Perfect.
Marco gagged. Kimi groaned. Ivy smacked my arm. Lucy bounced on her toes, visible over Auri’s shoulder as she held two bouquets in her arms.
“You told me I didn’t need to be perfect, that I was already enough and I needed to stay while you loved me through it. And I’ve never stopped needing that reminder, not once. You’re not just my safe place, Cal. You’re my home. You’re the one I’d walk through fire for—and you’re the one who walked through it first to show me I’d survive it too.”
She swallowed hard, breath hitching. “I’ve hated this body. Hated the way it fails me sometimes. Hated the pain and the fearand the guilt. But you’ve kissed every bruise like it was a miracle. Touched every scar like a promise. You made me believe I was never broken—just human and still worthy of love.”
“For a long time, I thought my existence was a punishment. Overlooked in every area of my life, uncelebrated, underappreciated, objectified. But you, Callum James Fraser, you were the first person who didn’t try to shrink me. You didn’t label me as fragile, or difficult, or too much. You made space for all of me, and called it power. You never tried to define me by putting me in a box, slapping a label on it, and decided that was all I’d ever be.”
I ran my hands down my face, fighting to keep myself together and wondering how the hell I was going to get through my vows.
“You were the first person who saw through my mask, who tore down my walls, and who fell in love with all of me. You didn’t just love the fighter; you loved the raw, vulnerable side too. You made it safe to exist, and I’ll never stop fighting for the softest parts of me, because they’re the parts you loved first. I’ll never stop trusting you to hold them.”
She smiled through her tears, blinking fast. “And I promise, I’ll never stop showing up. I’ll never stop choosing us. I’ll never stop making space for you in every version of my life, because there isn’t one where you’re not in it. And I’ll never stop loving you.”
The wind tugged at her long veil, whipping it sideways until it curled around my ankles. It felt like the earth itself was bearing witness, like G and the ancient spirits and mother nature were gracing us with their power. Colette had told us this land was magical. I believed her. And so did Auri. We both followed the movement of the veil with our eyes, then looked at each other. She smiled softly, and I knew we were thinking the exact same thing.
“I will fight for you, for us. I’ll give you the best version I can muster of me every day—even when I’m at my worst—because you taught me that love is what endures. Devotion is a choice. And I choose you. I choose us. Every single day. Even when we’re eighty, and we’ve fully retired from racing, and I still beat you at Mario Kart.”
I laughed, sharp and choked. She reached for me, and I took her hand like it was a lifeline.
“You taught me that sacrifice and compromise are different. You’ve made me feel so safe and secure and loved and accepted, I can say with absolute confidence that I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I love you.”
Auri lifted her chin, then reached forward and slipped her folded vows into my pocket, her hand never leaving mine, silently telling me she didn’t need a script for this next part. “You are my checkered flag, mon amour. And I will love you through every argument, every heartache, every day that feels like giving up would be easier. Every time our bodies fail us and our minds try to trick us and the world tries to interfere. I choose this life with you, each and every day. This I vow to you.”
God, I was gone.
Colette gave her a nod, and Auri tucked the paper into Ivy’s palm again before turning back to face me, wiping her cheeks with the backs of her fingers. “Okay,” she said softly. “Your turn.”
Fuck.
The vows in my pocket had been burning a hole through the linen since the moment she walked out in that dress. I’d written and rewritten them a hundred times. But none of them felt big enough. None of them felttrue enoughfor what she meant to me.
Still, I reached for the paper with a shaky hand, fingers slipping into my pocket like I was drawing a weapon, becausethat’s what this felt like. Like an emotional ambush I’d planned myself.
I cleared my throat.
“I, uh.” I huffed out a laugh. “I’ve rewritten these more times than I’ll admit. I tried to be poetic. I tried to be composed. But I think you knew the second I saw you today that I was neither.”
She smiled through her lashes. That was it. That smile. That was my reason for everything.
“When I met you, I knew you were going to ruin my life. In the best way. You were bright, brilliant, terrifyingly determined. You asked hard questions and didn’t flinch when I gave you broken answers. You didn’t just challenge me, Auri. You changed me.”
I felt my chest splinter. She looked at me like she already knew what I was about to say.
“I didn’t know I was waiting for you. I didn’t know I’d been lonely my whole life until I wasn’t anymore. Until you filled every quiet part of me I didn’t know how to listen to. You taught me how to be soft. How to fight for something without running from it.”
“Pretty sure you taught me to stop running, but continue,” she interjected, and everyone burst into laughter.
Once we quieted, I continued, taking a deep breath as I pressed on.
“I thought winning my first championship was the best I’d ever feel. Standing on that podium with my fists in the air, clawing my way out of a place I was ashamed of now that I had the world’s approval. But you… you never looked at the things I hated about myself with anything but love, grace, and curiosity. You never judged. And even when you’ve been angry with me, and yes, running from me, you never stopped choosing me. Never stopped showing up in your own ways. Like picking the goddamn locks of my flat.”
Another round of laughter.
But when my eyes scanned the next part, the words blurred as my eyes filled with tears.
“I love you. I love you more than the version of me I thought I had to be. More than any podium I ever chased and a sport I once used as an emotional crutch. I love you the way I want our future to feel. Loud and peaceful at once. Devoted, messy, unshakable.”
