Limitless (Journey Series) (4 page)

“Dude, leave me the hell alone. I
need my beauty sleep, you know it’s a proven fact that the best man has to
outshine the groom,” he mumbled out and then rolled over onto his stomach,
burying his head in the sand.

“Right, not sure where you heard
that, bud. Let’s go, time to get ready. Maybe you shouldn’t have stayed out so
late last night.”

“Chase is right.” Mark stood up,
brushing the sand off his trunks and grabbing up his beach towel. “I don’t
think you came in till almost six this morning.”

“Quit tattling on me Mark, I
thought we were bros. Besides, don’t think I didn’t see a certain red head in
your bed. I’m not the only troublemaker around here. We’re on vacation, got to
live a little boys.” Teddy smirked, finally jumping to his feet and pushing his
sunglasses up to reveal bloodshot eyes.

“Whatever, Ted. Just do something
about those, I’m sure my mom has some eye drops stashed somewhere. I don’t
think they’ll turn out too good in the pictures.”

“Does that mean you two losers
don’t want to hear about my night then? You know Chase, you’re going to be
wanting to live vicariously through me now that you’ll be a married man. No
more late nights for you. You’re going to be a one woman dude from now on.”

Oh, yeah. I forgot how much I
partied before Leah, not really. And now just because I was getting married, I
would be settling down. I think Teddy was just thinking about himself. “Sure,
go ahead. I’m sure I’ll hear about it anyway.”

“Well, where do I begin?” He rubbed
his hands together as we stepped into the elevator and Mark punched in the
floor to my room where me and the guys were getting ready before the ceremony.

“There were plenty of hot chicks
there, but I know how fun Ally can be. I don’t have to worry about some crazy bitch
that gets all clingy and won’t leave me alone the next day. So after you all
disappeared, without so much as a goodbye might I add, she dragged me down to
the beach and practically attacked me. She straddled my lap in that short ass dress
she was wearing, which she had nothing on underneath, by the way-”

“Whoa, whoa, dude.” I held up a
hand as we stepped off the elevator and I pulled out my key card. “I don’t want
to hear another word. Ally is practically Leah’s sister, so I really don’t want
to hear about your sex life when it comes to her. Why do you keep going back to
her if you don’t want a relationship? If you like her so much and she’s so much
fun, make it exclusive.”

Teddy groaned as he flopped onto
the bed and pulled his sunglasses back down. “Don’t start up with that shit
again, Chase. Me and Ally like to have a good time together, nothing else. I
don’t do relationships. She knows what she’s getting herself into when we’re
together. I’ll leave that exclusive stuff to you two, and I’m not so sure how
that’s gonna work out for you, Mark, when we go out on tour. You’ve heard of
groupies, right? What we have back home, won’t be anything compared to what’s
out on the road. I bet you won’t remember Remy after two days, when there will
be girls throwing themselves at you.”

“Don’t worry about my relationship,
buddy, I’ll handle that shit on my own. I don’t need help from you.” Mark
crossed his beefy arms over his stocky chest; I could tell that he was a little
uneasy about that whole topic.

I knew he and Remy had a good thing
going, but he was definitely worried about how to keep a relationship going on
the road. I was glad that I got out of the band when I did, even though I still
missed it. I would choose Leah over playing any day.

We took turns showering and then
the two of them got dressed in dress pants and simple white dress shirts Leah
and my mom had picked out. I had pulled on my tan suit that was a little
dressier but still simple. Leah had wanted things pretty casual when she
planned everything out. I didn’t care as long as she was my wife at the end of
the whole thing.

We found the spot on the beach
where the resort had set up the area where the wedding would be held. Everything
looked perfect to me. A white arch was set right at the edge of the water,
wrapped intricately in flowers and the aisle was lined with lit torches. Leah
and my mom had planned the ceremony to be right at sunset and the sun was a
perfect, warm, orange ball, looking like it was almost ready to set straight
into the ocean.

