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“You love Ashlyn. Don’t overthink this, kid,” I said, pulling a small flask out of my jacket pocket. Handing it to the groom, I gave Ian a confident nod.
“It’s not like that. What if I fuck this up? She’s too good for me.”
“I think it’s a little late for that. She seems pretty attached to you.”
“Don’t laugh at me, you assholes. This is stressful.” Liam glared up at me. “You’ll be here soon enough, and then you’ll get it.”
I shrugged, but a stupid grin tugged at my lips. It’d be sooner than they thought. I only hoped Cici wouldn’t find the ring I’d hidden in my drawer on one of her nesting attacks, as she called them.
“When you look at her, what do you think about?” Ian asked solemnly.
I raised my brows at the big redhead, unsure of where he was going.
“Home. She and I are building our home together.” Liam's face relaxed into the thought, his face smoothing.
Ian smirked, elbowing me.
“Doesn’t that say enough all on its own?”
Liam’s eyes were wide. “Shit man, that was deep. I didn’t know you had those kinds of feelings.”
Ian rolled his hands then snatched the flask from him before pouring a hefty drink down his own throat. “I have feelings.”
“Clearly.” Liam grinned.
“Get your ass up. It’s almost time to go.”
I grinned at both of them. “Everyone decent?” I asked as I went to open the door. It was almost time.
“As close as it gets,” Ian said sarcastically.
“Then let’s go.” I opened it wide, ushering out the both of them.
Liam’s appreciative smile next to Ian’s worried brood made for a strange combination. I grinned, following the two of them out.
“Ms. Grove,” I murmured to the group of relatives still milling about, rushing to get to their seats on time. “And Ms. Grove?” Ashlyn’s mother and grandmother turn to smile at me. For not the first time, I was struck by how similar my wedding could be, if Cici ever said yes. “You both look lovely today.”
They really did. The dove gray and rose gold color scheme was perfect for the Grove characteristics. Stacy, Cici’s mother, wore a deep-charcoal pant suit and exuded an air of cookie baking and movie marathons. Nora, Ashlyn’s mother, had been the more surprising of the two. A hippie in her soul, she wore a lacy gray dress with a floral headband in her silver and gold hair.
She stepped up first. “Momma, your escort has arrived. You go first.” Nora would be walking Ashlyn down the aisle today. As I gathered Stacy closer, Nora disappeared back to the throng of people. Cici would be with her sister and her niece now. Yet I couldn’t stop the wishful pull that tugged at me to follow her, to see Cici. To tell her how badly I wanted this as well.
“Are you alright, son?”
I bowed my head towards the matriarch of the family, who patted my arm kindly.
“I will be.”
“That’s all that matters.”
Slowly, with the string quartet playing classical music in the background, Stacy Grove begin to walk down the aisle towards the floral arch. This venue, a historic train depot, was unlike anything I’d seen before. They had truly transformed it, and I found that every harsh edge, every industrial touch was tempered by soft lighting and floral touches.
No wonder Liam and Ashlyn had chosen it.
Halfway down the aisle, Cici’s mother slowed a step. I did as well, turning my head to look at her. Dark-blue eyes, eerily similar to Cici’s, gazed up at me.
“Everything alright, Ms. Grove?”
Her eyes crinkled at the corners. “You should ask her again.”
