Page 236 of Staying Selfless

I’ve thought about this day for so long now, and it’s finally here. My best friend, the best person I know, the strongest person I know, is about to become my wife. She’s about to take my last name.

I have no idea how I got so lucky.

I wipe my tear-filled eyes as Logan makes her way to me. She lets out a little laugh, shaking her head, but I know she’s not surprised. The only time I get emotional is when Logan is involved.

I just really fucking love the girl.

Marc pats my shoulder, and Zanders chuckles next to me. Or at least I think they do. I’m not paying attention to anyone other than the angel in white walking towards me.

There was a time, a short time, early on in our relationship, when I feared this day might not happen, that I may have lost her for good when she went back to California. But I didn’t lose her. We found ourselves in each other, and the image I’ve had stuck in my head for years at this point is finally coming to life.

“Please be seated,” my brother tells the audience. “We are here today to celebrate the love between Logan,” Marc gestures to my bride, “and EJ, though for formality reasons, I’ll call him Eli for the first time in my life.”

“Who gives Logan away to Eli?”

“I do,” my dad says.

“I do too!” Mary chimes in from the front row.

“Hell, we all do,” Marc adds.

My dad gives Logan a hug then turns to wrap his arms around me. He pats me on the back a few times before releasing me and taking a seat next to my stepmom. Though, I don’t miss his red, glossy eyes matching mine.

“Hi,” Logan whispers.

“Hi, baby.” I wipe my face with the heel of my hand before taking her hand in mine, leading her up the riser.

Once she’s close enough, I wrap her up in a hug, burying my face in the crook of her neck, and taking in her sweet scent. She grazes the length of my back as I turn my head to kiss her collarbone, always needing her to hold me.

“I love you, too,” she whispers.

When I release her from my grasp, we give each other a look and then shift our eyes to my brother standing between us. At the same time, we hold our arms out as we pull Marc in for a hug, the three of us holding onto each other.

This is how it started. The three of us right here, and today Marc will be the one to make it official.

“For fuck’s sake, do not make me cry right now,” Marc says in an almost whisper. “I’ve got some things I need to say.”

We share a small laugh, releasing each other as Logan turns back to hand Ali her bouquet. And as she does, her eyes find the two empty seats I kept reserved for her parents that couldn’t be here.

Her lips turn down just a little as she looks at me, cocking her head, her expression flooded with gratitude. “Thank you,” she tells me with sincerity as she puts her hands in mine and stands opposite me.

“I want to welcome you to the wedding of Eli and Logan,” Marc begins. “Some of you may know me. I’m the groom’s brother and best friend of the bride. You’ll probably hear from me a lot today, so you may get tired of my voice. I’m the Best Man, Man of Honor, and the officiant. You see, these two right here don’t have any other friends, so I’m filling a lot of roles.”

The crowd stirs in a small laugh.

“I’m kidding about that,” Marc continues. “Eli and Logan do keep a small circle, but if you’re one of the lucky ones to find your way in, you’ll be blessed with two of the most loyal, stubborn, and competitive friends you’ll ever meet. Words can’t express how utterly blessed I feel to be chosen to fill all the roles I have today, and will continue to fill as brother and brother-in-law for the rest of my life.

“Before we get started with all the sweet, sappy stuff, I want to tell you all a little story. I met Logan three and a half years ago when we studied abroad in Spain. It was the first week of classes, and I was up in the middle of the night, thanks to the time difference, watching basketball downstairs. Suddenly, this tall girl comes and sits beside me. The first thing I noticed about her was how cool her hair was, then the next thing I noticed was how much she knew about basketball. We chilled for a few hours then went our separate ways, back to the dorms, but before I could get to my room, this shy girl who didn’t say much while we were watching the game suddenly asked if I wanted to be her friend. Now, at the time, I thought, ‘what college chick asks to be your friend like that?’ but it was so genuine. She truly wanted to be my friend. I teased her a bit but was like, ‘sure, why the hell not?’ Little did I know that this chick from California who was a bit awkward and shy would end up becoming my best friend. Not only that, but as it turned out, she wasn’t all that shy. She had just been through a lot and didn’t have people in her corner to support her. I didn’t know it at the time, but Logan was completely alone up until that point.

“Without realizing, everything changed that night. For me, for Logan, and subsequently for Eli as well. Not only had I just met my best friend, but also my future sister-in-law.”

My eyes stay laser-focused on Logan as my brother speaks. There’s so much joy and love radiating off this woman, it’d be contagious if I didn’t already feel the exact same way.

“Logan and I had a blast while overseas, and when I got home, I told my family about my new friend and how I had convinced her to move to Minnesota and go to school with me. Eli has given me a lot of shit about this over the years, but I never mentioned that Logan was a woman, and that was done on purpose.”

Logan’s little giggle circulates throughout my entire body. I still can’t believe that Marc did that shit on purpose.

“I made sure to always use her name when I was around my brother because I wasn’t ready for him to find out that Logan was a ‘she.’ Eli had a bit of a reputation at the time, and selfishly, the last thing I ever wanted was for the two of them to get together, solely because they were my two favorite people, and I knew they’d be in each other’s lives for a while. And for lack of a better term, I didn’t want my brother to fuck it up.

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