My pulse ramps up and I drag my focus back up because if I don’t, I’m going to forget where we are.
Scout clears his throat like he’s trying to pretend this is a normal ceremony. It’s not. Nothing about this is normal. Not the way I feel. Not the way she looks at me.
Definitely not the way we met or the things we survived.
I can’t help but glance down at the gold charm around her neck. A delicate heart with J & R. Right where that tracking collar sat. Replaced with love.
A tsunami of emotion hits me. Memories of that night try to push in around the edges of my mind, but I banish them. Forever.
Colt elbows me.
“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter.
“Alright,” Scout starts. “We’re here to make this official—though I think we all know these two skipped ahead a few steps.”
A few quiet chuckles ripple through the team, but I don’t look away from her. Don’t even hear half of what he says next.
Scout finally turns toward me. “Your turn.”
Someone grabs the bouquet as I find her hand. Giving her a soft warning, “I don’t do pretty speeches.”
A flicker of a smile touches her lips and the warmth of it steadies me. “But I don’t need them,” I add.
My thumb brushes the back of her hand.
“I’ll stand between you and anything that comes for you. Doesn’t matter what it is. Doesn’t matter how bad it gets. That’s not changing. Ever.”
I force a breath, through my tight throat. “You’re not walking through this world alone anymore. Not one step. If you fall, I’m the one catching you. If something tries to break you, it answers to me.”
Jade grips my hands, tears swelling and dropping over the long curve of her lashes.
“I’ll be the man you come home to and the one who keeps showing up. Especially when it’s hard. I don’t walk away. I don’t quit. And I don’t give half of anything. You’ve got all of me.”
It’s harder to steady my voice when I finish. “This love was forged in hell. Nothing can break it now.”
“Oh, Ryker,” she breathes. “You’ve stolen my heart a million times. I didn’t think it was possible to love you more. But I do.”
She sniffs, smiles brighter. “I had this all planned out, but now it feels wrong.”
Drawing a breath, she traces her gaze over my face. “I’ll never forget the way you became my protector in an instant. The things you’ve done to guard my body, my mind, and my heart. I never knew a hand that wasn’t cruel until you held that ice-bag to my face. But you didn’t just show up then. You held me when I was scared to sleep. You literally fought my demons. You are my knight in shining armor. I’m the luckiest girl in the world. I love you. Forever.”
I kiss her like there’s no one here. Like I do every night. With everything I have.
“Say, I do,” Scout interrupts. “You’re both supposed to say,I do, and exchange rings.”
Oh. Right. I pull back from the kiss, feeling the coating of lipstick on my mouth and not giving one damn.
“I do. Do you?”
She nods, laughing. “I do.”
I hold out my hand for the ring and Colt presses it into my palm with a remark I don’t bother processing.
Jade slides a big silicone band on my finger. Safety ring, she explained, because she wants me to be safe.
Everything she does is because she loves me and wants to take care of me.
I scoop her up again, holding her in one arm as I leave Scout and the groomsmen behind. June—a streak of black glossy fur—bounds out of the house, ignoring the stay command, her happy yips carrying across the yard.
