Page 22 of The Puck Decoy

My statement does the trick in shutting up Archer almost instantly. “Daemon is coming?” he asks, and I nod.

“You invited Daemon Forbes but not us?” Alexander cuts in with a pout that I am almost certain he must have practiced in the mirror.

“Yes, because unlike you assholes, Daemon is more than just my teammate, he’s my friend.” I crack my neck in exasperation at having to deal with them.

“The dude is weird,” Reign grunts, and before I can curse him out, Archer beats me to it.

“Don’t be a dick, Reign,” he warns, and I see both Alexander and Nova’s eyes flare in surprise as they look at their friend.

“Yeah, don’t be a dick, Reign,” a cold dark voice cuts in, and we all turn to find Daemon standing at the end of the aisle with his arm linked with Hallie’s, his stare cunning and cold, and locked completely on our goalie.

The tension in the air is thick, but any other words that are spoken are completely lost on me, because once my eyes collide with Hallie’s, everyone else just falls away, and the only thing I can focus on is her. She looks perfect, even better than I could have ever imagined, and despite the nerves I can see in her eyes, she still offers me that sunshine smile of hers. Her arm is linked around Daemon’s and I can see her fingers digging into his bicep, not that he seems to mind, and when I flick my stare to his in wonder, as he walks her down the aisle towards me, all he does is shrug his free shoulder slightly.

Seems I have a best friend turned best man.

By the time they reach me, the boys are flanked on one side of me, with Maddie moving to the other while still leaving space for Hallie, and when she shares a look with her best friend, I see tears shining in my sister's eyes.

“Joshua,” Hallie smiles, by way of greeting. “You don’t look completely horrible today,” she muses, her eyes dropping down the full length of my body as she slowly takes in my tux-clad form. She has seen me dressed like this at least a hundred times, but from the look in her eyes it’s as if it’s the first time.

As I return the favor I find myself a little speechless. The dress I picked is perfect, just like I knew it would be, but I guess I never truly imagined what she would look like in it. A traditional white wedding dress wasn’t made for the likes of her, no, she deserves something better, something more fitting of her, and when I take her in, I know I made the right choice.

The green bodice fits tightly around her chest, showing a perfect amount of cleavage to still leave something to the imagination, and with it dusted in sparkling jewels, flowers, and butterflies, it looks like something straight out of a fairytale. Two thick straps sit snugly on her shoulders, with the rest of the green tulle and silk fabric fluttering out from her waist all the way down to the floor. She looks like a princess, one far too beautiful for the likes of me, and something like regret pulses deep within my gut as Daemon hands her off to me with a nod.

“Thank you, Daemon,” Hallie whispers quietly to my friend, and I swear I see him smile at her, as he moves to take up a spot beside my sister. I make a mental note to ask her later how she roped him into walking her down the aisle, but as she looks up at me, every thought in my mind evaporates.

“You look perfect, Tink,” I blurt without thinking, and then curse myself as her eyes widen and a blush stains her cheeks.

“Now now, save the sweet talking for our wedding night,” she jokes in response, and I hear the guys cracking up beside me, but right now, in this moment I wish she wasn’t joking.

Wait what?

What the fuck is wrong me with?

She’s my best friend.

She’s doing me a favor.

I can’t look at her like that, no matter how perfect she looks right now, and thankfully the minister clears his throat to get started, and I push away the inappropriate thoughts about the girl who is about to become my wife.

My wife.

“Welcome loved ones,” the minister starts, looking between the five people standing on either side of Hallie and me as if he were expecting more, and I can’t help but smirk because he’s lucky he’s got this many. “We are gathered here today to join Joshua and Hallie in holy matrimony.”

Hallie smiles as she mouths the word “Joshua” to me with a wink, and I can’t help but smile back as I shake my head at her.

“Joshua and Hallie, the two of you are the embodiment of young love,” the minister continues. “You found friendship and unity in your years of getting to know one another, and now, those gathered here today get to bear witness to what that relationship has become.”

His words ring truer than I expect given this whole thing isn’t real. We do have friendship and unity, and over a decade of getting to know one another, so even though this is fake, it still very much factors into the reason we are standing here right now.

Hallie is now silent beside me, and I can’t help but panic that maybe this whole thing is too much and she is going to change her mind. So I can’t stop myself from slipping my hand into hersand squeezing it three times just like when we were kids.Are you okay?

Her eyes flick to mine, a look I can’t decipher lingering there as she smiles softly and squeezes back three times.Yes, I’m okay.

“I understand the two of you have prepared your own vows,” the minister interrupts our thoughts, and I see Hallie’s eyes widen. “If you could turn to one another and join hands,” he instructs, and we join our other hands with one another, which means I feel when Hallie’s start shaking in mine.

Before the minister can instruct any further, or push one of us to go first, the words are already falling from my mouth. “Hallie, you’re my best friend,” I start, surprised by how fast that revelation falls from my lips. I mean, it’s true of course, but I’m not sure if she even knows that anymore. “I know I haven’t always made that clear between us, but you are, and you have been since the first time I laid eyes on you on this very spot.”

I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I was sick of listening to yet another of my parents' fights, and was still too young to know what they were about, I just wanted out of the house. So I headed down here to work out my frustrations with my stick and puck, playing under clouds of gray. I honestly didn’t know what to think when the girl with the sunshine smile walked into the middle of my game without saying a word, and for some reason she looked as lost as I felt. Yet from that day forward, she was like a beacon of light I clung onto.

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