Alex and Ava’s wedding took place in early October, at a gorgeous vineyard in Vermont. Stunning red, orange, and yellow foliage transformed the setting into an autumnal fairytale, and the beautiful sky draped over us like a sheet of azure, sun-warmed silk.
Bridget, Jules, and I stood on one side of the extravagant floral wedding arch in matching bridesmaid dresses while Alex, Josh, Rhys, and Christian stood on the other.
Originally, Alex had wanted no groomsmen other than a best man, but Ava had convinced him otherwise.
A rustle of leaves kicked up before the familiar strains of the wedding march filled the air and Ava appeared.
I didn’t cry in public often, but moisture prickled my eyes when she walked down the aisle on Ralph’s arm.
Ralph was Alex’s old Krav Maga instructor and the closest Alex and Ava had to a parent these days. They visited him every Thanksgiving, and his face glowed with emotion as if she were his real daughter.
“Am I crying?” Jules whispered next to me. “Can’t tell if it’s the wind or not.”
“No,” I said through my smile. I didn’t look at her, afraid any movement would break the well containing my tears. “Am I?”
“No…well, a little. But our mascara is waterproof, so it’s okay.”
“Shh,” Bridget hissed. “No one is crying.” She discreetly wiped a tear from her cheek.
Ava drew closer.
The skirt of her gorgeous mermaid-shaped gown trailed behind her in a cloud of soft tulle, lace, and silk, adorned with ripple-like textures that resembled the crests of ocean waves.
Her face was radiant, her eyes bright and her smile brighter still.
She looked so beautiful and happy my chest warmed until I no longer felt the fall chill.
Bridget had been the first of my friends to get married, but Ava’s wedding hit on a different level. She and Alex had perhaps the darkest pasts and the rockiest path toward their happily ever after. Seeing them overcome all of that to finally be together was incredible.
Across from us, Alex resembled a statue in his stillness. He was always attuned to Ava, but in that moment, he looked at her like the world was the night sky and she was the only star in existence.
For once, his eyes weren’t hidden beneath a layer of ice. Love shone through, so clear and bright it eclipsed the sun.
It intensified when Ava reached the altar, and he murmured something that made her cheeks pink with pleasure.
Their eyes lingered on each other before they faced the pastor, who began the official ceremony.
“Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate Alex Volkov and Ava Chen in holy matrimony…”
While his speech continued, my eyes connected with Christian’s.
Our lips curved and our gazes lingered before we turned our attention back to the wedding.
The old, insecure me would’ve kept checking to confirm he was still there and that he wasn’t a fantasy I’d concocted.
The present me knew he wasn’t.
He was real, and no matter what happened, he would always be there.
That night’s reception took place in the vineyard’s restaurant, which had been cleared out to make room for a dance floor, two long banquet tables, and a live music stage. Exposed wooden beams crisscrossed the space, lending it an air of rustic charm, but there was nothing rustic about the custom engraved china plates, the fifty thousand dollars worth of luxury floral arrangements, or the world-famous singer crooning onstage.
As expected, Alex had spared no expense.
“You should’ve asked him for a bathtub of diamonds,” Jules told Ava. “He would’ve made it happen.”
Ava had needed a breather from all the mingling required of the bride, so Bridget, Jules, and I had ushered her off to a corner while the rest of the guests drank and danced.
“Jules,” Ava said patiently. “What would I do with a bathtub of diamonds at my wedding?”
“Roll around it like the rich bitch you are. And I mean that in the most affectionate way.” Jules’s eyes glinted with mischief. “Or you could pass them out to your guests, specifically your wonderful bridesmaids, who very much did not get you into trouble in Barcelona.”
I spluttered at the mention of Ava’s bachelorette trip. “Jules.”
“What? It was harmless fun. Who knew Alex would get so upset about male strippers? It was a bachelorette party.”
“I think it was less the strippers and more the waking up in a strange hotel in Ibiza part,” Bridget said dryly.
“I think it was both,” I decided.
We’d been fine, but the guys had been less than pleased when they found out about, well, everything.
Honestly, they shouldn’t talk after what happened to them and the banana float.
“Guys, please.” Ava held up her hand, looking pained. “No diamonds, no Barcelona talk.”
“Fine,” Jules grumbled. “But I thought the trip was fun. It was like college again.”
