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She laughs and wipes my mouth with a tissue before tidying up her lipstick.
“You look incredible, by the way,” she says as she gazes at me. “You’re so handsome in that tux, it hurts.”
I grin. This tux is uncomfortable as fuck, but I’d wear it every day if she asked me to.
Just then, my phone buzzes with a message from Gage in our wedding group text that we’ve had going on for the past three months.
Gage: Hey. Theo and the guys are about to head out from the guest bedroom to the ceremony space in the living room. Ladies and Tyler, don’t leave your room for a couple of minutes, okay?
Ingrid: Sounds good! Will you send your dad to wait by our door for Maya?
Gage: Will do
Theo: Aww I can’t get a quick good-luck kiss from my soon-to-be wife before the ceremony starts? She kisses me good luck before every hockey game.
Ingrid: Nope. It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.
Maya sends a kissing emoji
Theo: Aww thanks, babe
I smile at the text chain, impressed at how smooth today ended up being. I thought we’d be running into each other all day, but Theo’s groomsmen, Gage, Ingrid, and Becca all worked together to make sure that Theo and Maya wouldn’t see each other before the ceremony.
“Wait till you see the way the decorators did up the living room and kitchen,” I tell Tori.
“I can’t wait,” she says, smiling.
“Okay, everyone. Are we ready?” Ingrid hollers from the bedroom.
I scoop up Tori in my arms. She slinks her arms around my neck, and I carry her into the room where Maya, Becca, and Ingrid are all standing.
“Ready.”
They all smile at me. Ingrid holds the door open for Maya to walk out first. Our dad stands there waiting. When he sees Maya in her wedding dress, his lips tremble as he smiles.
“Oh, honey. Look at you. So beautiful,” he says, his voice wobbly.
She sniffles. “Thanks, Dad.”
Ingrid holds a tissue under Maya’s eyes for a quick second. “No streaking mascara on my watch.”
We all chuckle. Maya loops her arm in our dad’s, then walks out. Ingrid follows behind, then Becca. I follow with Tori in my arms.
As we make our way down the hallway of the house toward the open concept space of the living room and kitchen, soft, romantic instrumental music echoes throughout the house.
“You’re a champ for agreeing to carry me down the aisle so I wouldn’t have to use my crutches,” Tori says.
“Any excuse to hold you in my arms,” I say to her.
Heat flashes behind her gold-brown eyes. “You’re going to get so, so lucky tonight,” she whispers in my ear.
I grin as we reach the end of the hallway. I turn slightly so she can get a view of the living room and kitchen. The furniture from this entire part of the house has been cleared away to make room for tonight’s ceremony.
When she finally sees it, her eyes go wide and she gasps.
White, see-through, drapey fabric covers the walls and ceiling of Maya and Theo’s home. A satin fabric runner along the floor leads to the far side of the living room where the altar is. A massive flower wall of pink peonies sits behind it. On either side of the runner are rows of white chairs where the guests are sitting. After the ceremony, the wedding planning crew will bring in tables and rearrange the chairs for the reception and dinner.
“This place looks like a dream,” Tori murmurs.
