Marcus ~
Everyone had smiles plastered onto their faces as they left the wedding chapel and gathered in front of it to make a plan for the rest of the evening.
"It's 11:45pm. The night is young." Pierce said, tucking Natalie under his arm.
"Where to, Mac?" Caleb asked.
Marcus knew everyone was expecting him to say back to the hotel for the night because that was his usual response. He never cared for large crowds or loud clubs because they always took him back to that day in the cafe when he lost Red...but those memories didn't live in the forefront of his mind anymore, and his Red was right there on his arm, smiling up at him with his ring on her finger.
"Whatcha say Mrs. Cordell?" Marcus asked Caroline who gushed and grinned at the mention of her new last name.
"Please say dancing, please say dancing..." Claire repeated with her eyes squeezed tight and her fingers crossed.
"I can get us in anywhere. You name the place and I'll make it happen." James added.
"You're really okay with going to a club?" Caroline asked Marcus.
"If you're there, then yes." he said with a smile.
"We're goin out!" Caroline cheered loudly, getting an even louder response from the group.
James immediately pulled his phone from his pocket and started to make arrangements for everyone and Marcus didn't even want to think about how much money James was about to spend.
"Can we change out of these clothes first?" Caroline asked, looking down at her floor length dress.
"Absolutely."
They ubered back to the hotel, passing through the bar toward the elevators when suddenly Nate and Declan stopped dead in their tracks. Their expression put Marcus on edge and he watched as Declan reached out and grabbed Lexi's arm forcefully, halting her forward motion and changing her direction as he manipulated her little body.
"What on earth are you...oh. My. God." Lexi said with her mouth hanging open.
"What's got you three so riled up?" Marcus asked with Caroline looking equally as concerned.
"Is that?" Nate asked with wide eyes.
"Yep." Declan returned.
"Marcey..." Lexi giggled, covering her mouth in disbelief.
Marcey as in the Marcey? Or should we say... Merci
"No fucking way." Caleb said once his eyes settled on the blonde sitting at the bar, still in her uniform from another hotel.
Pierce came up behind them with his arm around Natalie.
"What's the hold up chumps?" Pierce asked, following their gaze until his mouth dropped open and he froze.
"Holy shit...is that Mitsy?"
"MARCEY!" Everyone yelled at Pierce, unable to understand how he still couldn't remember her name.
They said her name so loud in fact that Marcey's ears perked and she turned to face the group who was standing there gawking at her from across the room. Everyone dispersed in different directions, bumping into each other and diverting their gazes to the floor or ceiling in an uncoordinated and awful attempt to look casual.
Natalie was the only one who didn't look away and held Marcey's gaze.
"I'm gonna go talk to her." Natalie said, with her feet moving before anyone could stop her.
Pierce was sweating bullets as he watched Natalie take a seat next to Marcey and start up a conversation.
"Bet you wish you would have just remembered her name now.." Slater said, slapping Pierce on the shoulder.
"Yeah no shit."
"Well I'm thoroughly enjoying myself, I don't know about y'all." Caleb snickered.
Natalie promptly returned with a sly grin on her face.
"What did you say?" Lexi laughed.
"I bought her a drink..." Natalie said with a shrug. "...With Pierce's credit card."
Pierce smiled down at Natalie snatching her up in his arms and clearly relieved that she hadn't gotten jealous.
"I guess I deserved that." Pierce chuckled.
*****
After everyone had changed they met at a night club of James' choosing and it looked every bit as expensive and exclusive as Marcus had imagined, but they could have been in the middle of an empty field and Marcus wouldn't have cared as long as Caroline was there.
She was in a short cocktail dress that showed off her long toned legs and perfect ass, causing Marcus to find reasons to trail behind her so he could steal a few looks.
"Like what you see?" Caroline sassed over her shoulder.
"You have no idea, Mrs. Cordell." Marcus said before he leaned down and peppered her neck with kisses.
James had pulled out all the stops and reserved two private tables with bottle service for the group. The guys took seats at the tables, pouring drinks for each other and keeping an eye on the women that loved who had immediately gone to the dance floor.
Pierce, Logan, Gunner and James had joined the girls and were dancing in the middle of them, loving the attention they were getting which made the rest of the guys roll their eyes in response.
Normally Kincaid would have been right in the center of that drunken dance party, but for some reason he stayed back, stirring his drink and watching along with the rest of the group.
"You okay, man?" Marcus asked loudly over the house music.
"Yeah, just some shit I'm workin' through. I'll be fine." Kincaid said, tapping the side of his glass against Marcus', not wanting to share that information with Marcus at the moment.
Marcus watched Caroline like a hawk and loved how carefree and happy she was. Caroline, Lainey, Lexi, and Nat were dancing like fools with smiles on their faces that radiated joy from across the room. He had never seen Caroline as happy as he'd seen her today and wanted to make it his personal mission in life to make her smile that big every day for the rest of his life.
The drinks kept flowing and the girls became sloppier and funnier as the night went on, dancing to rap songs and falling over periodically, but having the time of their lives.
"They're fucking hammered." Declan chuckled, as Lexi blew him drunkenly seductive kisses from the dance floor.
"Yeah they are. I think before we leave Claire might actually leave me for Kenzie." Nate said with a laugh pointing them out on the dance floor.
Kenzie and Claire were mouthing the words to a song, as they pretended to give each other lap dances, laughing hysterically when they would lose their balance.
