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I stood up, running a hand down my hair to smooth it, feeling marginally better. Leave it to the girls-club to distract me from my anxiety.
"Alright. That's our music," Summer said and all of them made a grab for their plain white bouquets and fell into line.
I took a deep breath as I walked down the hall.
"You ready?" Paine asked as he came up beside me, offering me his arm. He was giving me away. Since my father was MIA for twenty some-odd years and Ben was gone, there was no one to walk me down the aisle. Standing up with Johnnie would be Breaker, Dade, Cash, and Wolf. Paine should have been up there too, but he insisted that there was no way he was letting me walk down the aisle alone like I didn't have any family. He was my family now, he had insisted. And, well, that was that. I had bawled like a baby into his chest until he pushed me off onto Johnnie when he told me that.
"No," I said honestly and he smiled down at me.
"Babygirl..." he said, ducking his head a little. "You ain't gonna start crying again, are you? 'Cause that last time was a tee, this is a nice shirt. Don't need tears all over it."
I felt myself laugh and shook my head at him. "No crying."
"Good. Then let's go get you to your husband."
With that, the music changed and we moved into the doorway.
The room looked great. The chairs were wrapped in white. There were white flowers everywhere. Summer had gone all out with her plans, her being the only one in the girls-club who was the least bit interested in wedding plans. And Johnnie had spared no expense. It was perfect. Flawless really. Paine's hand squeezed my arm in reassurance when all the eyes suddenly fell on us.
But Summer had been right- the second my eyes locked on Johnnie, everything else fell away, it became background noise. All there was in the world was him and the way his brilliant green eyes were watching me, like I was something magnificent, like he couldn't believe he got to have me. My hungry eyes roamed over him and I felt a smile tugging at my lips. He was, even on his wedding day, all Johnnie: from the black and white checkered creepers on his feet to his slacks that were cut a bit too tight to be traditional, to the black short-sleeve dress shirt that showed off his colorful ink and the white tie that matched the theme. His smile spread slowly, like an inside joke, and I felt mine spread as well.
Perfect.
Nothing had ever felt more perfect than that moment.
That was until Paine kissed my cheek and placed my hand in Johnnie's, whose pinkie twisted around mine as we turned to face the minister. Because that moment was more perfect.
And then when he slid another ring on my finger, wrapped his hands around my face and kissed me like it was the first and last time as we were declared husband and wife. Yeah, that moment was even perfect-er.
And when he leaned close as everyone started clapping and whistling and his warm breath tickled my ear and he declared quietly, "Best fuckin' thing that ever happened to me, having to go back to face my demons and finding my angel."
That was the perfect-est.
Cash moved up beside us, clapping slightly, then leaned close and informed us, "The janitor's closet three doors down is unlocked. Do with that information what you will."
He moved away and Johnnie's focus went to me, both of us fighting it for the barest of seconds before we threw our heads back and laughed. I moved toward him, resting my head on his chest over what was the biggest, most giving heart I had ever come across, and I felt the click again, but stronger, firmer, more permanent.
And I still had no idea how he felt about avocados.
