Page 168 of The Forever Vault

Son of a bitch!

The tears were coming again. “That was so beautiful,” I said, under my breath, to no one but myself.

“And now, Declan.”

Declan took a deep breath and smiled, cocking his head. “You don’t know what you did to deserve me?”

Oh shit, is he going off the top of his head?

Declan wore a smirk, before exhaling a little puff of air, then continued. “That kind of question shows exactly the person you are, the person I fell in love with, the person I wake up next to every day, see beside me, and thank God that he gave me another day with. You are so selfless. You think you don’t deserve me? I don’t know if anyone deserves you. I’ve seen you with the kids you coach - you are so good with them, babe.”

Declan turned to the crowd, and said, “Y’all don’t even know how good he is. Who am I kidding? I know y’all know-”, then back to Ty, “because you can see it. Look at this man. It’s like he’s glowing. He is literal sunshine.”

Ty had been holding back, but his head fell and I could see the tears fall.

“Look at me, babe,” Declan said, wiping Ty’s tears away. “I might’ve been on billboards or the covers of magazines, but you’re the star. You’re the one that caught me, and I’m the one that got swept away by you. I’ll agree with you - I wasn’t really looking for love either, until you spent that day with me and Freddie. You were so confident, and it felt like I had known you for years. Comfort. That’s what love means to me, and that’s what you give me. I know I can count on you, I can lean on you, because you’re strong, stronger than me, and what makes me love you even more is that you don’t even see it as a special quality because it’s who you’ve always been. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you as your husband. I love you, Ty.”

The officiant cleared his throat. “Thank you, Declan. May I have the rings?”

Oooh, here was Luke’s big part. Luke handed the rings to the officiant, who gave each man his future husband’s ring. In turn, they spoke the promises of marriage, and when Ty said “I do,” Declan slipped the ring onto his finger, and vice versa.

“By the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you husbands. You may now seal your marriage with a kiss.”

Declan’s hands dropped Ty’s immediately. One went to his waist, the other to his neck, and Declan pulled Ty against his body, lips connecting as soon as their stomachs aligned. It wasn’t quite a porno kiss, but it sure as fuck wasn’t a church kiss.

Declan pulled back, and yelled, “And to those in the audience who will ask us later today, we’re going to have plenty of babies. Just give us some time to make them.”

I’m sure his mom was slightly horrified at that comment, but I thought it was funny, as did the audience, if the laughter was any indication.

The officiant stepped back up to the microphone and said, “I present to you Tyler and Declan Moore.”

The orchestra kicked in again with Make Your Own Kind of Music by Mama Cass, and Ty and Declan took the walkway to the right, and each pair in the wedding party followed suit.

31

Lucas

“It was a beautiful wedding,” Cam said.

I chuckled. “Ty was a nervous wreck. He was downing Pepto, afraid he was going to puke.”

“Why was he nervous? He did great.”

“I think it was the number of people, the fanciness.”

“Well, one, he looked amazing, and two, that’s kind of hysterical. He’s a former Olympian. He’s performed in front of tens of thousands of people.”

“As a gymnast. Up there, he was just Tyler Hale, from Monterey, California, marrying the Declan Moore, Athlete of the Century.”

“True. I guess that would be a little intimidating,” Cam admitted.

I changed the subject. “You know you didn’t have to give up marching just for me.”

Cam, whose arm was already around me, squeezed his bicep, bringing me closer to him for a kiss on the cheek. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than by your side. It gives me great pleasure to say we’ve attended two closing ceremonies together.”

The sky lit up with a huge display of fireworks. Despite what I had just said, I was glad he was with me. “It gives me great pleasure, too.”

Greece was the first country to enter, then everyone else. But the host country was last, so it would be a long while before we saw any of our teammates.