“Oh honey, you look so handsome.”
My mom came over as soon as the guys and I found our spots up front, squeezing
my cheek between her index finger and thumb. “I wish your dad could have made
it to see you. I’m sure he’s so disappointed that he’s missing this. I’ll be
sure to send him some pictures on my phone after the ceremony is over.”

Since we had set the wedding up
sort of last minute, my dad couldn’t wrangle his schedule around enough to
where he could make it. I knew how bad he felt, and yeah it was a little weird
that he wasn’t there for my wedding day, but I understood. If he could have
made it happen, he would have. That was just the kind of man he was.

“Thanks Mom, you look beautiful as
always. I’m sure there will be plenty of pictures for dad, but I know it won’t
be the same. I think he’ll appreciate it if you send him some pictures right
away; that’s nice of you.”

“I’m sure and trust me, like I said
I’ll make sure there are plenty of pictures. It’s not every day my baby boy gets
married. Now, I’m going to go check on the little ones again. They’re getting a
little anxious. Belle probably won’t have any rose petals left by the time she
makes it down the aisle, and Caleb is wiggling around like a little worm. I
really don’t think we want to be searching through the sand for wedding rings. Love
you, honey.”

I laughed at the picture my mom had
just painted of my youngest sister and Caleb, sounded just about right, even
though the whole ring thing made me a little nervous. “Love you too, Mom.”

“Oh and by the way,” she leaned up
on her tiptoes to whisper in my ear, her eyes twinkling. “Leah looks gorgeous.
I can’t wait till you see her; you’ll be over the moon.”

My smile grew even wider, just
thinking about Leah. I already knew how gorgeous she was, even when she rolled
straight out of bed, grumpy as hell. I think that really was my favorite time
of day.

I took a deep breath as I watched
my mom disappear back inside. Mark and Teddy were making small talk with the
minister that the resort provided, but I really wasn’t hearing much. Instead, I
was running and rerunning over the vows that I had prepared in my head.

When I had first brought up the
idea of writing our own vows, Leah freaked out a little bit. She had said that
just because I had an English degree, didn’t mean she had a way with words,
too. Then I suggested I just write one set of vows and we would repeat them to
each other, and that seemed to ease her down a little bit.

Now I was sort of rethinking it. My
palms were sweating and it wasn’t from the balmy heat. My stomach was twisted
in knots and I kept feeling the urge to vomit rise up in my throat. I hoped
that she liked them, that I didn’t screw them up, or worse, my mind completely
go blank.  

Teddy nudged me in the side with
his elbow, interrupting the whirlwind of words running through my head that I
was repeating over and over again. I was even more nervous than I realized.
“We’re getting ready to start, dude. You’re about ready to have an old ball and
chain. I gotta say though yours is pretty hot, if you ever get sick of her-”

“Teddy, shut it,” Mark interrupted
harshly. “Are you really going to do this on Chase’s wedding day? You might
think it’s funny, but it’s not. We all know Leah would never give you the time
of day anyway.” Mark smirked at Teddy who just rolled his eyes and they both
stepped back into place beside me.

My eyes drifted back to the end of
the makeshift aisle in the sand, when the soft sounds of ‘Over the Rainbow,’
the ukulele version, started to play. I had considered playing this on the
guitar as Leah walked down the aisle, but now I was glad I didn’t. My hands
were so sweaty they would have slid right off the strings.

One by one my sisters filed down
the aisle, all beaming with smiles, followed by my mom and Chris.  Belle came
next, dressed in a white tutu, skipping down the aisle, arm in arm with Caleb.
Those two were always inseparable. Caleb was gripping the ring pillow tightly
against his chest, so I guessed he had been given a warning or two from my mom.
Those could be scary.

He smiled wide when he saw me and
picked up his pace, coming to stand right next to me for the ceremony just like
we planned. I ruffled his curls that were so much like his sister’s, but my
hand stopped after I caught a glimpse of Leah who was behind Ally and Remy.

The white dress she had on was
simple, but stunning, playing off the darkness of her skin even more than usual
and just skimming her bare ankles. Her dark curls fell past her shoulders, just
brushing the middle of her back and I just wanted to run down the aisle to
scoop her up and never let go. She was absolutely…breathtaking.

