Chapter 19

“You look so beautiful.”

I shift my gaze to the mirror, seeing the girls standing behind me, feeling tears threaten to spill. The look on their faces makes me turn around to face them, noticing the glassiness in their eyes as my vision starts to blur.

“No,” Leila snaps, sniffing as she widens her eyes. “Don’t you dare cry. Your makeup looks way too good to ruin it with tears.”

I let out a laugh, attempting to make the tears go back inside. “I better not,” I say, shaking my head. “I paid way too much for it.”

She lets out a laugh, and Rosie hands me a napkin, which I reach for, wiping my eyes carefully.

“You’re marrying your best friend,” Madi says with a soft smile. “You shouldn’t be crying.”

“I know,” I admit, though the thought makes my nose tingle with the tell-tale sign of tears. It doesn’t make sense that I’d be crying over something I’m so excited about. “I can’t believe the day is finally here,” I admit with a quiet laugh. Ten years ago, I was madly in love with my best friend, and I never thought I would be standing here on my wedding day, about to marry him.

“You two were made for each other,” Leila says with a subtle shake of her head, her eyes welling with tears. “I really do believe there are no two people more suited for each other than you and Chris.”

Fuck . “Don’t make me cry,” I plead, my voice cracking as I feel the wetness build in my eyes.

She lets out a laugh, wiping under her eyes. “Sorry. I’m emotional. You know, the hormones and everything,” she says, waving a hand.

Right. Of course.

“Okay, we’ve got to get going,” Madi says, checking her phone. “It’s about to start.”

Rosie and Leila flash me a smile before heading out of the room, and as Madi is about to walk out, I grip onto her arm, and she turns around, confusion etched onto her features. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say, shaking my head. “I just wanted to thank you for helping me out with everything.” Her eyes soften and I let out a breath. “The wedding is so beautiful, Madi.”

She rolls her eyes playfully, a smile spreading across her face. “This was all your wedding planner’s doing,” she says, which makes me let out a scoff.

“Please,” I say, shaking my head. “We both know she did as much as I did,” I say, arching a brow, which Madi laughs at. Truth is, Madi did more for this wedding, than my actual wedding planner did, and she’s made my special day absolutely perfect.

“You deserve it,” she says, placing her hand on mine.

I nod, swallowing hard. “Can I ask you for one last thing?”

She furrows her brows slightly, clearly worried. “Of course,” she says. “Anything. ”

“I want to see Chris.”

Her brows shoot up. “Right now?”

I nod, keeping my eyes on hers.

“Are you okay?” she asks, her eyes scanning my body. “Is it—”

“No,” I say with a shake of my head. “I just really need to see him right now.”

I notice her features tightening, but then she nods. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

I watch as she walks out, closing the door behind her until I’m left alone. I breathe out a hard sigh, glancing at the mirror again.

But when a knock hits the door, I snap my head toward it. “Gabi?”

“Chris,” I murmur, my shoulders falling as I hear his voice through the wooden door.

“I really want to come in, but I don’t want to see your dress,” he says which makes me smile.

I’m not really one for superstitions. Besides, we got a matching tattoo early on in our relationship, which is considered a bad omen, and we’re still going strong. But I can tell he really cares about this.

“You can turn around,” I tell him, my lips curling into a smile.

“Okay,” I hear him say, watching as the door opens and he walks inside, backward. My smile widens when I glance at the back of his head as he breathes out, gripping his hair. “Are you okay?” he asks. “Please don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts. ”

“No,” I affirm, walking toward him. “Never.”

“Then why…” His words trail off when I reach for his hand, and he intertwines out fingers together, letting out a relieved sigh.

“I was just … feeling a little nervous,” I tell him, and Chris squeezes my hand in his. “I just needed you.”

“I need you too, pretty girl,” Chris breathes out. “So fucking much.” He lifts my hand to his lips, and presses a kiss against my knuckles. “Do you still want this? Do you still want to marry me?” he asks, his voice low, uncertain, like he’s worried I’ll say no. My heart aches for the love I have for this man, and the fact that he’d give me anything I wanted, even if I did want to call this whole thing off.

I wrap my arms around him, placing my forehead against his back. “More than anything.”

I feel his shoulders slump with relief before he kisses my hand again. “Me too, baby. I can’t wait to see you walk down that aisle.”

I chuckle, lifting my head to look up at the back of his head. “Are you going to cry?” I ask him.

His shoulders shake with a laugh. “Probably.”

A groan escapes me. “You know that if you cry, then I’ll cry, and then I’ll ruin my makeup.”

