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Dez, grinning, coughed into a fist. “Uh, distance turned out to be the issue there, right, T? Or was it that she wasn’t your type? I don’t remember. You’re not the one who has a thing for Black girls with ginger hair and freckles with ‘bird-sounding’ names, are you? Was that you?”
Thanasis shot him a look.
“But you see what I mean?” Ant asked.
Gage cocked his head to the side. “You’re right, mate.”
“Damn.” Mike, smiling, stroked his chin. “Well, shit.”
“You mean, none of you ever noticed before?” Ant asked. “It’s the first thing I picked up on. I mean, I’m for damn sure not knocking it. Y’all see what I’m working with.”
“Well, me and Giorgio married twins,” Julien said.
“But you didn’t meet Ari and Mo together,” Dez pointed out.
“Actually, you could argue that Eesh and I met because me and Gage used to have a sort of feud,” Joel said. “Then Giorgio ran into Mo at Gage’s place. And wasn’t it through Gage that Julien reconnected with Ari?Damn,Cupid.”
Gage laughed, shaking his head.
Mike’s phone went off. “That’s Mo. She said that if we’re late, she’ll tell Giorgio we hurt her feelings.”
Giorgio looked up.
They helped Joel secure the gifts and then headed to the tent opening. On the way out, and despite Joel being the slightly older one out of the two of them, Giorgio reached over and lightly ruffled his hair.
CHAPTER37
Ayesha, elbow tucked with Gage’s, waited for her cue. This wasn’t her first time doing this, and she technically was already married to Joel, but neither fact made the bugs in her stomach any less active.
Some of it, she figured, was probably due to her and Joel’s addition that would arrive sometime early next year. However, even though they’d already done the legal part, theweddingmade it feel complete.
They were raising two boys together. They had a baby on the way. They lived together and had basically lived together for years. Still, after today, the world would finally, officially, see her as Joel’s wife.
“Ready?” Gage asked.
She looked up at him. “I’m ready.”
The curtains in front of them parted. They stepped onto a white runner, and she took several more stomach-settling breaths before looking up.
Even from the far end of the room, she saw the redness of Joel’s eyes. He wiped them with the back of his hand and repeatedly raised a fist to his mouth, shifting from one foot to the other.
“He’s not staying there,” Gage whispered.
She glanced up at him. “Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Watch.”
They made it halfway down the aisle before Joel left the altar, walked up to her, cradled the back of her head, and dropped a kiss on her lips. Gage released her elbow so she could wrap her arms around Joel’s neck.
At first, their guests chuckled.
Next, they clapped.
Then the claps became applause, as if they knew what neither she nor Joel had told anyone outside of their tight-knit group.
Reluctantly, they parted.
“Wanna take it from here, mate?” Gage asked.
