I don’t know why I didn’t see it coming, but when I finally make it to the altar, Alex comes out of nowhere, his arms spread wide.
“Thank you all for being here, and welcome toLocked In: Season One’s wedding!”
All of the “guests” clap in excitement, and Landon and I share a “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” look before we smirk at one another.
“Landon, Courtney, I think I speak for everyone here when I say we’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. It’s no secret amongst us that you two have been fan favorites and everyone’s golden couple. People would literallydieto be where you two are. Oh, wait, they already have!” Alex guffaws as a thunderous roar of laughter comes from theaudience.
I stare at him like he’s lost his goddamn mind because, honestly, that’s the only thing that makes sense.
“Speaking of our dearly departed contestants, we wanted them all to be here to celebrate this joyous day, but we just couldn’t find a graveyard big enough on short notice,” Alex continues.
Again, an unhinged amount of laughter comes from the guests.
What the fuck?
“So to commemorate them, we took the liberty of saving them some seats.” Alex smiles as he gestures to the left front row.
My jaw drops as my gaze skates over each chair. A printed headshot of each contestant is taped to the chairs, Luna and Shane being closest to the aisle and to us. Horror crawls through me as I look to Alex in shock, my throat tightening with raw emotion.
He gives me a smile, as if he’s hoping for a reaction from me. He’d probably love one. Any excuse to kill us, right?
Swallowing back my emotions, I try to push away the sick fact that pictures of our murdered friends will be staring at us through the entire ceremony.
It doesn’t last long. Alex talks about love and what it takes to be a committed partner. To see each other through the hard stuff and come out the other side. Landon and I keep our eyes on each other the entire time. I just hope to God this isn’t part of their game and they aren’t going to shoot us dead after we say “I do.”
When his spiel is over, Alex gestures to us. “Courtney, do you take this man to be your lawfullyLocked Inhusband?”
I frown at him before looking at Landon once more. “I do.”
“And do you, Landon, take this woman to be your lawfullyLocked Inwife?”
“Yeah, I do,” he replies, causing me to smirk.
How fucked up is this?
“Then by all of the mighty power that has been granted to me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride!”
Landon and I lean in, and the instant our lips touch, fireworks explode behind us. A show that would rival any Fourth of July display paints the sky as the sun sets just enough to see the vibrance of it all.
We break apart and stare into each other’s eyes, ready to walk back down the aisle, when Alex pulls out two pieces of paper and sets them on the high-top table in the middle of the altar.
“Before the festivities begin, here’s your marriage certificate,” he says, handing a pen to each of us to sign.
We quickly do so, and I’m surprised to see that it looks to be a legitimate marriage certificate form.
Alex nods in satisfaction before showing us the other. “This is a more robust NDA, reconfirming that you forfeit your lives should you breathe a word about your time here atLocked In.”
I stare at him, smiling like the nutcase he is, as Landon shakes his head and scoffs.
“Sounds like a fancy way of saying you’ll kill us if we talk,” he mutters as he signs where Alex has indicated.
I do the same as Alex winks at Landon.
“We have a good legal team who likes to have fun.” Then he takes a step back and declares, louder for the audience, “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson!”
Landon Johnson. Is it bad that I’m just finding out what my husband’s last name is? What a crazy fucking meet-cute we have. That we literally can’t say to anyone or we’ll, you know, die. Just another casual day on this fucked-up island.
Landon and I look to each other and kiss once more.
