Page 138 of Fractured Frets

Tears glassed her eyes as she smiled a breathtaking smile. “Sebastian, from the moment I met you, something inside my heart altered. Your love and devotion to these guys standing beside you, and the way you put their health and happiness before your own, touched my soul. The way you supported them through difficult, life-changing times is a commendation to the caring, loyal, and good man you are. I didn’t think I’d ever find someone who’d love me like that. Didn’t think you’d ever love me that much. But you do. And here we are...again...still together. We’ve both grown and changed and learned to depend on one another. We got a little shaky around the ‘for better, for worse, and through sickness and in health’ parts, but our love pulled us through. We’re on this journey together and I can’t wait to see where it takes us. We’ll no doubt have more hurdles to conquer in the future, but I hope the worst of them are behind us. We are now stronger, more in love, and I’m excited to spend the rest of my days with you.”

‘Ti amo,’ I mouthed.

“I love you too.” Maddy’s smile was so big, I was sure she hurt her cheeks.

We said I do, exchanged rings again, and I kissed her to an uproar of cheers and claps.

Although we were already officially married, this made it better. We needed our friends and family for support. They were a huge part of our lives. Always would be...but fuck, I couldn’t wait to spend some time away from them.

Throughout the evening, we ate, we danced, we cut cake, and we laughed with everyone. The weirdest thing though...it was a dry wedding. I’d only been out of rehab for a month—I didn’t want to go backward after making so much progress. I wasn’t totally against drinking again someday in the future, but I wasn’t ready to touch a drop yet. The craving still burned hard and hot inside me. I needed to get that more under control before I put myself in front of any temptation. Still, just having Maddy by my side helped. Every day got better. Easier. Not having any booze around was for the best.

I was good.

Sober.

Clean.

I had been for sixty days, but who was counting? Me! Every. Fucking. One. Until today, I’d never known mocktails, alcohol-free beer, and champagne actually tasted really nice. But soda water with a slice of lime was my new go-to drink. Yeah! It looked like vodka, but it wasn’t. Cole kept checking my drink to make sure it wasn’t spiked...prick! But I loved him.

As the night lingered on, I pulled Maddy into my embrace. I brushed my lips against hers. “I have one more surprise for you.”

She pressed her palm against my cheek. “I don’t need anything else.”

“I know. But it’s a wedding. I’m a musician. So I had to write you a song.”

“You gonna play for me?”

“That okay?”

She ran her tongue ring seductively across her teeth and nodded. My dick twitched. If she kept doing that, she’d end up in trouble. She gave me a quick kiss. “I’d love to hear it.”

I tapped Sutton on the shoulder. “Can you keep my wife company for a few minutes?”

“Sure.” She curled her arm around Maddy’s elbow and threw me a wink. “Have fun.”

I nodded to Cole, Lewis, and Flint. They followed me over to the side of the garden, where we’d set up our acoustic guitars, a snare drum, and a couple of mics.

“Attention, everyone.” I adjusted the height of my mic. I was no frontman performer like Flint; nor did I possess phenomenal talent like the guys from Everhide. Lewis had an incredible voice. Cole wasn’t the greatest of singers, but I could hold my own. “What’s a wedding without a little live music, right?”

“Whoa. Yes!” Gemma, hollered and clapped from the back of the crowd.

“Okay.” I grinned against the mic. “A huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone here. Maddy and I have had another magical wedding. This one hasn’t been as wild as the first, but still, it’s been incredible and a night we’ll never forget.” Just like our Vegas nuptials. As I glanced across the guests, I strummed my strings, and adjusted a key. “I want to share a little something I wrote for my beautiful wife. As you know, we’ve been through a lot. But when you find the one, nothing can keep you apart. So Mads, this is for you.”

Cole tapped the edge of his snare three times with his sticks, then drummed out a steady beat. Lewis, Flint, and I joined in, playing our guitars in time with the slow, deep rhythm. I took a deep breath and sang:

Late summer nights,

Stolen moments.

Phone calls,

Long distances.

Flashing lights,

Secret glances.

Standing close,

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