I hand Cate some tissues from my pocket. She gives me that shy smile she gave me the first day we met. Then I knew there was something special about her, but she’d been a colleague’s wife. Today, she will become mine.
We get to the church on time, but Cate’s mother still hustles her away. Something about me not seeing the bride on her wedding day.
I’m sent to the boys’ room where I find Mitch, Dave and Ben sitting around talking, looking hung over.
“Where have you been? Jenna’s furious you both missed the brunch buffet.”
“I had business to take care of,” I say offhandedly. Ben was Drew’s best friend, but what Cate and I did this morning is between us. If she chooses to share, she will.
Mitch laughs. “That’s code word for banging his bride before the wedding.”
He’s wrong about that. Jenna convinced Cate that us not having sex the month before the wedding would be good for the honeymoon. As much as I’ve tried to explain to Cate that my balls in fact do appear to be blue, she’s been unwilling to give me a second opinion. She tells me she’s just as needy as I am.
“No sex, thanks to his sister.” I point an accusatory finger at Ben.
He shrugs. “She has all kinds of stats on that shit.”
Dave just looks amused and changes the direction of the conversation. “Your sister is really hot. Is she still dating that guy?”
Ben’s eyes grow horns and appear as though they are glowing red. “I’ve heard enough about you two to know neither of you should ever think about my sister.”
Mitch laughs. “All’s fair in sex and booze at a wedding.”
Ben’s about to say something, but Dad knocks on the door. “Time.”
The guys eye me, but I’m not nervous. I want Cate with every fiber of my being. My only wildest fear is if she’ll break her promise and run. And even that fear has diminished over the last several months. I trust her completely.
At the altar, when they begin to play that familiar tune, I stand and stare at the door opening. I wait until Cate appears and when she does all the air is sucked out of my lungs. She’s so fucking beautiful I can only blink. Mitch taps my back and I remember to breathe.
Her hair is pulled back in some elaborate way I can’t focus on because her face is radiant and I still can’t quite believe she’s mine. My gaze lowers to the dress I hadn’t been allowed to see, let alone hear about. It isn’t quite white and has fabric that hangs purposefully off her shoulders, leaving her collarbones exposed. That skin alone is enough to get my dick hard. Like the sex deprived guy I am, I focus on the little amount of cleavage she has on display and lick my lips. I feel like an asshole as I try to hide my hard on as my gorgeous bride walks toward me with tulips that look almost white in her hand. But from what I overheard the bridesmaids say at the rehearsal dinner, they are actually a pale yellow. Knowing what I do about Cate, I’d searched for the meaning and yellow tulips means hopelessly in love. She has no idea that she’s talking about me because I’m just that far gone when it comes to her.
When her father hands her off to me, I don’t hear the minister. He spoke at the rehearsal, so I know what he plans to say. I stand in awe of my bride feeling like the luckiest bastard on the planet. Then I have a moment to say a prayer for feeling guilty. If not for Drew McKnight passing from this world, I wouldn’t have this opportunity. I know what I have to do. When it comes time, I am ready.
I take her hands in mine and stare into the windows of her soul because she needs to know I’ve never felt this way about anyone else and I never will. She is my first and my last, my only and now is the time to not only tell her, but tell the world.
“Cate McKnight, I knew when I met you I wasn’t your first love. That honor belonged to Drew McKnight. And his shoes won’t be easy to fill. I’m thankful to him for encouraging you to love again, thus giving me the greatest opportunity of a lifetime to spend it with you.” I want to glance at his parents who sit somewhere in the pews to the left of me, but I refuse to take my eyes off my girl. “I knew this when I decided you were the one with whom I wanted to share my life. Your beauty, your heart, and your mind encourage me to be the best person I can be. And I vow that I will do whatever it takes to be, if not your first, your last love. I promise to love you without reservation, encourage you to achieve all of your goals, laugh with you, comfort you in times of distress, always be open and honest with you, cherish and be faithful to you for as long as we both shall live. For this is my promise and my solemn vow.”