Dillon

I know what love is, it’s you…

 

 

 

I swear I’m fixing to pull my hair out of my head.

I wanted to celebrate with everyone, instead it’s turned into a wedding planning session, and they all have a say so in where and when it should happen, other than Ariel and I that is. I’m fixing to take the decision out of all of their hands, I grab Ariel and pull her out of the hotel’s restaurant and into the lobby.

“Baby…” I start to say, but she stops me.

“I know they can be a little much at times, but they mean well,” she says looking into my eyes with her beautiful blue ones.

“I’m sure they have the best of intentions, but seriously, baby! I don’t want some huge affair.”

“Thank the Lord, because neither do I. I don’t want some big fan-filled event, I just want us and those we love standing there with us.”

“I have an idea,” I tell her.

“I’m all ears, lay it on me.”

“Since we’re already here, let’s do a simple ceremony on the beach.”

“Oh my God! I love that idea Dillon, but don’t you want to invite some friends and family?” she asks me.

“Hell no, everyone I care about is here, right now with us. What do you say, you wanna marry me here on the beach? We can extend our trip and turn it into a honeymoon, or we can hop a plane and take off to another destination.”

“Yes! Yes please, can we?”

“We’ll do anything you want and your heart desires. This is your day, not anyone else’s.”

“It’s your day too, Dillon.”

“The only thing I care about at the end of the day is watching you walk down the aisle to me and telling everyone you’re mine and I’m yours.”

“Okay then, I guess we should go talk to the maître de and see what help he can give us in getting this thing planned then,” she says, dragging me away and up to the front desk where we ask to speak with him.

 

 

Three dreadful hours later, we have a wedding being planned. He hooked us up with a wedding planner and a minister and we have a venue in the works. The wedding planner works fast and efficiently, from an hour-long conversation and she’s begun working. In just two short days from now I will be calling Ariel my wife. Ariel Lynn Connelly has a nice ring to it, and I can’t wait to say it as many times as I can.

Ariel called her mom to tell her what we were planning, she’s a little disappointed to not be included, but in the end, she relented and eventually understood where we were coming from. She makes plans with Ariel to do some dress shopping, one of the other guys will have to accompany them because they have both put their feet down and said I can’t see her dress until the day of the wedding. I don’t get what the big deal is personally, but when we meet up with everyone in the lobby, Carson and Levi both agree to tag along with the women. Promising me that they will keep vigilant and their eyes wide open when it comes to Ariel and her safety. After their last screw up I believe them and know that they are telling me the truth.

We decided on doing summer wear for the men and the women are looking for spring dresses…whatever in the fuck those are. We already all have jeans shorts packed, so I’m on a mission to find us all white short sleeved dress shirts. We’ll just wear sandals or flip-flops on our feet, I can’t stand sand in my tennis shoes. At least this way I can shake out the sand easier, there’s nothing worse than sand stuck between your toes. Marcus and I head into a local shop and we see a bunch of touristy type shirts, palm trees…nope. Tons of scenery type shirts, not what I’m looking for, I want our wedding photos to not have the shirts standing out like a sore thumb. I need to do everything within my power to make this as perfect as I can for my girl, and she’s asked for white shirts, so that’s what she’s getting—one way or another.

Five stores, and three hours later I finally find what we’ve been looking for. And bonus, they have all of our sizes. All I can say is thank goodness for franchise stores, no matter where you go, or what country you’re in you can always find one. Curious at how the girls have made out I grab my phone and shoot off a text to my woman.

 

Me: Any luck? We’ve finally located the shirts

Ariel: We’ve had great luck, second store we went into I found myself the perfect dress for the occasion.

Me: That’s great beautiful, can’t wait to find out what you found.

Ariel: No peeking Dillon, you’ll see it on our wedding day.

Me: Are you ready to meet up for lunch?

Ariel: Not yet babe, we’re still looking for shoes.

 

Fuck me! That could take days let alone several hours.

 

Me: Miss you baby, try to hurry.

Ariel: Aye-aye captain.

 

God she’s such a smartass sometimes. I put my phone away and Marcus and I head back to the hotel and grab some lunch. These next two days couldn’t come fast enough for me.

 

 

The next two days are enough to have myself committed. I was dragged along to pick out her bouquet and flower arrangements, cake taste testing—which wasn’t so bad seeing as I love cake and don’t get it often due to my healthy diet. What is driving me insane is needing to know…why do we need so many different flowers and cake since we’re having a simple wedding on the beach with only us, and Carson, Levi, Marcus, Glory, Emory and Rainey in attendance? Aren’t we doing the one thing we said we weren’t going to do and going overboard?

 “Ariel, why are we getting all this stuff when we’re not having a large attendance? I thought we were keeping things simple.”

“Baby, this is our only wedding, let me give my family this.” I sigh, but finally relent and nod my head up and down letting her know I’ll give in to this.

“Fine, baby, but no more extravagances, okay?”

“Alright, Dillon, I’ll keep the rest as simple as I can.”

“Thank you, babe,” I say leaning down and pecking her lips. Deciding to leave them to it, I walk out on the balcony and sit down. “We should’ve eloped,” I say to myself as I get comfortable and stretch my legs out placing them on the banisters railing. I lean my head back and close my eyes to rest them some and try to escape the mad house that my wedding has turned into. My phone rings and I pull it out, better be someone important or I’m not answering it. These international plans through my carrier are a nightmare. Seeing who it is I swipe the answer button and place it up to my ear.

“Sadistic, my man, what have you got for me?”

“Not a motherfucking thing, I think whoever this is has gone underground. I believe he knows y’all are outta town and is behavin’ himself waitin’ for you to come back home. I’ve got Wasp on speaker with us,” he informs me.

“Fuck! So things could possibly climax once we step foot back in Texas?”

“Thinkin’ so, we’ve done everything to draw him out short of sending out smoke signals. This is one smart fucker we’ve got on our hands, Dillon.”

“Not the news I was hoping for, what do we do next? I can’t push anymore time away than a week tops.”

“I heard y’all were gettin’ married, congratulations, man.”

“Thanks, we’re getting married tomorrow afternoon, the hospital will only give me one extra week to be away before they give my job to someone else, and the girls can’t financially afford for the shop to be down longer either.”

“I get it and can put extra men on her once y’all come back.”

“I’m not going to turn down extra security for her. Think once he finds out we’re married it will push him over the ledge?”

“Between that and the baby, yeah, I do.”

“Shit, I can’t lose her, Tic.”

“If anyone understands that better than anyone it would be me,” Wasp says. He’s right, his wife and daughter were kidnapped, and it took him twenty-years to find them. I don’t know how he lived, I couldn’t go a day not knowing where Ariel is and if she’s safe, let alone my child.

“I know you do, and not being rude here, but I don’t think I could carry on the way you were able to.”

“I was only existing, Dillon, I wasn’t living. I was a shell of the man I’d once been while she was away from me for all of those years. I promise you, we won’t let it get to that point with Ariel. Can I talk to either Levi or Carson? Neither one of those fuckers will answer their phones when I try callin’ their sorry asses.”

“Sure,” I look in the room and see Levi standing there. “Yo, Levi, your brother and Wasp want to talk to you, says you won’t answer when they call.”

“Fuck no I don’t. The rates on my plan are astronomical, I can’t afford that shit,” he says, grabbing my phone. I sit there and listen to the one-sided conversation while Wasp and Tic fill him in. Once he hangs up the phone and hands it back to me he slaps me on the shoulder. “We won’t let anything happen to her, I swear that to you.”

“I hope you’re right,” I say pocketing my phone.