That Last Little Spark

“All the single ladies! All the single ladies!” the deejay crooned along with the Rihanna song that began playing. “Get up and get on over to the dance floor. The bouquet’s about to fly! And I have a special demand from the bride that Jessica Walker had better be in the crowd of ladies, whether she’s single or not.” he laughed.

“Guess that’s my cue.” Jess rolled her eyes before turning away from staring at the water. She and Bam had been out on the back deck since the father-daughter dance had ended, listening to the music and the chatter of the people through the french doors that had been open since the reception began. Bam put his hand on the small of her back and together they walked back into the ballroom.

“Catch that bitch!” he laughed and gave her a gentle push towards the group of eager women and girls. Jess managed to join in on the side, but people began to move to let her move up, and eventually she stood next to Kelsey and the rest of the bridesmaids.

“Ready?” Erica stood up on a chair, assisted from the side by Aaron. She turned around to face the side of the room where the deejay was and, on the count of three, sent the bouquet flying.

Like she was wearing some kind of target, the bouquet landed right in Jess’ outstretched hands. It wasn’t until she turned around that she noticed the entire group had moved back, so she was the only one who would be able to catch it. And right in the front of the group was Kelsey, staring at her with the trademark smirk she knew all too well.

“LOOKS LIKE JESS IS GETTING MARRIED NEXT!” Chloe shouted to the room. Ashleigh let out a wolf whistle and Kelsey clapped in agreement.

“What was that?” Erica asked, stepping down from the chair with Aaron’s assistance as she moved forward to stand next to Jess.

“Like you had no idea.” Jess laughed.

“Hey, I’m just the bouquet thrower.” Erica shrugged with an innocent smile.

“Well then I would talk to a bridesmaid named Kelsey about that. I didn’t know they moved back until I caught it.” Jess turned the bouquet over in her hands with a giggle. “But I guess it’s time for the garter.” she added, taking Erica’s arm before leading her over to where the chair had been moved to the middle of the dance floor. Aaron was waiting there with a smile on his face.

“I made it easy for you to get.” Jess winked at him.

“I don’t know if I should be jealous or turned on.” Aaron winked back.

“God, it’s like you, Jess and Kelsey all have the same dirty minds.” Erica rolled her eyes and sat down with a flourish. She gave Aaron a flirtatious grin and played with the hem on her dress, pulling it up her legs a little.

“Hey, that’s my job!” Aaron laughed as Jess shook her head and sauntered off the dance floor, waving the bouquet like a trophy.

“You better get out there and catch that garter.” she whispered in Bam’s ear when she was back by his side. He looked down at her, only to receive a wink and the flirtatious grin Erica had just given Aaron.

They both turned their attention to where Erica was sitting in front of Aaron, who was taking his sweet time in removing the garter. He slowly pushed the dress up over her knees until he could see the garter on her leg.

“USE YOUR TEETH!” they all heard someone shout from the back of the room. Everyone began laughing and yelling in agreement. Erica tossed her head back and laughed as Aaron shrugged with a grin and actually complied. He pulled the garter down her leg and off her foot using only his teeth. Then he stood up and twirled the garter around his index finger, looking over every man in the room.

Bam noticed that Aaron caught his eye, and gave him an obvious wink and a nod. He suddenly caught on to what they were doing. Erica wanted Jess to catch the bouquet and Aaron wanted him to catch the garter.

“Alright, we need all the single men in the room to get on up here.” the deejay requested.

“Come on, we wanna see some fighting over this thing! Look at the pretty girl holding the bouquet over there! That’s what you’re fighting for!” one of the groomsmen, who had just a little too much champagne at dinner, started egging everyone on. Jess simply rolled her eyes and looked at Aaron, giving him a look that told him that he had better throw that garter right at Bam.

Aaron shrugged at her and turned around, like Erica had done. When everyone counted to three, he suddenly whirled around and flung it right to Bam. Jess noticed that, like with her, the guys all stepped back so Bam was the only person around to catch it.

“And we have a winner!” the deejay announced. “Get that chair back out here! And you know, the higher the garter goes, the more lucky the marriage will be.” he chuckled. Aaron brought out the chair with a flourish and slid it to the center of the floor again.

Erica suddenly appeared by Jess’ side, and together, she and Kelsey pushed Jess towards the chair.

“Alright, relax!” Jess laughed and sat down in the chair with the bouquet in her lap as she looked up at Bam expectantly. He cracked his knuckles and kneeled in front of her. Giving her a smirk, he slid the garter over her foot. Like Aaron had done, he took his time sliding the garter up her leg and over her knee.

“Higher!” Kelsey yelled from the side of the floor. Bam looked up at Jess, who gave him a daring smile. Biting his lip, he pushed the garter even higher, up to her thigh, pushing her dress up with it to show everyone how high it was. She started laughing like Erica had done. But Bam surprised her by kissing her knee. He let his hands brush the garter one more time before he pulled her dress back down to where it belonged. And Jess surprised everyone when she leaned forward, caught Bam’s face in her hands, and kissed him in front of everyone, not paying attention to the fact that her friends were screaming in triumph on the side of the dance floor or the fact that people had started clapping, or the fact that she knew she was blushing a lot.

If she forgot everything else that happened today, she would always remember this moment.