I wave back automatically.
And then…Liora appears and the entire church shifts.
Not metaphorically.
Physically.
A visible ripple moves through the crowd like someone opened a hidden window and let in new oxygen. She stands at the back of the aisle wearing minimalist perfection. The gown is clean lines and sculpted sleeves and expensive simplicity. She looks amazing.
Her mother walks beside her looking moments away from proud spontaneous combustion.
But Liora?—
Liora is glowing.
Not in the irritating bridal-magazine sense.
No, she’s happy. Radiant even. Terrifyingly certain.
I look toward Riley. Because brides are beautiful and everyone watches the bride like they should but the groom?
The groom forgets he has an audience and those are the interesting moments. At least for me.
I watch Riley’s whiskey-colored eyes catching the candlelight and he looks stunned. Like he genuinely cannot believe thiswoman is walking toward him. Like someone handed him the impossible and he still hasn’t recovered.
And honestly?
Fair.
When Liora reaches the altar she just grins and bumps her shoulder lightly against his. His answering smile is so helplessly in love it almost irritates me.
The priest launches into the script and I zone out almost immediately, picking at a loose thread on Priya’s sleeve.
The vows are mercifully short and Liora refuses to sayobeyand improvises something about equal rights, radical honesty, and mutual accountability that makes half the crowd laugh and the other half visibly emotional. Riley, in response, promises to support all her dreams without hesitation.
“Aw,” Priya mutters beside me. “Do you think they practiced that? Or is Riley just naturally that whipped?”
“They’re in love,” I say, surprising myself with the bitterness in my voice.
Priya glances at me.
“Didn’t say it was a bad thing,” she replies quietly.
Then comes the ring exchange.
Colton steps forward to hand over the rings with a subtle theatrical flourish that earns him a grateful smile from Liora and Riley. The official pronouncement follows soon after and they are officially husband and wife.
We watch them kiss and the church erupts into applause and cheers. I catch Colton’s gaze one last time as the newlyweds turn and begin their triumphant walk back down the aisle, hand in hand, glowing with the unmistakable relief of people who survived public declarations of love.
He winks at me.
Just—winks.
And something shifts quietly inside my chest.
Something warm.
Something oh so soft.
