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“The first time I said I was taking a girl out, I think I was seventeen. You were sopissedwhen I told you that you couldn’t come with me.”
He paused, the smile still on his face, and he made a scooping motion over my cheek with his fingers, brushing my skin gently.
“Then you grew up all at once, and because you were always trying to prove to Steve and me that you were just as good as we were at anything we did, you had to go do one better. I laughed when Steve told me you were heading into PJ school, because I thought that sounded like just the sort of thing you would have done to prove yourself.”
He was looking at me funny now.
“I’ve treated you like my little sister my whole life, even when I didn’t want to.”
I really didn’t want to unpack that statement, because I was pretty sure it would be disappointing.
“Now I understand it was because I wanted to save you for myself.”
My breath caught in my throat at what I hoped was a sweet admission, and I had to bite my lip to keep the smile in. It wasn’t my turn yet.
“I will keep you safe, if you’ll let me.” There was a ghost of a smile on his face. “You’ll never have to fight a battle alone and I will step up and pull my weight. We’ll make a home together, with Daniela and Bailey and Lucy, and when you’re away on missions, I’ll worry every damn second. But when you come back I’ll be there, keeping everyone safe and fed and well maintained, because marriage is teamwork. I’ve learned that from Dad and Hailey–and I can’t wait for us to be on the same team.”
“Team Beckman!” sounded from the front row and I knew it was Kennedy, being a cheerleading idiot. I could always count on her for that.
“Well said.” Gary cleared his throat. “Now, uh…Madelyn? Anything you need to say to Adam?”
“Yeah.” I stifled a giggle. “First of all, Beckman, I’ll be the one keeping you safe. But that’s ok, we don’t have to tell anyone else–well, except them, but I think they already know.” I tipped my head to the side. “I’ll still arm wrestle you for the last piece of pizza, and I’ll get mad when it’s obvious you’re better at something than I am. But don’t expect me to go easy on you; I will compete with you every step of the way.” I had to pause for a second as I moved into more serious territory. “But you know I’m loyal and I’ll work hard for us. You’ll always know I’ve got your back.” I swallowed hard. There was so much more I wanted to say, but as far as fake weddings went, I was pretty sure I’d already crossed a line somewhere when I’d started admitting all my real feelings.
Gary nodded, like he’d decided I was done and I let him make that call, keeping the rest of what I wanted to say locked behind my lips.
“Got the rings?” Gary asked, and Steve stood, fishing in his pocket before handing the simple bands over to Adam.
Gary directed us through the process and my heart fluttered when I slipped the band over Adam’s knuckle. That thin gold band made himmine.
Mineto the rest of the world.
Mineas far as any other woman was concerned.
Now I just had to work on the other parts.
My concern now was finding a way to convince him he’d done the right thing for himself, and I had my work cut out for me. I was determined to make him fall in love with me the way I’d been in secret, soul-crushing, unrequited love with him since childhood.
He’d always been the ultimate man: calm, quietly confident, kind and dependable.
Gary was saying something but I just heard indecipherable noise, because I was too busy soaking in the look on Adam’s face. All I heard was, “Go for it, man–kiss your girl.”
Both of Adam’s hands came up to cup my face and he leaned in slowly, keeping eye contact with me as he whispered, “I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to do this.” Then his warm, soft lips brushed mine gently and I pushed closer to wrap my arms around him, because there was no way I was letting him end it before I was ready–which was never, to be clear.
There was a chuckle nearby, something that made me think the room was growing uncomfortable waiting for us and Adam leaned back, brushing a thumb over my mouth. There was an unmistakable fire in his eyes as he stared down at me, and my stomach flipped.
Maybe this will work after all.
There was polite laughter as Gary made some remark about us being unable to keep our hands off each other and when he announced us as Mr. and Mrs. Adam Beckman, Steve shot me right in the face with a confetti bomb. Thought he was clever, too, but the noise freaked out Teagan and she started wailing.
“The hell did you hide that thing?” Kennedy slapped him upside the head. “You’re such a child.”
Adam peeled off a piece of confetti stuck to my lip and grinned, then leaned in and kissed my forehead.
Great. Right back in the friend zone.Clearly this was going well.
“Since this was so last-minute, I hope you two aren’t expecting anything fancy.” Kennedy pulled a sour face and I knew she was teasing me. Her middle name was Fancy. “Grams wanted to be here, but she had an important doctor’s appointment this morning, so we’ll swing by to pick her up on our way home.” She paused to give me a hairy eyeball. “That means you’re expected at our place in…” She glanced down at her nonexistent watch. “An hour.” Steve’s eyebrows wiggled when she said it, and my mouth dropped open at what I knew was a bold assumption.
“First of all…” Adam slapped Steve’s shoulder. “An hour? You insult my manhood.”
