Riley
The Batmobile sped down the freeway toward the airport and I still couldn’t believe what was happening. So many thoughts were filtering through my mind, and I couldn’t land on just one. I was worried about my mom, about hurting her feelings by getting married without her. I was also worried about hurting Hadley’s feelings. I’d just asked her the night before to be my maid of honor and now I was completely ditching her.
I felt terrible.
But I also felt wonderful.
I wanted nothing more than to end the day as Camden’s wife. I wanted to fly to Vegas and find a chapel, get married, and just be with my husband. Sure, I wanted my family and friends around, but I wanted Camden more. I wanted this experience with him, to wake up one sunny morning and just get married. It was crazy and perfect.
In the back of my mind I suspected that everyone I cared about would be understanding in the end. They might be shocked or surprised, but they’d know it was perfect for Camden and me.
And of course Camden would do something like that. He’d listen to me, hear my worries and frustrations, and he’d take matters into his own hands to ease whatever was a burden to me. So there we were, getting ready to fly to Vegas and become husband and wife.
“Do you think I should text Hadley? Just tell her what’s going on? I don’t want her to be hurt.”
He shrugged and said, “If it’ll make you feel better.”
Camden took the airport exit off the freeway as I pulled out my phone and tapped out a text to my best friend.
**Don’t be mad. Camden and I are eloping. It was a last-minute decision and I’m so happy, but I don’t want you to be hurt.**
I waited for a reply, but after a few moments of nothing, I knew I’d just stress until I heard from her.
“I should’ve called. Now I’m just worried that she’s read the text and is really mad.”
Camden’s hand came to rest on my knee.
“It’ll be okay, babe. Promise.”
He parked the car in long-term parking and we loaded onto a shuttle, all the while my nerves starting to get the better of me. Was this really the best decision? Were we being irrational? Impulsive? Just when I hit my anxiety threshold, the point where I felt like I might start hyperventilating, Camden took my hand and brought the back of it to his lips, kissing me gently, absentmindedly. He didn’t even look like he’d done it on purpose or with any thought or consciousness. It was within his nature to comfort me, to smooth my rough edges.
And I decided to simply let it go. At that moment, I was at peace with the decision we’d made. In fact, I was downright excited about it.
“I love you,” I said, leaning my head against his shoulder as we drove toward the main departure terminal.
“More than anything, I love you,” he replied, kissing the top of my head.
Yeah. We were going to be all right.
The shuttle stopped and everyone unloaded. I immediately realized I had no idea what we were going to do. We still needed tickets. We had no plan whatsoever besides being unprepared.
“Should we go check the departure board and see if there are any flights coming up? Or should we just start at one carrier and try our luck?” I pulled my phone from my purse. “We could probably find out online.”
Suddenly my phone was snatched from my hand and Camden put it in his back pocket.
“No phones.”
“No phones? We’re going to Vegas, not back in time. Give me my phone back.”
“Just trust me.”
He arranged the luggage, stacking it in some magical way so he could take my hand, and led me through the airport. My free hand was holding the garment bag with my wedding dress. I could think of no reason to not do as he said, so I followed.
He walked until he came to the beginning of the line to a major airline, then took me with him as he wove his way through the serpentine line.
“So we’re just going to see when their first flight is?” I asked anxiously.
“Babe, relax,” he said and kissed me on the nose condescendingly. Well, he more than likely didn’t mean it that way, but I didn’t like being shushed.
“I can’t relax. We’re at an airport with no real plan. This is, quite literally, my worst nightmare.” Panic was edging every word I spoke.
Camden bent his knees so our eyes were even and said, “Trust me.” He held my gaze for a moment and then stood up straight. All I could do in response was let out a breath I’d been holding for too long. He squeezed my hand and it almost helped. Almost.
It took a few minutes to get to the front of the line, but finally we were called to a customer service agent and she greeted us with a smile.
“Hello, there. Where are we headed today?”
“Las Vegas,” Camden said coolly, placing his driver’s license on the counter. “Babe, give her your license.” He nudged me with his elbow.
“What?” I asked, confused.
“I’ll just need your license to check you into your flight,” the woman on the other side of the counter said with a smile.
“What flight?” I’d never been more confused than at that moment.
“The flight I booked us a few days ago,” Camden said, as though he’d just told me about loading the dishwasher.
