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Gage nods once.
My heart races at the thought of seeing Tori. I haven’t seen her in two weeks, but it’s felt longer. Agonizingly longer.
Probably because we went from seeing and texting and calling each other almost every day, to no contact.
It feels like an invisible fist is twisting through my heart.
Fuck, I miss her.
Get it together.
Gage walks out first, and I follow him, then Theo follows me. I take slow, quiet breaths to ease my nerves.
Gage takes his place at the altar. I stand next to him, and Theo stands next to me.
Despite all my calming breathing, my heart is rattling against my ribcage. My nerves are like firecrackers going off in my chest cavity.
I scan the crowd, smiling at relatives and friends, just to focus on anything else other than how nervous I am to see Tori.
But then I see her, and I lose all the breath in my lungs.
Dear fucking god, she’s stunning.
She’s the first to walk down the aisle. She’s wearing a long, black gown with no sleeves or straps. It’s flowy and shiny and silky. Her hair falls around her shoulders in soft curls and she’s holding a bouquet of white flowers.
It looks like she’s floating down the aisle, like an angel.
My angel.
A gentle smile pulls at those beautiful lips as she glances at everyone.
She makes it to the altar and takes her place, not even a dozen feet from me. She looks up and catches eyes with me. Her smile falters for the briefest second.
Guilt throttles me instantly. One look at me and I’ve tainted this happy moment for her.
I should probably look away, but I can’t. The woman I’m in love with is standing right in front of me, and my entire body is buzzing. She’s too perfect, too beautiful, and I’ve gone two whole weeks without being able to look at her. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her if I tried. She’s the only thing I ever want to look at.
I probably look like a psycho, staring at her like this.
But then I take in the look in her bright, gold-brown eyes…I can see emotion, intensity. She’s not smiling, but something about the way she’s looking at me makes me think she’s happy to see me.
My chest tightens, then expands.
She blinks and the expression on her face softens. The corners of her mouth turn up slightly in a not-quite smile. And then she mouths, “Hi.”
I almost collapse. I wasn’t expecting that, but damn, I needed that. That sweet, gentle greeting she’s blessed me with despite everything that’s happened between us.
My heart is beating so fast, so hard that I can’t even hear the music anymore. Everything else around me is a blur. All I see is Tori.
I mouth “hi” back to her. When she smiles at me, my heart bursts.
That tiny sliver of hope I’ve been nursing all day blooms in my chest. Maybe this isn’t the end for us. Maybe we can fix this.
Just then everyone stands up. I look over and see Becca walking down the aisle, her dad by her side, her arm looped in his.
She’s teary-eyed but smiling as she looks at Gage. When I glance over at him, he’s smiling and teary too.
I take a second to refocus on the moment. I need to be present for my brother.
