Behind us, a small orchestra trickled onto the stage.
“Hey, uh,” the lead violinist spoke into the mic. “Do you mind if we, uh, still practice here tonight?”
“Go ahead,” Katie said. “Practice for as long as you like.”
They began playing a sonata that’s played at tons of weddings before, and I pulled her into my arms.
Before I could ask her a question, she leaned closer on her tiptoes and kissed me.
I returned her kiss, running my fingers through her hair, pulling her even closer.
“This moment doesn’t mean anything,” she said, still kissing me. “I still despise you and all you do.”
“That feeling is mutual, Katie.” I bit her bottom lip. “It’ll always be mutual.”
“You don’t have a good reason at all to continue doing this past today, Asher.”
“I beg to differ…”
Twenty-Three
ASHER
Years Before I Met Katie…
The Mariah & Asher Brooks Wedding
The Hilton Hotel
Manhattan, New York
Manhattan looked its best whenever it dressed this way—the skyline glimmering under the last stretch of daylight, the sun hanging low beneath the clouds before slipping away, red and white traffic lights threading through the streets below.
I took it all in, letting the moment settle over me—reveling in my last night as a single man.
Unlike the last time, when I proposed to a woman wrapped in red flags, Mariah was the kind worth settling down forever for.
We were dreamers—both of us building companies we swore were right on the edge of taking off—and somehow, in the middle of all that uncertainty, we were already building a family.
I scrolled through the photos on my phone, pausing on her ultrasound pictures.
Can’t wait until tomorrow, Mariah. Love you.
“Asher?”
Her voice cut through the quiet, and I turned around.
“I really need to talk to you.”
“Can it wait until after the rehearsal dinner?”
She shook her head. “No. Not this.”
“Okay.” I gestured for her to come closer.
She walked toward me slowly, and with every step, it became harder to ignore the redness in her eyes, the way her hands trembled slightly at her sides.
“Why are you crying?” I asked, pulling her into my arms. “Did something happen?”