“What? You booked a flight a few days ago?” I practically screamed.
“We can talk about this while we’re waiting in line for security. Our flight leaves in an hour, so get a move on, yeah?” he said, a smile twinkling in his eye.
I gaped at him for a moment but then finally pulled myself together enough to get out my license.
“Any exciting plans for Las Vegas?” the woman asked as she typed on her keyboard and checked our IDs.
“We’re getting married,” Camden said proudly.
“If I don’t kill him before then,” I added, only half joking.
“I’m sure you’ll work it out.” She winked at Camden and gave us our boarding passes. He handed over our luggage and then took my hand again. “Enjoy your trip,” she said sweetly as we walked away, heading toward security.
“Camden Joshua Rogers, you better tell me what the hell is going on. Right now.”
“You came home from Arizona and were talking so much about getting married sooner than later, so I decided to just make it happen. I didn’t want you to stress about it, so I booked the tickets ahead of time. I wanted to surprise you.” He looked over at me. “Did it work?”
That sexy, playful, mischievous gleam was back in his eye, and it was difficult to stay mad at him when I knew he did all this because he thought it would make me happy.
“I’m definitely surprised.”
“Mission accomplished, then.” He leaned down and kissed me quickly, then pulled me to the line that would lead us through security.
I tried to ask him questions, to figure out how he got all this past me, but he seemed preoccupied with getting through the security line.
I gave the TSA agents a very thorough lecture about how my dress was very delicate and instructed them to be very careful as they ran it through their machine. Lucky for them they heeded my advice and used gentle hands.
“What gate are we at?” I asked Camden as he pulled his shoes back on his feet after being scanned.
“E-14.”
“Are we late?”
He looked at his watch. “No, we’re good.”
I held out my hand to him. “Let’s go, then.”
We walked silently through the airport, both of us familiar enough with it to know which direction to go in.
I saw the E gates starting at number one, and my stomach slipped a little thinking that we were getting close to boarding a plane to get married.
“This is crazy,” I said quietly, almost to myself, but he heard me.
“It is crazy, but it’s also awesome.”
I laughed. “That too.”
“Anything in particular you want to do in Vegas aside from marry me?” He tugged me closer and I went willingly.
“Anything, really. I’ve never been there.”
“I’ll have to show you a good time, then.” He waggled his eyebrows at me, making me laugh.
The numbers on the gate were getting higher, and when fourteen finally came into view I could hardly contain myself.
“This is probably the best surprise in the history of surprises,” I said wistfully. I looked up at him, hoping he could see how happy I was.
“Well, hold off on that award for just a minute.”
“What? Why?”
“Surprise!”
I heard a chorus of voices yell and startled at the noise, my head snapping toward the gate. It was then that I realized what was really happening.
Standing in front of me was everyone I was sad would be missing our wedding. My mom, Hadley, Camden’s parents, Justin, Tripp, Jasper, and Rachel.
“What the fuck?” I gasped, my hand covering my mouth. Everyone swarmed me, laughing and hugging. When Rachel wrapped me in a hug, she took my dress from me, giving me a wink. “What in the world is going on?” I asked, still overwhelmed at the sight of all the people closest to me waiting at the gate for our flight. “What are you all doing here?”
“You didn’t think I’d let you go to Vegas without me, did you?” Hadley asked.
“But how?” I asked, my hand still covering my face.
“Your husband-to-be put us all to work planning this whole thing,” Jasper added with a smile. “You came back from Arizona all dreamy-eyed and armed with a dress, so Camden made a plan and we executed.”
I turned to look at Camden, who had stepped back and was now just observing the situation.
“You did all this? You planned this?”
He shrugged, always trying to let my praise roll right off him. “I knew you wanted to get married, I knew you’d want your friends and family around you, and I knew if you tried to plan it you’d lose your mind. Vegas seemed like a fun way to combine a wedding and a family vacation.”
I walked straight to him and threw my arms around his neck.
“I love you so much, Camden Rogers.”
His strong arms wrapped around me, holding me so close I could feel his heartbeat through his thin shirt. I loved the way his body felt pressed against mine, and I wanted to feel the way we lined up perfectly for the rest of my life. “I know, Riley. There’s nothing I love more than what just happened. Watching you smile and light up with happiness, the last few days was worth all the stress just for that moment.” He pulled back and smiled widely. “You should have seen your face. You had no idea.”