“What was like college again?” Alex walked over with Josh, Rhys, and Christian in tow. He kissed Ava’s forehead, and she snuggled into his side, her smile blossoming so wide it made me smile.
“Last night,” Bridget said smoothly before Jules could rupture Alex’s artery by mentioning. “Girls’ night in. Just like in college.”
“You were talking about Spain, weren’t you?” Christian murmured when the conversation topic switched
He wrapped his arms around me from behind, enveloping me with warmth and spice.
“I’m convinced you can read minds.”
His laugh vibrated down my spine. “Your guilty expressions give it away every time.” He kissed my neck. “You look gorgeous, Butterfly.”
Tingles raced from where his lips touched my neck to the rest of my body.
“So do you. Being a groomsman suits you,” I teased.
“Don’t get used to it. I only did this because I owe Volkov a favor,” he said dryly. Apparently, Alex had looked out for his business or something during our Italy trip. “Do you know what dealing with Josh so often is like? You should’ve seen him and that damn banana float at the bachelor party.”
I stifled a laugh.
“You better take care of Ava,” Josh was now saying. “If anything happens to her, if she gets eaten by a wild animal or anything like that, I will hunt you down and use a scalpel in ways that are not approved by the medical board.”
Rhys snorted out a laugh while Alex gave his best man a wry stare. “What exactly do you think we’ll be doing on our honeymoon?”
“Watching lions and other things I’d rather not think about my best friend and sister doing.” Josh shuddered with disgust. “Maybe I should join your safari to keep an eye on things, just in case.”
Alex and Ava left for their safari/beach honeymoon in Kenya and the Seychelles tomorrow.
There was a time when Ava’s aquaphobia prevented her from even going near the water, but she’d overcome it over the years with Alex’s help.
Jules rolled her eyes. “Leave them alone. You are not going on their honeymoon with them.”
“That would be disturbing in so many ways,” Bridget added.
“No one appreciates my good ideas,” Josh muttered. He looked at Rhys hopefully. “Larsen?”
“Let me put it this way,” Rhys said. “If you’d tried to tag along with me and Bridget on our honeymoon, I would’ve tossed you out of the plane after takeoff. Without a parachute.”
A laugh rose in my throat, but I tuned out the rest of my friends’ bickering when Christian turned me around and rested his hands on my hips.
“Your friends are something else.” He sounded half amused, half appalled, even though Alex and Rhys were his friends too.
“They’re…unique,” I acknowledged with a laugh. “But I love them.”
Somehow, four strangers that’d been randomly assigned to the same dorm room their freshman year of college had evolved into what we were now—a beautifully messy, perfectly imperfect family that’d gone through our share of ups and downs but made it through to the other side.
There’d been a time after graduation when I worried our friendship would fray outside the confines of campus and the structure of our college lives. The years had proven that wasn’t true. In fact, our friendship had strengthened after being tested by real life.
Natalia was my sister by blood, but Ava, Bridget, and Jules would always be my sisters by choice.
“If you’re up to it, I want to take you somewhere after the reception,” Christian said, drawing me out my thoughts. “It’ll be a quick trip. Two days max.”
My eyebrows rose. “Where?”
“It’s a surprise.” He kissed me. “Trust me.”
I did.
“I should take a photo of this moment,” Rhys drawled as he and Bridget passed us. My friends had paired up to dance after the music shifted to a slow song and Ava’s cousin Farrah and her husband Blake pulled her and Alex away. “A besotted Christian Harper. What a sight. I should blast it out to the Harper Security alumni network. The guys would love it.”
Christian narrowed his eyes. “You’re one to talk, Larsen. Didn’t I see pictures of you attending a royal tea party the other week? With a cat in your lap, no less.”
Color rose on Rhys’s cheekbones. “It was not a tea party,” he growled. “It was a lunch ceremony, and Meadows gets upset when we leave her alone for too long. At least I didn’t buy up all the fucking wheatgrass in the grocery store…”
Bridget caught my eye and shook her head.
Men, she mouthed, her expression one of exasperated affection.
I stifled a laugh.
The guys would never admit it, but their insults and arguments were how they showed affection for each other.
And as I swayed to the music in Christian’s arms, listened to the comforting rumble of his voice and the familiar warmth of my friends’ laughter, I felt something that’d eluded me for so much of my life.
Happiness, in its purest and most complete form.
