The Strings Attached

Chapter 51 - Jace

Jace

My tie is damn near suffocating me. I tug on the black silk and Loni slaps my hand away with a scowl.

"You look fine," she snaps in a whisper.

"I feel like I can't breathe."

"You can breathe. Just calm down."

I try to calm down, normally her soothing voice is enough, but not now. Even the echo of the waves that crash around us is not enough.

My nerves are all on edge, probably because every time I glance around, another family member, who I never met or haven't seen in years, tries waving at me. They've been telling me how happy they are for my father and how happy I must be for him. Yeah, I'm fucking thrilled.

After talking to Loni, she made valid points and I decided to come, only with the condition that she be my date.

I'm too anxious to even focus on her though. My dick would have gotten hard at the sight of her in the tight little blue dress she's wearing, but it doesn't. Her ass looks amazing and it wouldn't take much to slide my hand up her leg and touch her sweet pussy.

Yeah, not even a fucking twitch. I'm completely flaccid. All of the blood in my body is going straight to my head, I can't really focus on anything.

I never pegged my dad as a beach-wedding kind of guy. But I don't know Kim very well, maybe this is all her idea.

Loni squeezes my hand and I am snapped back to reality.

A harpist plays and my dad walks down the aisle which is covered in red rose petals. He looks... happy. I haven't seen a smile this big on my dad's lips in, well, forever.

My shoulders tense and even Loni's thumb running over the back of my hand isn't enough to help me relax.

He stops and stands under an arch that's covered in red and white roses. The blue ocean sits behind him.

Everyone shuffles to get out of their chairs. I don't move, I can't. It's like my body is covered by a ton of bricks. Loni grabs my arm and pulls me up out of my seat. She keeps her arm around my waist, probably worried I'll fall down at any second.

Kim walks down the aisle as the harpist plays a different song. Everyone gushes about how beautiful she is, their whispers drown out the sound of the music.

I don't look at her. I don't even know what kind of dress she's wearing. Loni will have to fill me in later. All I can focus on is him. Standing up there, tears in his eyes as he watches his bride, getting ready for his new life.

Does his new life involve me? Or was he just full of shit when he said he changed?

There's a moment when Kim finally reaches him, he places a kiss on her cheek and then looks out at all of us. His eyes stop as soon as they fall on me. His smile fades for a second and brief surprise washes over his expression before looking at Kim again.

The ceremony is short and I don't really hear any of it. I know it's over when everyone cheers and claps. He wraps Kim in his arms and kisses her with such passion.

I need some liquor.

The cocktail hour is a nice distraction. There's tons of booze and food and no dad. The only people I'm interested in talking to right now are Loni and the very heavy-handed bartender. I'm drinking whatever the hell I see on the bar first. Whiskey, vodka sodas. I might puke later, but I don't give a fuck. That actually might be a pleasant experience compared to this.

Though, my moment of bliss doesn't last long as we are ushered into a different tent for the reception. White and pink flowers cascade down from the top of the tent. Entwined with the flowers are thousands of twinkling lights. I want to look around more, but as soon as Loni and I sit down at our table, the DJ announces the newlyweds.