Page 80 of Yours, Now and Always
I touch my face to make sureI’mreal. Yep, I am. Still me. Still getting married in a fairytale.
Gage is standing in the center of the greenhouse. His back is to me. Hands in his pockets. Shoulders broad and perfect in that tuxedo jacket that I alreadyknowis going to wreck me.
He’s standing in front of a beautiful vintage couch that’s surrounded by flowers and candles. Twinkle lights are strung overhead. It’s so beautiful I can barely process it.
My vision blurs with fresh tears. My chest aches. I have to stop walking for a second because my legs are shaking and my heart is doing something that feels borderline dangerous and I can’t...I can’tbreathearound how much I love him. Around how much this moment means.
I swipe at my cheeks with trembling hands, probably fully ruining my makeup, and force myself to keep moving.
One step.
Then another.
Gage turns just as I make it to the end of the path.
His eyes find mine.
And in that instant,the world disappears. There’s no noise. Nothing. Just the man I married in secret. Waiting to see me like it’s the first time all over again.
I step inside the warm glass greenhouse and the door clicks softly closed behind me. Gage doesn’t move at first. He just drinks me in, dragging his eyes over every part of me. My face. My dress. My everything.
Then, slowly, he comes my way. He stops just in front of me. Close, but not touching. His eyes are glassy. His breathing is uneven.
“You okay?”
It’s not a casual question. I know he means it in ten different ways.
Are you still high?
Are you warm enough?
Are you holding it together?
Are you ready?
I nod, but my throat’s tight again.
The glass walls are very pretty. Are they humming? Or is that just me? I think my heart is humming.
I manage to keep all of that inside my head where it belongs. Good job, Amelia. Gold star for not saying the weird thing out loud.
“Are you?” I whisper.
He doesn’t answer right away. Just looks at me.
Then, he says, “I’ve been waiting too fucking long to look at you like this.” A pause. “You have no idea what that did to me.”
He lifts a hand and slides it into my hair.
I lean into it.
He exhales.
My voice is barely there when I speak. “Of course I do.”
I search his eyes.
“You think I didn’t feel every second of it too?” I move into him, reaching for his jacket. “I hated that I couldn’t scream it to the world that we were married.” I tighten my grip on him. “That you weremine.”
