Page 19 of Her Inconvenient Wedding Date

“But that’s because you didn’t have a say back then.”

“You’re right, but I do now. And I mean it when I say you and all your girly stuff are welcome at my house. You don’t have to beke qiwith me, Lil,” I say, reminding her not to be so polite. “We’re equal partners in this. Just think of us like a dual-core processor. Together, we can run applications faster, smoother, and more efficiently. And with God as our power source, nothing can slow us down.”

Her eyes soften as she gazes up at me. “I love it when you talk nerdy like that. Whoever gets to marry you is going to be so blessed. I mean, marry you for real since this one doesn’t count.”

Doesn’t count? I want to tell her that this weddingcanbe real and that we don’t have to put a time limit on our marriage, but her tone is so matter of fact, I can’t tell if she’s just being courteous.

“Thanks again for doing this for me, Hunter,” she continues. “I know you’re sacrificing a lot. I don’t even know how I can ever repay you.”

“You could always name your firstborn after me.”

She raises a brow and says, “I would promise you that, but what if it’s a girl?”

“That’s easy. You can add a suffix and make it Hunterita or Hunterina. Better yet, Hunterella. That has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? I guarantee you she’d be the only girl in her class with that name.”

“More like the only girl in the world.” She laughs, looking a lot more relaxed now. “I’ll think about it.”

I see Ryder waving for us to head over. “Are you ready? I think it’s go time.”

Lily blows out a long breath and nods. “Let’s do this.”

“Hello, there!” The officiant calls us over to join him under the chandelier. He wears a black judge’s robe and holds a clipboard full of paperwork. “Are you the party of Payne and Lam?”

“That’s us!” Lily answers. “I’m Lily.”

“Hi, I’m Hunter.”

We all shake hands while Ryder positions himself a few feet away with his phone up, ready to take pictures.

“I’m Fred, and I’ll be handling your ceremony today. We have a full schedule today, so let’s have the two of you go ahead and face each other,” he instructs us. “Are you ready to start?”

Lily and I exchange nods.

“Feel free to stand closer and hold hands,” Fred says. He eyes the two of us curiously. “I’ve never seen a stiffer couple in my fourteen years of working here. You guys are in love, aren’t you? Or is this some kind of arranged marriage?”

“Not arranged,” Lily whispers. “It’s a marriage ofconvenience.”

Fred narrows his eyes and frowns. “A marriage of what?”

“Convenience. Hunter’s helping me out by marrying me, so my sister can marry the guy she’s in love with.”

Fred cocks his head at me and asks, “You’re okay with this? Because it sounds kind of inconvenient to me.”

“I’m totally on board, one hundred percent.”

“Huh,” he says again. “What’s that phrase young people use these days? You be you?”

“Do,” Ryder pipes up. “It’s you do you.”

“Right. You do you. Back in my day it waswhatever floats your boat.Let’s hope your ship has all the romance of the Titanic without the death and despair.” He throws in a wink as he laughs at his own joke. “Get it? Boat, ship, Titanic?”

“We get it.”

“Yep, got it.”

Lily and I share an amused grin. We don’t have to exchange words for me to know how absurd she thinks this situation is; the look in her eyes says it all. But there’s also a sense of relief in her smile, like she’s grateful we’re in this together. I couldn’t agree more. In a show of solidarity, I step forward and extend both of my hands to her. She glances at them, then up at me, before she meets me halfway. The moment our fingers touch, I’m locked in. Everyone else fades away and the only person I see is Lily.

Somehow, I make it through the next few minutes and say my vows. Lily says hers, too, and we exchange rings. They’re plain gold bands that her parents gave us, nothing fancy or personalized, but they symbolize a change in our relationship status better than any social media post. The ceremony then ends with Fred declaring us husband and wife. The whole moment seems surreal, like I’m in a dream state. But the instant I hear, “you may kiss the bride”,a shot of adrenaline rushes through my body, all the way up to my face. I’m prettysure I could give Rudolph a run for his money because my ears feel blazing hot. Oh no. Someone’s probably going to pull the fire alarm before I can kiss my wife.

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