Page 132 of Rebellious Hearts
I walked into a side door of the chapel with my entourage in tow. Luke was my best man, and my three brothers stood with me, too.
The priest shook my hand, and then I had to wait for time to slowly tick by until all the guests were seated.
I glanced at my watch.
“She’ll be here,” Luke said, his hand on my shoulder. “You know she will.”
I nodded. Of course, I knew. I just wanted her here with me, her hand in mine. I wanted to call her my wife.
The music started, and everyone stood.
This was it.
When the doors opened, Elena, Charlotte, and Amy walked in first, followed by one of Sofia’s cousins, who was also a bridesmaid.
Then Sofia appeared with her father.
She looked like a vision in a lace dress that hugged her figure, showing off her curves in an elegant way. Her hair had been done up in a complicated do that only made her delicate features stand out, and her mercury eyes locked on mine.
As she walked to me to the beat of the music, everyone aww’d about her dress, snapping photos, but we only had eyes for each other.
I stepped down and met her as soon as she was at the front.
“Thank you,” I said to her father and shook his hand.
“I couldn’t have chosen a better man to look after my girl,” he said. “Welcome to the family.”
I smiled, and Sofia took my hand. We stepped forward, the two of us ready to be married.
I barely heard a word the priest said. I couldn’t stop staring at my beautiful bride, the soon-to-be mother of my child, the woman I would spend the rest of my life with.
When it was time for vows, I turned to Sofia and cleared my throat.
“I’m not a man of many words,” I said. “Almost everyone who knows me can attest to that. So my speech won’t be a long one, my vows won’t be complicated. All I can say is that I promise I will always be here. I’ll hold your hand, catch you when you fall, be a pillar of support for you to lean on, and be your biggest fan. You’ve taught me a lot about myself the last couple of months, but the biggest thing you showed me was that it’s okay to love. And, my darling Sofia, babe, I love you so fucking much.”
Everyone chuckled when I swore.
Oops.
Sofia’s eyes shimmered, and she blinked hard to get her tears to go away and not ruin her makeup.
“Ben,” she said. “Benjamin Blackwood, man of my dreams. All my life I dreamed of someone, knowing that there has to be a happy ending out there, that there has to be the kind of life they write about. It was only recently that I realized that man was you. I went through life thinking that I could do it alone, and as long as I was alone, I believed I was doing a fine job of it. But when I met you, and we started out as a couple…” Her eyes locked on mine, and we shared our inside joke—the lie, the game, the ruse—“I realized that I wasn’t doing that great at being alone after all. All I wanted was to be with you. And how else than to spend the rest of our lives together? So, I promise to love you, even though you’re grumpy. I promise to taste all your coffees, even if they’re not my favorite.” The crowd chuckled at that, and I grinned at her. “And I promise to give myself to you, every day, for the rest of our lives. You have my heart, and you always will. Ben, you’re everything.”
Everyone was teary by the time we slid our rings onto our fingers. I’d ordered a band that complemented the ring on her finger, and Sofia’s ring to me was inscribed on the inside.
I could never just pretend with you.
I smiled when she slid it on.
And then the priest said the words I’d been waiting to hear since I proposed in the car.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
I pulled Sofia close and pressed my lips against hers.
The rest of the world fell away, and it was just the two of us.
Happy.
