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“For a fake wedding, you sure do seem to have a lot of feelings, bro.”
Oh, right. Idohave someone standing up here with me. Alec.
Perhaps the last person I might want, who just chose this moment to remind me of the thing I want to forget—that this isn’t a typical wedding. Without turning away from the back of the tent, where Van just jogged off for what’s probably the worst timed bathroom break I can imagine, I give Alec a healthy dose of side eye. Only to see him smirking back.
I speak quietly, moving my lips as little as possible. “You know, as someone officiating a fraudulent wedding, I’m pretty sure you’d be on the hook for some hefty fines too,bro.”
I’m making this up. Though it seems legit.
Alec leans in closer, putting a hand on my back as he says, “But that’s the thing, Hop. Nothing about this seems fraudulent to me. Especially not the lovesick look in your eyes.” He pauses just as there’s movement at the back of the tent, unseen people outside pulling apart the flaps. “And not the look in hers either.”
His voice fades as the small group of guests gets to their feet, turning. I suck in a breath.
Bailey steps into the tent, clutching Van’s arm like she’s in as much need of support as I feel. Her eyes are only on mine, but I can’t hold her gaze. I need to lookeverywhere.
Beautiful, beautiful Bailey. How did I ever think she was just pretty? Not even that, but the kind of pretty I didn’t react to but noticed like I might appreciate a waterfall or a nice sunset.
Now, her beauty hits me like a solid punch. It knocks the breath clean out of me, just as sure as if someone really did hit me right in the diaphragm. Long brown hair in waves cascading over her shoulders, a dress that floats around her like she’s the princess in a fantasy movie—almost magical. If a team of birds suddenly appeared, carrying the train of Bailey’s dress in their beaks, I wouldn’t bat an eye.
Seeing Van escorting Bailey is not what I expected when he ran from the tent a few minutes ago. The expression he’s wearing is also surprising. At most, he’s been tolerant of this idea andonlybecause it means I get to stay. He’s bitten his tongue about the whole marriage aspect, but I happen to know how he feels about monogamy and long-term commitment—not great.
But right now, his smile is a little wobbly at the edges, and though he’s trying hard not to show it, the set of his jaw and theway he can’t stop blinking tells me he’s fighting off some pretty big emotions.
Ones which echo in my chest as my heart kicks up. Today is about Bailey and me. But the teammates in my close circle have never felt as much like brothers as they have this week when they were all busting their butts to help me throw this wedding together. Van walking Bailey down the aisle—something I should have thought about but didn’t—means the world.
I give him a quick nod, my jaw clenching, then I focus my attention back on Bailey.
As she moves closer, her smile gets bigger. Her grip on Van’s arm loosens, and her pace picks up, like she can’t wait to get to me. I have half a mind to jog down the aisle and meet her in the middle.
We’re doing a lot of other things differently—why not have the ceremony right in the middle of the room?
I might have done it too, had my feet not cemented themselves to the floor.
Alec’s hand never left my back, and now, he slides it around to my shoulder, giving me a little shake. “Breathe, Hop,” he says with a little huff of laughter. “Breathe.”
I draw in a shaky breath. I don’t think I’ve been breathing since Bailey stepped inside the tent. Not good if I want to avoid passing out. I focus on slow, steady breaths and not locking my knees as Bailey nears. There’s the slightest tremor in my fingertips, and I close my hands into fists, needing the bite of my fingernails in my palms to ground me. I want to be completely present in this moment, and the tiny bite of pain helps me focus.
“Hi,” Bailey whispers as she and Van stop.
I’m grinning, but I swear, I just felt the slide of a tear on my cheek. “Hi,” I murmur back. “You look beautiful, Leelee. Perfect. Radiant. Am?—”
“We got the point, Mr. Thesaurus,” Alec mutters. Then, louder, in his captain voice, he says, “Welcome! Close friends, family, teammates, and book club.”
This earns him laughs and a few wolf whistles I’m sure come straight from the book club ladies, but my eyes don’t leave Bailey’s face.
Not until Alec goes off-script.
“Who gives this woman to be married to this man?” he asks.
I do turn away from Bailey then, trying not to show the full extent of my frustration. I made it clear to Alec we weren’t doing the giving-away part of the ceremony. Bailey and I planned to leave it off, considering her father isn’t here. When we talked about it, I saw the sad look in her eyes, the one she tried to hide. I don’t want her to have to think about too many sad memories today. More than she already is. I know there’s no way she hasn’t thought about her parents missing this day. I barely remember my dad, and even I felt the tiniest twinge of something when I thought about him not being here.
In addition to all that, Van doesn’t get the right to give Bailey away just because he happened to escort her down the aisle.
But Alec just winks at me as Van clears his throat. And then there’s a chorus of male voices joining Van as they say as one, “We do.”
It takes effort to swallow past the lump in my throat. The whole row of my closest teammates spoke up. Every single one.
And as I’m processing this, blinking back embarrassing tears, Van leans close and presses a quick kiss to Bailey’s cheek, making the whole emotional thing worse.
