Page 57 of Wedding or Not

“Okay.” I wait. Then, “So do it.”

“I am.”

“Do it now.”

“You can do it too, you know.”

Flustered and jittery, I reach up to his head with a huff and pull it down toward mine. When our lips meet, there’s a moment of profound weirdness.

Here I am.

Kissing Wes in the English garden.

In front of half my family and the entire world.

But his mouth gradually softens, and then his body does. He makes a sound in his throat that really does it for me.

I relax against him and give myself over to the kiss.

Because it’s good. It’s really good.

It’s not the same as that kiss by the SUV after the musical in DC, but it’s still better than almost everything else I’ve ever done in my life.

We must be putting on a good show. They’re calling out encouragement and asking us to keep it up.

After a minute Wes leans farther down, taking me with him until my back is arched and I’m held up primarily by the strength of his arms.

The move gets of a whoop of excitement from the audience, and I’m breathless and laughing a little when he finally straightens us up and we pull apart. My cheeks are flaming, and my lips feel slightly swollen.

“There,” Wes said. “I told you I could do it.”

What can I say?

He did indeed do it.

We have a late lunch when all the photographing is over—sandwiches and fruit on the picnic tables—and the feature writer interviews us for the story.

Most of it is easy. We’ve planned and rehearsed our answers repeatedly, and none of the questions are surprising or challenging.

This is a puff piece after all. Mostly done to show off Blossom Park and feature gorgeous photographs in the magazine.

So we answer her questions about our backgrounds, the progress of our relationship, and how we’ve been dealing with the notoriety of going viral. The answers come easily, without any trouble, because we stick as close to the truth as we can.

The only time we hesitate is when she’s wrapping up. “What would you say to the people who are skeptical about this engagement? Who think you’re doing it just for show?”

Wes nods toward me, letting me answer since our plans designated who was going to answer different kinds of questions.

I follow Natalie’s advice and lower my eyes as if I’m feeling shy, which gives me a minute to compose a convincing answer when the words don’t immediately come.

I’m flushed again, but that’s normal for me, and it will look natural given the situation and the particular question.

“I don’t blame them,” I say at last. “It’s easy to assume everything on social media is staged since so much of it is. If people don’t believe we’re in love, that’s okay. Sometimes I don’t believe it myself. It feels like a miracle. That here is this guy I’ve known all my life, and then one day I wake up and realize he’s so much more than that. He’s… everything. I can understand that it’s unbelievable because it’s unbelievable to me too.”

Natalie has been lurking in the background, and she gives me a pleased, silent nod, so I know I did a good job.

“Just so it’s clear,” Wes adds with a twitch of a smile. “She’s been oblivious all this time, but I haven’t been. I’ve been waiting for her to open her eyes for years.”

I gasp, surprised that he sounds so relaxed and convincing at the same time. He’s a far better actor than I ever gave him credit for.