Before I could speak, though, there was yet another sound of silver hitting crystal on the stage, where Laney’s best friend had tiptoed to the microphone at the front of the stage.
“Oh—” I started to stand, then stopped. My instinct was to stop Megan, because this wasn’t a real reception, right? We were married by law, but there had been no proposal either of us could remember. We couldn’t even recall the actual ceremony where we had promised ourselves to each other.
Even stranger was that I did want to remember those things. And I wanted to give them to Laney so she could cherish them too.
None of her family were here tonight. No friends either, except for Megan.
I could at least let her friend wish us well.
“Hi, everyone,” Megan spoke into the microphone a little too loudly at first before she backed off. “I’m Megan, Laney’s best friend. We’ve known each other since before we could walk, and it was actually my bachelorette party that brought Laney toVegas that fateful weekend. So, I guess you could say I’m a proud matchmaker.”
She grinned at us, and the ballroom tittered along with her joke.
“In all honesty, I was pretty teed off when I found out that I had fully missed my best friend’s wedding. I mean, Laney was my maid of honor. I expected to return the favor, especially considering what a Bridezilla she had to deal with.”
More polite laughter. I relaxed in my seat and laid my arm across the back of Laney’s chair so I could play with her hair. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
“When Laney first told me that she and Ronan had gotten married, so many emotions played all over her face. Terror, primarily. A solid dose of ‘what the hell did I do?’ And definitely a bit of ‘whoa, my husband is actually really hot.’”
Okay, maybe not. This time, the crowd’s laughter was more genuine, but I wasn’t thrilled about Laney being made to look like a sot. I was fair game, but not her.
“In all seriousness, though, I can honestly say that my best friend is happier than I’ve ever seen her. She’s married to someone who would (and possibly can) lasso the moon for her. Ronan—” Megan turned now to address me personally. “You ever hurt my girl, and I’ll have your neck. But I’m pretty sure you love her almost as much as I do.”
I fought the urge to yank at my collar, which was suddenly too tight. My fingers tightened on Laney’s shoulder. Not because I was afraid of the pronouncement Megan had just made. No, it was because of how fucking close to the truth it really was.
Love.
Jesus.
I didn’t hear the rest of her speech, only managing to grin and sip my champagne as Megan called out, “Here’s to Ronanand Laney!” along with congenial cheers from the rest of the crowd.
And then, before I could stop myself, I was rising to my feet.
“Ronan?” Laney tugged on my hand. “What are you doing?”
“Something I should have done days ago,” I told her before I clinked my knife to my own glass.
The room fell quiet as one of the band members brought me the microphone. To either side of me, I could feel the suspicious looks of my family members, all wondering what the hell I was doing. This definitely wasn’t planned.
“Thank you all for coming to celebrate the wisest action in my short life,” I said, keeping my tone as light as I could despite the fact that my voice was already shaking. “I know you all think Laney and I got married on a whim, but the answer couldn’t be farther from the truth. Maybe we met and got married quickly, but…”
I looked down at her and caught her blushing, though her green-eyed gaze was more adoring than ever. More than I ever thought I would receive from another person. Certainly more than I deserved.
“But the truth is, I was gone the second I saw her,” I said softly enough that, if not for the microphone, no one would have heard me but her. “And I knew the moment she spoke that she was going to be my wife.”
Her eyes glimmered, suddenly wet. “Ronan,” she murmured.
“It’s true, Ari,” I told her before I turned back to the crowd. “Some of you might be wondering if there were other motives for a sudden wedding. But I can assure you, there was no shotgun wedding. No secret inheritance. Just love, pure and right and simple.”
The word was strange—probably because I’d never used it before. Not to talk about another person. Laney dabbed at her eyes with her napkin, but her gaze didn’t break away. If Ibelonged to her, I hoped to God it went both ways. I’d pray to be worthy of that love for the rest of my life.
“Some of you might not know that on top of being gorgeous and charming, my girl is also a brilliant Classicist,” I told my audience. “Which is why she’ll recognize Catullus before you do when he says, ‘Let us live… and let us love, and let us judge all the rumors of stern old men to be worth just one penny.’”
A few people in the crowd looked confused, and my brothers were both shaking their heads. Shea, however, was smiling, as the only one of my family members who had ever seen the inside of my true home and knew firsthand why I would know a poem like that off the top of my head.
“‘Give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred,’” I continued. “‘Then another thousand, then a second hundred, then yet another thousand more.’”
I turned now to Laney and set the microphone on the table while the rest of the room disappeared. This speech wasn’t for them anymore, though they could certainly hear it. The room was so silent, you could hear a single raindrop if it fell.