Her gray eyes were wide when our
gazes finally met. I was expecting her to be nervous. I knew how she was when
it came to these kind of things and truthfully I was surprised we had made it
this far.  But her eyes weren’t filled with fear, instead they looked glossy
with unshed tears and her full lips were curved into a smile about as wide as
mine.

“Hi,” she whispered out, looking up
through her thick eyelashes at me. I couldn’t help myself, that look was
absolutely killing me. I dipped my head down and laid a gentle kiss onto her
soft lips, something I felt like I had needed to do as soon as I saw her.

She let out a soft moan against my
lips, clasping her hands behind my head to bring me closer, the feelings of
want mutual. What started as just a simple kiss turned into more, I needed a
taste of her sweetness and our tongues mingled together. The minister cleared
his throat, ruining the moment, and we both pulled back with a laugh, our eyes
never leaving each other.

“And now may we proceed?” he asked
with a smile. We both nodded our heads and our family and friends around us
laughed.

“Chase and Leah, today you
celebrate one of life's greatest moments and give recognition to the worth and
beauty of love, as you join together in vows of marriage. Just as two very
different threads woven in opposite directions…” His voice drowned out after
that. I couldn’t pay attention to anything but the beautiful girl across from
me. The beautiful girl who was about to be my wife.

 Her small hand in mine, the way it
fit perfectly. The softness of her skin that I wanted to rain small kisses over
every inch. Her stubbornness that sometimes got on my nerves, but was one of
the things I loved about her most.

“Now Chase, I understand you have
written your own vows. You may proceed with those now.”

I took a deep breath, my eyes
flicked back to Leah, who gave me a reassuring smile. I was sure she could feel
the sweatiness on my hands. Here goes nothing, hopefully I don’t screw it up.

“Leah, I believe
in you, the person you will grow to be and the couple we will be together. With
my whole heart, I take you as my wife, knowing and accepting your faults and
strengths, as you do mine.
I promise to be faithful and supportive and to always make you and Caleb’s
happiness my first priority.

“I will be yours in want, in sickness and in health, in failure and in triumph.
I will dream with you, celebrate with you and walk beside you through whatever
journey our lives may bring. You are now my wife- my love and my life, today
and always.”

I blew out a
breath as I said the last word and wiped at my forehead. I was seriously going
to need to shower before the honeymoon got started. I don’t think I had ever
been this nervous in my life, even when I had performed in front of hundreds of
people. I could tell by the tears that were streaming down Leah’s face though,
that I had done a pretty good job. I mentally patted myself on my back and gave
her hands a small squeeze.

She repeated my
words back to me slowly and I helped her along the way, in between both of our
tears. I knew I was going to get serious shit from Teddy for crying like a
baby, but I seriously didn’t care. The only person I cared about in that moment
was Leah.

“Chase, do you
take Leah to be your-”

“I do,” I
interrupted and Leah let out a quiet , musical laugh.

“Okay, good.
Anxious, I see,” the minister chuckled out. “And Leah, do you take Chase to be
your-”

“I do,” she interrupted, apparently
in as much of a hurry as I was to officially be married. At those two simple
words, all of the nerves that I had for the day disappeared. She was now my
wife, and was no longer running. Along with Caleb, we were a family and our
journey together was just beginning.

Leah

“Baby,” Chase murmured out, his
warm breath blowing against my bare stomach. I had been sound asleep but really
didn’t mind being woken up this way. I reached out a hand and ran it over the
short stubble that covered his head. He had cut it all off again right before
the wedding, I thought I would miss it, but really, I loved seeing him exactly
the same way as when we had first met.

We had gotten back late the night
before, our vacation/honeymoon over far too soon, but it was nice to be home.
Caleb had passed out the minute we left the airport, and stayed that way when
we got home. Chase had scooped me up to carry me over the threshold after he
had Caleb tucked in to bed, but as soon as our heads hit the pillow, we were
out. Our vacation had been fun, and something I would remember for the rest of
my life, but it had definitely been draining. Who knew getting married could be
so much hard work?