Page 12 of Ashton's Mountain Man

“It was the only way to get him to agree to the day,” Maisie confirmed. “He will wear the suit for the ceremony and photos, but for the dancing later, it’s Sonic the Hedgehog, guys.”

Wyatt placed his hands on his hips and nodded at us.

“Dadda West. We should be at our places. Look, everyone is waiting.” He pointed as Maisie shook her head at his words. The thing was, he was right. Everyone was waiting.

Brock and Carlson had even decided that, after six months in Fire Mountain without us all there, and after seeing how our lives had changed for the better, to move and change career paths too. It was great to have our group back together, even though everything was so different. Brock had decided to become a pet groomer, whereas Carlson shocked us all with reigniting his trade from his youth and going and retrain in career counselling through online sessions. It just went to showit didn’t matter what you’d done in the past, you could always change your perspectives in life at any given time.

Wyatt and West took their positions alongside Zane, as Maisie walked behind and sat down on the front row next to some of our nearest friends, leaning my back against the wall and taking some deep breaths. Until this moment, I’d been fine without a worry or fear, but at this second, it became so real. I knew I loved him. I knew he was everything I wanted, so why had this suddenly hit me?

“Ashton.” Maxwell walked up to me, placing his hand on my shoulder and gently squeezing it. “You love him so much. You’ve been through hell together and now look at where you are.” He continued. “This could have turned out so much more differently, but at the end of the day, you proved so much, to not just him, but yourself too. Fuck, man, your life changed instantly, but now you have it all. Go and make that man yours forevermore.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, tears forming in my eyes. I blinked them away as quickly as they appeared. “I needed that.”

I linked my arm with Maxwell’s, and as the wedding song began, the two of us started to walk down the aisle together. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the two people waiting for me at the end as Maxwell unhooked my arm from his and gave me to West.

“Remember, you’re always his mountain man, Ashton.” Maxwell winked as I nodded at him, and he took Wyatt’s hand after he managed to get a hug and kiss from me before going back to his seat next to Cole and his Mamma.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s get these two married,” the officiant declared as the room erupted into cheers.

“I couldn’t think of anything better,” I whispered against West’s ear. “I’ve been waiting a lifetime for this day.”

“Not as long as I have,” West replied.

Finally, our lives were complete.

The End