I focus my attention back on the ceremony, still struggling to hear the words Jax isoffering.
When my ring is needed, I turn to Allison, who passes it tome.
I press my lips together, taking a breath as Jax grants me mymoment.
“I’ve been practicing my vows for the past few weeks. Scribbled them down, rewriting again and again. I wanted it to be right and perfect for you, Jesse. Every time I say the version I have in my back pocket, the one I’ve been trying to get embedded in my brain, it just sounds rehearsed, but I’m not giving you something that isn’t from my heart. So here I am, the imperfect man you see before you. But I know what I feel, and I, Eric Westright, do promise to love and cherish…and worship you, Jesse Morgan. I promise to put your needs before my own, because in making you happy, I’m a happier man. Because I want to always be able to have and to hold and to care for you, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, through every sunburn, and to stay with you even when you make me watch a strange movie I don’tunderstand.”
The audience laughs, and Jesse does too. His laugh is all that matters to me in thismoment.
I take his hand and slide the ring on, adding, “With this ring, I give you my everything, JesseMorgan.”
Jesse’s eyes water, and I’m relieved because it makes me feel like those words actually meant something, will be something he’ll be able to carry with him for the rest of our lives together, to make this day that much more special forus.
He takes my ring from Ty. “Well, seems like you cheated a little with your vows there, trying to one-up the ones I wrote, so I guess I’m going to have to wing ittoo.”
I hear the wedding party enjoying another laugh at our impromptu change in vows, but it’s background noise as I gaze into Jesse’seyes.
“We’ve had to wing a lot of things, haven’t we, Eric? Or do I say Eric Westright?” he chuckles. “Already screwing it up more. I know I’ll keep making mistakes, but it’s easier when I know I have you in my corner. You came into my life when I least expected it. And we don’t always do the right thing, and we don’t always say the right things, but I didn’t know what love was until I met you. I didn’t know that I could ever care for someone as much as I care about you. You are imperfect. You’re stubborn and too serious sometimes…and you have the worst taste in music, but every perceived fault is just part of the long list of reasons I can’t imagine myself sharing the rest of my life with anyone else…and why I want you to be the one I grow oldwith.”
He takes my hand. As he beholds me, I’m so exposed, I want to turn away, but I don’t want to miss an expression, a moment, a word, so I let him see me in all my vulnerability, just as I have for all this time we’ve beentogether.
“We’re really good at handling weird, so let’s spend the rest of our lives dealing with weird together. With this ring, I give you my body, my heart, my soul, my truth. And I promise to worship you just a little harder than you worship me, Eric Westright. In sickness and health, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, until death do uspart.”
He slides the ring on my finger and raises my hand to his face, kissing my knuckles softly. It’s the most random of moments, yet the most beautiful too, because I see it’s straight from his heart. Like everything he shared withme.
“Hey, now, let me get to the kissing part,” Jax teases, and the crowd erupts into laughter again. Jesse blushes, which fills my heart with pride and joy in the awareness that this is my wedding…and it isbeautiful.
Jax offers a few scripted words before we hear the ever-important, “I pronounce you husband and husband. You may now kiss thegroom.”
It’s as though we’re magnets that have been held apart for too long because we snap together, our lips locking as I grab the back of his head, keeping him close to me. I plan to keep it short, tasteful, but I’m too selfish for that, and Jesse doesn’t resist either as I claim his mouth the way I have so many times before. The power of it all leaves me breathless before I pull away, seeing Jesse’s eyes closed still, his lips glistening from my wettingthem.
He finally opens his eyes as he pulls back,smiling.
As the crowd begins to cheer, the Bastard Motherfuckers and Jesse’s friends almost in competition to see who can make the most noise possible, I get lost in those chestnut-brown eyes once again, looking forward to basking in their sights for the rest of ourlives.
* * *
The celebrationof our union continues into the reception dinner—something that just proves to frustrate me since all I want is to have Jesse in my arms. I get a few gropes and grabs of his ass in when I can, and it’s nice to at least get a feel of his crotch under the table as we eat, but aside from that, we have too many people to chat with and entertain for me to do everything I want to his body rightnow.
After some time, a glass-clinking sound reverberates beside us as Ty pushes to his feet. A few of the other guests mirror the sound with their glasses as Ty sets the spoon beside hisplate.
“How is everyone doing tonight?Good?”
He gets the room laughing as he rubs his hand uneasily down the side of hisleg.
“Well, who thought we would be here after all this time? Certainly not me, or least of all me, but here we are. My best friend in the world is here, and so is mydad.”
I turn to see Jesse, who’s already looking at me, clearly as pleased to hear these words from Ty as I am. I can tell by the silence that no one really knows how to respond to Ty’s acknowledgment of the obvious, but he just keeps righton.
“There are some things you never expect to happen…obviously. ’Cause don’t get me wrong, this isstrange.”
The room fills with uneasy chuckles and laughs, as though no one’s quite sure how much to enjoy the remark, but the smile on Ty’s face shows his own acceptance, and that’s all that matters tome.
“But there are also those things that, when you see them, you just know are right. I never doubted what you guys shared, and I think you both know, from the very beginning, we may have had some issues, but I never wanted to stand between you two…or wanted anything more than for you to behappy.”
No one in this room can understand the truth of his words more than Jesse andme.
He continues, “Thanks for letting me be a part of themagic.”