“I really didn’t,” I said through laughter and a few tears. “And you.” I turned, pointing at Hadley. “You knew about all this and didn’t tell me? I sent you that text a half hour ago so worried you’d be mad at me for eloping and you didn’t even respond.”
“Listen, if you eloped without me, I would be mad at you.”
“Wait, did you know about this when we went shopping?”
“Of course I did,” she said, pointing at her jeans. “I needed these for the trip. And you needed some stuff too, if I’m not mistaken.” She winked at me and all I could do was shake my head.
I was baffled.
I’d never been so surprised.
My mom hugged me and told me how she’d flown up the day before and stayed with my brother. It was when her arms were around me that I nearly broke down, realizing what Camden had really given me. He was responsible for so much goodness in my life, I didn’t know how I would ever repay him for making it so easy to love him, and to let him love me.
“Don’t cry,” my mother whispered as she took in the tears welling in my eyes. She framed my face with her hands and kept whispering. “This is the happiest day of your life, sweetheart. That man would walk through fire for you. You’re going to spend the rest of your life with him and it’s going to be so wonderful.”
It was a whirlwind. Every emotion imaginable was swirling around me while my closest friends and family stood by, caught in the storm. I was so incredibly happy but still wiping a tear away every few minutes, completely overwhelmed. We boarded the plane and I was sure the flight crew was going to kick us off. We were happy and loud and rowdy. Luckily, I think the crew and the other passengers saw us as excited, not disruptive. Everyone was on their way to Las Vegas, and they all seemed down to party too.
We took our seats, Camden on one side of me, Hadley on the other—very reminiscent of the first time we met. I let my gaze trail over him, from head to thighs, and had a flutter in my belly.
“So,” Hadley said, pulling me out of my Camden haze. “Once we land, we’ll go to the hotel and drop off all our stuff, but then it’s go time. You’ve got a hair appointment, followed by a makeup appointment, and then a wedding to get to.” She smiled widely and clapped her hands excitedly. “This is going to be so fun.”
“Wow, maybe you missed your calling as a wedding planner,” I teased.
“Hey, I don’t want to do this for a living, but you know I’d do anything for you.”
“I know. And you don’t know how much I appreciate all this. I still can’t even believe it.”
“Well, Rachel and Jasper helped a lot. I can’t take all the credit.”
“You’re still going to stand up with me, right? Be my maid of honor?”
“Of course. I even have a killer dress.”
“You’re going to kill Justin, aren’t you?” Camden added, interjecting himself into the conversation.
Hadley just shrugged. “I look amazing in my dress, and he’s going to have to deal with it.”
“Is Justin your best man?” I asked Camden, realizing we’d never spoken about it.
“Actually, no. Greg is on a flight to Vegas as we speak.”
I’d heard a lot about Greg, even talked on the phone with him a time or two when Camden had put him on speakerphone. They’d been best friends since childhood, but Greg moved to the East Coast for college and never returned. His wife had their second baby around the time Camden and I met, and Greg, now a father of two, wasn’t traveling much.
“Are you serious?” I asked, shocked and excited that Camden would get to have his best friend by his side for his wedding.
“I am. I called him, told him what was happening, and he made it happen. His brother, Ben, is coming too. It’s going to be good to see them.”
“We owe his wife a fruit basket or something. What a saint, letting her husband go to Vegas while she stays home with two kids. Too bad she couldn’t come.” I was looking forward to the day I could meet Greg and his wife.
“She wanted to but wasn’t ready to leave the baby.”
“Understandable,” I replied. “Maybe soon we can go visit them.”
“That sounds like a great idea.”
“Is this Ben guy single?” Hadley asked, and I shot her a withering look. “What? I’m just curious.”
“You can’t seriously be thinking about hooking up with someone with Justin around.”
She shrugged. “He doesn’t have a say in anything I do.”
I kept my mouth shut and fought the urge to roll my eyes. I had a feeling Justin had a very strong hold on her, and she was fighting it tooth and nail.
“So, what color is your dress?” I asked, attempting to change the subject. Luckily, she took the bait. The next two hours was spent ironing out all the last-minute details of a last-minute wedding.
It was the best two hours ever.