Page 157 of Reconciling With the Rival

“You will always just be the right amount of everything for me, Ella. I’ll spend every second of the rest of our lives reminding you that you are the most beautifully smart and amazing woman. If people say I’m a good man, it will be because of you. I love you, and I hope I piss you off for the rest of eternity and well after we’re both gone.”

I hand my papers back to Grant, tears on his cheeks, before I look back at my forever.

Paige hands her a few papers, wiping her tears and making sure her makeup is still intact. Ella takes a deep breath before she speaks. “Leo, I’m going to keep this short, because you know I always have a lot to say. When I sat down to figure out what to say to you in this moment, though, I could only think of one thing I wanted to tell you.”

“And what is that?” I ask, a huge smile on my face.

“That you positively annoy the shit out of me most of the time.” Everyone around us laughs. “There’s nobody else I want to annoy me for the rest of my life. There’s absolutely nobody else on this planet I want to ask for help when I need it.”

The laughter has now turned to sniffles.

“And there’s nobody else I want to run to when things get too tough. You may have started as someone I never envisioned being in my life, but you’re ending as my husband. Leave it to us to make our relationship more complicated than it needed to be.”

More laughter.

“I love you so much. I love you so much some days, I fear it might swallow me whole, but I know you’ll pull me out if that happens, or you’d jump in and let it swallow both of us.”

She folds her small paper and hands it to Paige, who pockets it.

Then, the officiant pronounces us husband and wife, and I kiss Ella with all the love that has been in my body since the day I saw her. All my emotions—the good, the bad, and the wonderful—leave my body, and when I pull back, I hear and see nothing but my wife.

My wife. God, that sounds fucking fantastic.

All I can see is her in front of me, the entire world ceasing to exist as I cup her face and kiss her again.

“I love you so much, Ella.”“And to think, I swore I’d never reconcile with you way back when.”

I smile at her, a laugh slipping from my mouth. “Rivals to lovers suits us, doesn't it?”

“It absolutely does, husband.”

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