Everyone started laughing at the sight until a tall well dressed man, approached the two of them. He was clearly hitting on them and Marcus shot his eyes over to Nate to watch his reaction.
"Look what we got here..." Nate said, sipping his beer with his expression hardening slightly. "Sorry bro, she's taken." Nate continued with his eyes fixated on his wife.
Luckily the man took the hint from Claire, but turned his attention to Kenzie, smiling down at her and brushing her hair away from her shoulder as they continued their conversation. Kenzie's eyes looked up and floated over to the tables, locking onto Hunter.
"She's lookin for ya," Caleb said, bumping shoulders with Hunter.
"No she's not," Hunter grumbled "but who the hell is she talking to?"
"Some dude looking to score." Slater added with a smirk.
Hunter sat up a little straighter and held Kenzie's gaze as he sipped his drink, assessing the situation until the man reached out and touched Kenzie's arm again.
"Why the fuck does he keep touching her?" Hunter growled.
"He's a single dude, and she's a single girl...what's the problem, Sir?" Kincaid asked with a sly grin, wanting to hear their leader admit that he had feelings for Kenzie.
She doesn't want him, she wants you, Hunter. That's why she can't stop looking over here. She wants you to intervene, but you're too stubborn and stupid to notice.
Before Hunter could respond, Kenzie ducked beneath the man's arm and headed back toward the table with hurried steps.
"Find yourself a new boyfriend Kenz?" Slater laughed, getting a glare from Hunter who didn't acknowledge Kenzie as she approached the table.
Kenzie made a gagging motion with her tongue sticking out of her mouth at the idea of that man becoming her boyfriend and took a seat at the table as she caught her breath.
Without saying a word or looking at her, Hunter slid a glass in front of her.
"What's this?" Kenzie said breathlessly with a laugh.
"Water." Hunter said flatly.
Kenzie pressed her lips into a line and tried to stifle a laugh at Hunter's grumpy, but endearing gesture.
"Thank you." She said with an uncontrollable smile.
Caroline and the rest of the girls joined them at the table a few minutes later, out of breath and flooding the air with tipsy laughter.
Pierce, Logan, Gunner, and James appeared next, each with a few shots in their hands.
"Ooh they're blue!" Lexi said happily.
Caroline took a seat in Marcus' lap and leaned against his broad chest as she handed him a shot and kept one for herself.
Once everyone had a shot in hand, they raised their glasses in honor of Marcus and Caroline.
"To Mr. and Mrs. Cordell." James said loudly.
"Cheers!" Everyone echoed, clanking their shot glasses together before tossing back their shots.
This couldn't be more perfect.
*****
Two hours later the girls spilled into the hotel, laughing and drunk out of their minds with the men they loved following close behind, keeping a careful watch over them. The only girl who wasn't drunk was Lainey who stuck to two drinks due to her medication, wanting to play it safe, which Caleb was thrilled about.
Natalie draped her arms around Pierce's neck and he smiled down at her, wrapping his arms around her to help hold her up.
"Mmmm take me to bed, Hollywood." Natalie hummed.
"Hollywood huh?" Pierce said with a grin, clearly loving that Nat was using his call sign before he scooped her up and carried her to the elevator.
"Night gentlemen." Pierce yelled over his shoulder.
Marcus was holding Caroline up with one arm, following Declan who was doing the same for Lexi as they made their way to their rooms that were across the hall from one another.
Marcus and Declan unlocked the doors, but turned to find Lexi with her arms wrapped tightly around Caroline in the hallway.
"I am so happy for you Caroline, thank you for letting me be a part of your big day." Lexi said sweetly.
"Lexi, you have no idea how much I adore you." Caroline said, smiling down at her.
"Not as much as I do." Declan said, giving Lexi a wink and motioning with his head for her to come to their room.
Giving Declan a bright flirty smile, Lexi made her way into their room and let out a loud playful squeak as Declan delivered slap on her ass as she walked past him.
"Guess it's just you and me, Red." Marcus said, extending his arm out for Caroline to enter the room.
"I guess so." She said with a smile that Marcus would never get tired of.
She stumbled into the room, flopping herself down onto the bed with uncoordinated movements.
"Let's get you out of that dress." Marcus said.
"Mmm, whatever you say, Mac." Caroline said seductively as she attempted to unzip her dress, but was unsuccessful.
"You're drunk." Marcus chuckled, easily unzipping her dress and helping her step out of it.
"Who me?" She asked, pointing at her own chest with a drunken smile.
"Yeah, you." Marcus said as he slipped a t-shirt over her head.
He went to the bathroom to wash his face and start the shower for them, grabbing her toiletry bag and setting it out on the counter, but by the time he entered the room again, his sweet wife was already sound asleep, on top of the comforter. He turned and shut the shower water off, knowing that was out of the question if she was already out.
Letting out a laugh and shaking his head, Marcus scooped Caroline up and placed her beneath the sheets, loving the way she clung to him and nestled her head against his chest.
He slid beneath the sheets and pulled her close with his entire body engulfing hers from behind.
"I love you, Red." Marcus said against her ear.
"I love you too Marcus," She mumbled back.
They laid there, tangled in each others arms, drifting to sleep together as husband and wife, but just as Marcus started to give into his own exhaustion, Caroline's muffled words echoed through the silence.
"I love being this." She hummed.
"Being what? Married?" Marcus asked softly, pulling her against him.
"Yours...I love being yours."
*****
I love you sweet readers!!