Page 130 of Our Chaotic Love Affair

And Austin was officially married.

I watched him on the dance floor with Melody, both of them grinning like idiots. I wasn’t an emotional guy. Emotions were not a common thing in my life, but I felt them all now. Pride. Joy. Relief that my brother had found someone who loved him completely, chaos and all.

“Speech time!” the DJ announced. “We’ll start with the maid of honor, Cleo Quinn!”

Cleo stood up from the head table, champagne glass in hand, looking nervous and beautiful and completely herself in that gorgeous dress. The elaborate updo exposed her neck and made me want to lick that pulse point.

“Hi, everyone,” she said into the microphone. “For those who don’t know me, I’m Cleo, Melody’s best friend, personal assistant, therapist, bouncer, and according to her, the only reason she’s functioned as a human being for the last three years.”

The crowd laughed. Melody was already crying.

“I’ve known Melody since she hired me on a whim because I told her I liked her shoes.” Cleo grinned. “Best job interview of my life. And since then, I’ve watched her build an empire, become a voice for women everywhere, and somehow manage to look flawless doing it all.”

She turned to look at the head table. “But the real magic happened when she met Austin. Suddenly this woman who had everything figured out was stumbling over her words and blushing and acting like a complete disaster. It was adorable.”

More laughter.

“Austin, as you know, when Melody first told me about you, I immediately looked you up and started an Instagram account dedicated to your worst paparazzi photos.”

Austin laughed and shook his head. Most of us knew Cleo was behind the account, but judging by the gasps throughout the crowd, not everyone did.

“And while I approve of you now, you give me too much good content to give up the account. So, sorry, love ya, but last night, while you were just a little tipsy, I got some more content.”

Austin groaned while everyone else laughed.

She raised her glass. “To Melody and Austin. May your marriage be filled with as much laughter, love, and chaos as your courtship. And, Austin, if you ever hurt her, just know that I have three years’ worth of embarrassing content ready to deploy.”

“Noted!” Austin called back.

Everyone drank. Cleo sat down to thunderous applause.

The DJ turned to me. “And now, the best man, Cash Bancroft!”

I stood up, suddenly aware of everyone’s eyes on me. Public speaking had never bothered me before, but this felt different. More personal.

I cleared my throat. “I’m going to keep this brief because unlike Cleo, I don’t have embarrassing Instagram accounts to leverage.”

“Yet,” Finn called out.

“Yet,” I agreed. “Austin and I are brothers, obviously. And like most brothers, we’ve had our moments. Arguments. Disagreements. Times when I thought he was making terrible decisions. I’ve tried to correct his decisions most of my life and I’ll admit, I thought he was moving too fast with Melody. But I get it. I see it. I’m going to say this once and then I will forever deny it. Austin was right. I was wrong.”

Austin jumped up and cheered.

“Yeah, yeah,” I joked. “Watching him with Melody changed something for me.” I looked at my brother. “You showed me what it looks like when someone finds their person. What it means to be all in. To choose love even when it’s messy and complicated and terrifying.”

I paused. Found Cleo in the crowd. She was watching me with wide eyes.

“You showed me what falling in love looks like, so that I’d know how to spot it when it came for me.” I raised my glass. “To the happy couple. May you have a lifetime of happiness together.”

“To the happy couple!” the tent echoed.

I sat down. Austin reached over and punched my shoulder. “That was actually sweet. Who are you and what did you do with my brother?”

“Shut up.”

“Seriously, man. Thank you.”

The DJ put on music and couples started filtering onto the dance floor. Melody and Austin took the center for their first dance as husband and wife. Some slow, romantic song about Tennessee Whiskey that made half the guests tear up again.