Page 35 of Pretend to be Mine
Epilogue
SAVANNAH
Ben and I have officially been together for one whole year. As I stand back and look at myself in my wedding dress, I can’t help but smile. I never expected to be standing here. I never thought I’d end up marrying my best friend. I thought for sure I’d be doomed to lie to my parents forever. I couldn’t have asked for more. I feel like I have everything right now, like I’m on top of the world. And as long as Ben is by my side, I will remain there.
“It’s time,” my friend and maid of honor, Lauren, says, sticking her head into the room.
I take a deep breath and grab my bouquet of flowers.
“Are you nervous?” she asks, picking up hers.
“No, I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
The music starts to play, and the double doors open. Everyone stands, and I can’t look at anything but Ben as he waits at the end of the aisle for me. I want to run to him, but I remind myself to take my time. I feel tears well up behind my eyelids and I have to will them away. I’ve never been happier in my life.
I finally make it to the end of the aisle and the music stops as the preacher tells our guests to be seated.
“Who gives this woman away?” the preacher asks.
“Her mother and I do,” my dad says as he releases my arm. He gives me a quick kiss to the cheek before handing me over to Ben.
Ben shoots me a smile as the preacher starts up the vows. I know I should be listening to everything the preacher has to say, but I’m too lost in Ben’s eyes. They’re bright and shining today. He looks handsome in his tux and I can’t believe I get to call him mine for the rest of my life. I almost jump when he speaks. I didn’t realize we were this far into the ceremony already.
“Savannah, I vow to honor and protect you, to cherish and love you for every day for the rest of my life. With this ring, I thee wed.” He slides the ring onto my finger.
“Ben, I vow to honor and protect you, to cherish and love you for every day for the rest of my life. With this ring, I thee wed.” I slide the ring onto his finger.
“With the power invested in me by the state of Colorado, I know pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Everyone stands and cheers while Ben pulls me against him and presses his lips to mine. The kiss is hard and rushed, but full of passion and need, and a promise that will last a lifetime. When he pulls away, I feel the heat in my face and I can’t make the smile go away as I walk back down the aisle, this time a married woman.
Everything happens so fast, it’s like a blur in front of my face. Ben pulls me into my private room and his mouth is on mine while his hands tour my body. Right now, all I can think about is ripping his clothes off and taking what I want, but we’re in a church and I’m pretty sure there are rules against that. I luck out when Lauren knocks on the door and says we’re needed for pictures.
We’ve already taken our separate pictures, so we take our pictures together and of the whole wedding party before exiting the church and getting blasted with birdseed. We slide into our limo and it drives us back to our hotel where the reception is being held. We chose the same hotel we stayed in last time, wanting to relive some fun memories—only this time, we got the honeymoon suite. No door will ever separate us again.
The reception is another blur of dancing, pictures, champagne, cake, and kisses. Around eleven, the two of us sneak back to our room to enjoy the rest of our wedding day alone. We’re already kissing by the time we make it into the room and Ben kisses his way down my neck and shoulders as he unzips my dress.
We fall into bed together and I’m overwhelmed with happiness. I can’t believe how quickly things can change. One minute I was telling myself that I hoped the new neighbor was gay, and the next thing I knew, I was completely in love with him. No matter where life takes us, I know we’ll be okay. Because we have each other. With each other, we’ll have it all.
BEN
SIX MONTHS LATER…
“Honey, I’m home,” I say, walking into the house. The front door bumps off a stack of boxes already packed and ready for the move.
The house is dark but filled with dozens of candles, rose petals lining the floor to the kitchen. I smile to myself as I follow them in to find Savannah standing by a set table. “What’s all this?”
She smiles and shrugs. “I just wanted to give you the perfect evening you deserve.”
“You’re not proposing, are you? Cuz I think I already beat you to that,” I joke.
“No, silly. Have a seat.”
I do as I’m told, and she sets a plate in front of me with a glass of wine. I take a sip and find that it isn’t wine. It’s sparkling grape juice. I make a face out of surprise and she laughs. “What is this?”
“It’s grape juice to go along with our mini corndogs, mini burgers, and mini ears of corn.”
She sits down in front of me with a wide smile.
