He studied me for a long moment, then nodded once. “Good.”
Movement in the pews caught my attention. Cam and Trystan sat near the front, Kailyn sleeping peacefully against his chest, her tiny hand fisted in his shirt. He had flown twelve hours to be here, had probably gotten maybe three hours of sleep, and still showed up to tell me he hoped I knew how lucky I was.
I did. God, I did.
Elvis cleared his throat behind us. “You boys ready for this? Because once that music starts, there’s no turning back. Well, technically there is, but the refund policy is complicated and…”
“We’re ready,” I said quickly, cutting off what was surely about to become a rambling tangent.
“Alright then.” Elvis gestured toward the sound system. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
The opening notes of “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” filled the small chapel.
My heart stopped.
Then started again, twice as fast, slamming against my ribs like it was trying to escape my chest.
The doors at the back of the chapel opened.
Syn appeared first, wearing a deep burgundy dress that made her look both elegant and dangerous. She walked down the short aisle with the confidence of someone who owned every room she entered, her eyes finding mine with a look that clearly said, You better not fuck this up.
Message received.
She took her place across from us, and I tried to focus on breathing. In and out. Simple. Basic human function. I could do this.
Then Harlow appeared in the doorway.
And I forgot how to breathe entirely.
She was...
Beautiful didn’t even begin to cover it. She was radiant. Every cheesy adjective I ever rolled my eyes at in those rom-coms she made me watch suddenly made perfect sense.
The dress was stunning, long and flowing, and her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders.
But it wasn’t the dress or the hair or the makeup that stole my breath.
It was her smile.
She was smiling at me like I was her whole world.
The sting of tears burned behind my eyes, and I blinked rapidly, trying to keep them at bay, but it was useless. One escaped, tracking down my cheek before I could stop it.
“Dude,” Jax muttered beside me. “Are you crying?”
“Shut up.”
But I couldn’t look away from her. Couldn’t stop watching as she walked toward me with Kaia at her side, both of them moving in time with Elvis’s voice crooning through the speakers.
Harlow’s eyes never left mine. Even when she stumbled slightly over her dress, she kept her gaze locked on me, and her smile widened.
She was absolutely perfect.
They reached the front, and Kaia turned to face Harlow, taking both of her hands. They exchanged a look that spoke of years of sisterhood, of shared secrets and late-night conversations; it was a bond that went deeper than blood.
Then Kaia turned to me.
She placed Harlow’s hand in mine, her expression warm but with an edge that reminded me exactly who I was dealing with.
