Chapter Two Hundred and Forty

Chapter Two Hundred and Forty
Jayce

“Rose, we need to go back to our rooms.” 

We have been out in the hallway, kissing for the last few minutes. It is Rose’s way of stopping me from leaving. 

Sighing, she finally parts from my lips. “You are right. We should. I will see you tomorrow. I love you so much, and I can’t wait to marry you.” 

“I love you too, pretty eyes. The second you become my wife will be the proudest moment of my life.” I gush. 

Stealing one last kiss, I hurry her back to her room, waiting until she is safely inside before heading to mine. I finally sneak back into my hotel room at three in the morning. I am glad I ran into her. I wanted to see her tonight. I wanted to make sure she was doing okay. Why we decided to sleep separately tonight, I will never know. It is something I regret now. I could have stayed with her longer, but we both needed to get some rest. Rose is up in three hours. I am up in four. 

“And where did you sneak off to?” Tanner’s voice rings in the dark. 

“I was using the bathroom.” I lie. 

“Really? What bathroom? Because we have one in our room, and you left the room. Be honest, big brother.” 

“I went for a walk because I couldn’t sleep, and then ran into my beautiful wife-to-be, so we went for a walk together and then had some tea to try to help us sleep.” 

Tanner chuckles. “You couldn’t go one night without her?” 

“No. I don’t like being apart from her. Don’t pretend like you aren’t the same with Remi.” 

“I am, but at least I managed one night before our wedding without seeing her.” 

“That is such a lie. We all know you sneaked out to meet her when you thought we were all asleep.” 

Soon, a pillow hits me in the chest. “I don’t know what you mean. Get your ass into bed, big brother, you need to sleep if you want to be fresh tomorrow. You aren’t as young as you used to be, you know.” He teases. 

I laugh, tossing it back at him, hitting him before I strip down to my boxers and climb back into bed. 

“I may be older than you, but you look older.” I chuckle. 

“I do not! Stop being so mean!” he whines. 

I laugh loudly and settle down once again, hoping this time it will work. Tanner is quick to fall back asleep. I toss and turn for a bit before I finally get comfortable. I wouldn’t be having this issue if Rose were next to me. I slowly begin to drift off with the thoughts of Rose and how beautiful I know she is going to look in her dress. I still don’t know a single detail about, well, the colour, but nothing more. I am fine with that. I will see it in less than nine hours. I know I am going to cry when I see her. I know she will be nervous with all the attention on her. But I told her to pretend like it’s only me and everything will be fine. I know my attention will only be on her, not anything or anyone else. 

I just hope I can be a good husband for her. I don’t want to mess things up. I shouldn’t, though, because I think I were to mess up, I would have done it by now. Everything will be fine! I love her. She loves me, and that is all that matters.


“How are you feeling, son?” my dad asks as we all get ready in the one room. 

“Nervous but good. I am so ready to marry Rose.” I answer without hesitation. 

In less than an hour, I will be at the bottom of the aisle waiting for Rose. We saw one another briefly this morning, but only for a few minutes. We were texting, but now she will be busy getting ready. 

“It is only natural to be nervous,” he smiles, fixing my tie for me. 

“I know.” 

“I am happy for you, son. I am proud of you. I love Rose as if she were my own daughter. I know it didn’t start this way, but I am glad we all sorted things out. I would have hated it if I missed your wedding.” 

“Thank you, Dad. Yes, it was difficult, but we all got through it. The past is in the past. I want to focus on right now and my future with Rose.” 

He nods, and I turn to look in the mirror. My midnight blue tux fits perfectly. I decided on this colour because I didn’t want to wear black. The bridesmaids are wearing blue too, so I match with them. I smile, happy with my look. We are all ready now, so it is just a case of waiting until we head out. 

“Shall we toast with a scotch?” Rose’s dad guests.

“Yes, it will maybe calm my nerves.” I laugh. 

He pours everyone a scotch and hands them out. “A toast. To Jayce and my daughter, Rose, may your marriage be happy and full of love. But remember one thing, you hurt her, you will have me to deal with.” 

We all raise our glasses. “I promise not to do. All I plan on doing is taking care of her and loving her for the rest of our lives.” 

He nods, lifting his glass to me. I am happy he thinks I am good enough for Rose. He accepted me so easily. He must have sensed something good in me. I plan to show him that he didn’t make the wrong decision. 

“Today will be perfect. I can’t wait to see you cry, big brother. I have never seen you cry.” Tanner chuckles. 

“I will cry just like you did when you saw Remi on your wedding day.” 

We all take a seat, enjoying our drinks to pass the time. My legs bounce up and down, and my palms sweat. My races in my chest. 

“Rose is going to show up, right?” I ask, looking around at everyone. 

Rose’s father places his hand on my arm. “Yes, Rose will show up, Jayce. You have nothing to worry about, I promise. Rose loves you. She can’t wait to marry you.”

I take a deep breath, downing the last of my scotch and nod. One will be enough. I want to have a clear head for when I marry the love of my life. I want to remember every single detail and not mess up my vows. We have written our own. We could have used ones that were already written, but it felt so impersonal, so we decided to write our own. It took me a full week to write mine. I wanted them to be perfect. I wanted to find the right words. Well, the right words I could because there are not enough words in this world that could describe my love for her. 

I memorised them, but I have the written version in my pocket in case I forget them or am so awestruck by Rose that I can’t find my words.