He chuckles again. “You’ll still be the most beautiful girl in the world.”

My lips curve into a smile as I sigh. “I’ll look like a racoon, Chris. I don’t think you’d want to marry a racoon.”

“You’d be a beautiful racoon,” he says, which makes me roll my eyes. “And you already know I’d marry you no matter what you look like Gabi.” He groans, shaking his head. “Fuck, I just want to kiss you right now.”

I squeeze my eyes closed. “Me too.” I don’t want to wait until we get out there. I want to kiss him right now. I want to feel him. I just want him . “Wait,” I say, snapping my eyes open and untangling myself from him. “I have an idea.”

I head toward the vanity area, and grab my dressing gown tie, before I walk back toward Chris. Being a whole seven inches shorter than him, isn’t going to make this easy, but I lift onto my tip-toes to reach the tie around his eyes, and tie it at the back of his head.

“There,” I say, once I’ve tied off the makeshift blindfold. “You can turn around now.”

He slowly turns around, reaching for me. As soon as his hands find my waist, he melts, gripping my body in his hands. “ Fuck , baby.”

I lift my arms, wrapping them around his neck. “Just kiss me already,” I tease.

He lets out a laugh before leaning down and finding my lips, kissing me in a way I can feel down to my toes, my skin shivering with each lingering moment of his lips on mine. My hands find their way into his hair, gripping the strands as I move his head, deepening the kiss. It still feels like our first. Every single kiss we share feels like my heart is going to erupt the moment his lips land on mine.

But when a knock hits the door, we pull apart, heavy breaths leaving our lips as I stare down at him, his eyes covered with a white fluffy dressing gown tie .

“Gabi,” Madi says, on the other side of the door. “We need to go.”

Chris lets out a hard breath, his hand slowly making its way up my body until he cups my face, leaning down for another kiss. “I’ll see you out there,” he says. “Okay?”

My lips turn into a smirk as I let out a laugh. “If I don’t run first.”

He grips my waist, a low rough noise leaving his throat. “Don’t even play about that,” he pleads, shaking his head. “My heart’s beating so fucking fast.”

“I’ll never leave you,” I promise, holding his face in my hands before I lean down and kiss him one more time. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”

“Fuck,” he breathes out, dropping his head. “Please… just get out there so you can marry me already.”

I let out a laugh against his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you, pretty girl,” he murmurs. “I can’t fucking wait to call you my wife.”

I reluctantly let my hands fall from him, and watch as he turns around, rips the blindfold off, and leaves the room, Jane, my sister walking in a second later.

“Are you ready to go?” she asks, nervously.

I let out a breath, squaring my shoulders. “Yes.”

She tilts her head, examining me. “Are you sure?”

My brows furrow in amusement. “Do you not want me to be or…”

“I was just making sure,” she says with a shrug. “I was really nervous on my wedding day,” she admits, smiling at the reminder.

“Really?” My brows dip. I guess I was a little concerned with everything happening with Chris, I didn’t really notice my sister being nervous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her be nervous. Controlling, demanding, bossy, yes. But nervous? She wasn’t even nervous when our father kicked her out after she came out. She kept sane, and calm, and told me it was all going to be okay as I was bawling my eyes out.

“Of course I was,” she admits. “But I’m your big sister. I’m never going to show you my weaknesses,” she says, assertively.

I shake my head. “You were never weak,” I tell her. “I always looked up to you.”

She smiles, which turns into a knowing smirk. “I called it, by the way. I knew some day you two would end up together.”

I breathe out a laugh. That’s my sister. Always has to be right about everything. “Yeah, I know,” I say, remembering all the times she’d say something about us being together. I used to shut her down back when I hadn’t realized my feelings for him, but my sister knew before I did.

“I feel like I’m owed some kind of compensation for it,” she says, arching a brow.

A laugh bubbles out of me. “How about you just watch me walk down the aisle to marry my best friend and we’ll call it even?”

She sighs. “I guess.” We share a smile, and she reaches out to fix my veil, making sure it’s perfectly placed. “You look really beautiful, Gabi. Mom would have been so proud of the woman you’ve become.”

My lips wobbles at the reminder of my mom, and this time, a tear does fall down my cheek. I remember her telling us about her wedding, and how she couldn’t wait to see us, but she’s not here. She won’t see me getting married. She won’t see me grow up. She’ll never meet my children.

“No crying,” my sister says, her own eyes full of tears as she wipes my cheek. “We need to go.”

I sniff back the tears, and wrap my arm around my sister as we push through the doors.