymeson pulled out his cell phone.

Thank God, someone picked up on the other end.

Jaymeson nodded his head and smiled at all of us, his face going paler by the second. Fantastic.

He stared at his phone when the call ended.

“Jay?” Alyssa whispered. “Is he coming?”

“We have the license.” Jaymeson nodded. “That’s all that matters, and I played a minister once. I can do this.”

“You were five!” I shouted. “And it was for a commercial!”

“Back off, I was awesome!” He slammed his phone onto the counter. “I can do this.”

“Not legally you can’t.” I ran my fingers through my hair.

“Wes will do it,” Gabe offered in a calm voice as if it was the sanest idea he’d had all day.

“What?” Lyss and I said in unison.

Wes’s eyebrows pinched together. “I did that as a joke.”

“Did what?” I asked in a desperate voice.

“He said he was going to marry Gabe and Saylor, so he got all legalized through some silly online program,” Kiersten piped up.

“So technically…” I nodded. “…you could do it?”

“Yeah, but—”

“You’re up!” I pushed him toward the counter. “Just try to do your best.”

“Ah…” Wes’s mouth dropped open before he closed it again and cleared his throat, his eyes darting between us. “Alright, are you guys ready?”

I turned to Lyss and kissed her soft cheek. “I’ve been ready for an eternity.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Alyssa

E
VERY BRIDE WANTS PERFECTION
on her wedding day. If she says she doesn’t, she’s a liar from the pit of hell.

I wanted the cake, the music, the beachside waves crashing in the background.

What I got?

Taffy.

But in a way, it kind of made sense. I was marrying Demetri Daniels in a taffy store, in my parents’ taffy store where we’d initially met.

My eyes stung with the memories as they washed over me: our first kiss, our first fight, him crawling through my window and forcing me to face my demons.

His proposal on the plane.

I didn’t need extraordinary, because I was marrying it. I was marrying him.

“Wes?” I cleared my throat. “Let’s make it fast. I want to be his wife… right now.”

Demetri’s sparkling blue eyes found mine. He winked and mouthed
“I love you”
just as Wes started to speak.

My family circled around us.

Kiersten, Saylor, and Pris stood to the left, while Gabe and Jaymeson stood to Demetri’s right.

“Marriage...” Wes bit his lip and folded his arms across his chest. “…isn’t to be taken lightly. It’s a commitment to be with another person during their worst times and their absolute best. It’s hard… thinking about the person you love suffering or being at their worst, or possibly thinking about them letting you down. But they will. That’s life. That’s also marriage. It’s promising to stand by someone even when you aren’t proud of them, even when you’re upset, even when they do something horrible. It’s helping correct them when they’re wrong and forgiving them over and over again until it hurts. Marriage truly is like cutting out a part of your soul and watching it fuse with someone else’s, hoping they mold together, hoping it takes.” He paused, “It’s a beautiful thing to watch two people join their lives together. It’s purity at its finest, when you can look at another broken human being and say I take you… just as you are, and I think you’re incredible.”

Tears welled in my eyes as he continued.

“Demetri and Alyssa… I’m going to do something a bit different because I can… but I want you to face each other while you answer in unison. Do you, take one another in sickness and in health, in good times, in bad, through hospital visits, tough times, and an uncertain future. Do you… even if the cards are fully stacked against you... still choose one another?”

“I do,” I whispered at the same time Demetri did. His eyes filled with tears, mirroring my own.

“Demetri, do you promise to honor Alyssa, your wife, with your body, with your finances, with more good days than bad, with every inch of your soul? With your whole heart?”

Demetri’s voice was clear, loud as he said, “I will.”

“And, Alyssa, will you honor, respect, and love Demetri with everything you possess? Do you promise to try every day of your life to be his other half?”

“Yes.”

“We aren’t promised tomorrow.” Wes’s voice cracked. “We aren’t even really promised today, or that next second, or minute that ticks by. We’re gifted with moments, each one precious, each one different. So take those moments and use them. Don’t let them pass by in anger. Don’t let those moments build up into silence between the two of you, because you never know if they’ll be taken, and we never know the final number of moments we’ve been awarded. Let no moment go unused. Let no moments escape where you could have expressed love for one another.”

A tear streamed down my cheek as Demetri’s hands clenched mine harder. Talking of moments had me thinking about all the times I’d wasted thinking about Brady, my ex, who’d died. I’d been wasting my life away until Demetri had come and stolen every waking moment from my existence, changing it with his presence.

“So...” Wes clapped his hands together. “…by the power vested in me by that fun little Internet site whose name I can’t even remember, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your—”

Demetri hoisted me into the air and slammed his mouth against mine before Wes could even finish.

His kiss was hungry.

Passionate.

Totally Demetri, because he didn’t do things halfway — ever.

“Parents.” Jaymeson coughed under his breath.

Demetri released me but didn’t put me back on my feet. Instead, he spoke against my lips. “I’ll love you for eternity.”

“And I’ll love you longer than that.”

“We’ll see.” He smirked. “We’ll see.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Demetri

“
W
ELL, THAT WENT BETTER
than planned.” Gabe nodded.

I turned my head and glared. “How do you figure? The pastor’s car wouldn’t start, the beach was hounded by fangirls, most of them yours, btw, and the seagulls from The Little Mermaid almost crashed into the taffy store windows.”

“But...” Gabe nodded. “…the great Wes Michels did just marry you, and you did just get to sign a legal document stating that you’re officially leg-shackled and tied forever to that girl.” He tipped his drink toward Alyssa, who was busy dancing with Wes and laughing.

She threw her head back and laughed at something he said. My eyes were drawn to every inch of her delectable skin.

“Easy tiger, you’re going to attract the seagulls again.” Gabe laughed.

“Hilarious.”

“You know…” He leaned back in his chair. “…I think I’m going to like going on tour with you guys.”

“You’re going to be a pain in my ass, aren’t you?” I grinned.

“I’ll count it my new life goal.”

“Well then.” I lifted my water bottle and tapped his glass. “Here’s to hoping you fail, Twilight.”

“I want a new nickname.”

“Not happening.”

He rolled his eyes and stood. “I’m going to go find the wife and seduce her.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Luck.” He rolled his eyes. “Please. Luck is never needed when it comes with pleasing my woman. It’s a skill… one you probably lack… but hey, there are always manuals. If you need any pointers, I think there’s an app for—”

I flipped him off.

Gabe burst out laughing and walked off in the direction of Saylor who was busy dancing with Kiersten.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Alyssa’s smooth voice said from behind me.

Chills erupted across my arms. I turned and pulled her into my lap.

“You ready to go?”

Alyssa nodded, her lips finding my neck.

“Yup, it’s time.” I breathed, my body barely able to restrain itself from attacking her in front of friends and family.