Page 36 of Walkoff Wedding

I shoot her a wink, and she giggles softly before rolling her lips together, stifling the sound.

Our officiant nods, glancing back down at his script, then asking, “Do you have rings?”

“We do,” I say, dropping Addie’s hand only to turn to Davis and grab the rings I picked up while she was shopping for a dress.

There wasn’t much of a selection at the store she was shopping at, and I’m pretty sure it might turn our fingers green because they’re only costume jewelry, but my options were limited with the time given.

I hand her the thin golden band I grabbed for me and wait for him to proceed.

“Whenever you look at these rings, may they remind you of this moment and the love you have promised to one another. Grant, please place the ring on Addie’s finger and repeat after me.”

I never take my gaze off her as I place the star-shaped ring at the tip of her finger. Her eyes are slightly wide as she glances up, her breath hitching.

It may have only cost ten bucks and be slightly bent, but I took it as a sign from the universe.

“With this ring, I thee wed.”

I repeat the line, sliding the ring up her finger slowly, and then she does the same. The band is a tight fit for me, but since we decided to get married in less than three hours, it works just fine.

“By the authority vested in me by the State of Louisiana, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Grant, you may kiss your bride.”

Unhurriedly, I lift my hand and reach for her, sliding my palm along her jaw before cradling it in my palm. The rough pad of my thumb sweeps along her smooth skin in a motion that shouldn’t feel so intimate, yet somehow, it does.

When I lean in and pull her toward me, there’s only the briefest moment of what looks like nervousness flickering in her gaze before her eyes flutter closed, and her lips part as she sucks in a sharp intake of breath. The moment that my lips press gently against hers, her fingers tighten in mine. The kiss is chaste and too fucking quick, but every nerve ending in my body comes alive at the feel of her soft, sweet lips.

I shouldn’t, but I want to do it again, and again and again. I want to know the way she tastes more than I want to fucking breathe.

She pulls back slightly, her eyes still shut and her dark lashes fanned out along her cheeks as she breathes shakily. Still so close, I can feel her warm breath against my lips.

Maybe I’ll regret it later, maybe I won’t, but when she finally opens her eyes and stares back at me with those deep, dark azure eyes filled with trust, I decide to give a shit about the consequences later.

My arm slides around her waist, pulling her flush against me, closing the distance between us.

I kiss her the way I should’ve the first time.

The way I should always kiss my fucking wife.

Gone is the soft, tentative brush of our lips and the hesitation of experiencing a kiss together for the first time.

My lips move against hers, deepening with every second that ticks past until I feel her hands fisting in the front of my shirt. As if she’s pulling me closer and holding on all at once.

It’s the kind of kiss that should be written about in books. Played in movies. Plastered on billboards. The kind of kiss that would be used as a measure of time.

The time before kissing Addie, and the time after.

When a throat clears beside us, I pull back, slightly breathless, staring down at Addie in my arms with the same expression mirrored in her own eyes.

We’re standing in front of a handful of people, but it felt like it was just the two of us, lost in a moment that only belongs to us.

“Congratulations!” the officiant says cheerily, glancing between the two of us. “I wish you a lifetime of happiness.”

Addie offers him a small smile and turns her gaze back to me. I realize I’m still holding her, so I drop my hands and step back.

Just like that… we’re married, and for the first time since meeting her, I realize how much trouble I might actually be in. Because I liked kissing her far too much for an arrangement that is supposed to be fake.

We sign the marriage license shortly after, then say goodbye to Addie’s family and Davis before heading out of the chapel to the parking lot.

I feel like I should apologize for that kiss, but shit, I’m not fucking sorry. I don’t regret it for a second; I just don’t want her to.

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