“I love you, Wren. You’re my best friend and I love being around you. I love being there for you and protecting you even when you don’t want me to and I’minlove with you. So desperately. I don’t think I would ever be able to stop loving you. If you try to push me away again, I won't let you. Because I'm in this, okay? Me and you.”
"Well, how am I supposed to compare to that?” I laugh.
I don’t know why I joke. I don’t know why I can’t just say it right off the bat. Just tell him how I knew that I felt this way about him since we talked in the diner after Sophia’s party.
“I love you, too. You're what's good for me, Miles. In every universe, it's me and you."
“Me and you,” he repeats, smiling. It’s the kind of smile that makes my heart double in size. The kind of smile that makes this whole thing a little less daunting. When I think he’s going to lean down and kiss me, he pulls me into a tight hug instead and my arms wrap around his middle, holding him close so I can hear his heartbeat. “Are you still scared?”
“A little.”
“We’ll be alright.”
Epilogue
The Summer
MILES
“Are you nervous?”
I run my hands from her shoulders down to her waist as I stand behind her in the mirror, losing my mind over how good she looks in her dress. I’m sure we’re breaking every wedding ritual right now, but I can’t bring myself to care. I know Kennedy would have my head if she saw that I was with Wren in her dress already. I rest my chin on her shoulder and she beams in the mirror.
“No, I’m just excited. One, I've never been here before and two, I’ve never been a maid of honour before,” Wren says.
We’ve been in Jamaica for the last few days, trying to catch up on sleep as well as helping Wren do her bridal duties to her sister. Austin and Zion wanted to get married as soon as possible but they also wanted to do it somewhere hot. I don’t think I could deal with another wedding in Salt Lake after going to hundreds of my cousin’s weddings. It made the most sense to come to Zion’s hometown to have his wedding where his family are.
As soon as we came off the plane, the humidity hit us worse than it was in Palm Springs. We were greeted by Zion’s large family and Austin and Marley who flew out a week before. Mrs Hacks is still not open to the idea of Austin’s new life, but their dad has shown up. We spent the first day after we got on our feet with Wren’s dad in the bar below the hotel we’re staying at. Every time we meet with him, he’s got a new story to tell us about baby Wren and it makes me heart implode.
“I’m mostly excited for the food,” I sigh. Wren turns around, her light green eyes boring into mine. “Do you know how long the service is going to take?”
“I hope you’re joking. This is a very special and romantic day,” she protests.
“I know but can’t it be special and romanticandshort?”
*
The ceremony is special and it’s overly romantic, but it is not short. Wren had to stand in her light blue maid of honour dress at the front of the wedding isle in the patch of green grass at the wedding venue. I had to sit in the line of chairs in the blistering sunlight as we waited for more guests to arrive.
We exchanged private moments between us as we couldn’t speak while Wren and the other bridesmaids waited for the ceremony to begin. Even when Austin came down the aisle in a luminous white wedding dress, all I could focus on was Wren, beaming, with fresh happy tears welling up in her eyes. Even when Marley started crying on Zion’s mom’s knee, I still couldn’t tear my eyes away from her. Being here in the sun, her freckles have appeared on her face and down her arms. It felt like we were out there for hours as the wedding ceremony moved on around us, our eyes locked most of the time.
When we finally get out of the heat, we’re entered into a large room with the AC on –thank God– where all the food and drinks are served. Jamaican food is absolutely insane. I could live here for the rest of my life.
I follow Wren around like a lost puppy, holding her bag as she greets all of Zion’s family and some of her family too. She gives an emotional and funny maid of honour speech which has almost the entire room in tears. I keep my hands on her most of the night. When Zion and Austin have their first dance to‘Is This Love’by Bob Marley, we dance from a distance, her head resting on my shoulder as I rest my hand on her hip, swaying us to the music.
“They look so happy,” Wren whispers into me. I brush her shoulder with my hand reassuringly before she starts to cry for the hundredth time today.
“They do. But for the love of God, stop crying."
"I can't help it," she sobs into me.This woman.I rub circles on her back and change the subject.
“I like that they have a song just for them. Do we have one?”
She looks up at me as if I offended her. I can’t help but laugh at her sudden change of expression from sadness to near anger as she sniffles.
“Of course, we have a song, Miles, and you know which one it is,” she says matter-of-factly. I shrug, trying to rack my brain for an answer. “Do you think I’d be still dating you if we didn’t have a song?”
“I’ll try not to take that personally,” I murmur, and she pushes me in the shoulder.
