Page 142 of Wedlocked

Matty nodded. “So beautiful.”

“Did Kruger send you to spy?” Madison asked.

He shook his head and held up a small box with a bow. “I, ah, I wanted to see you.”

“She’s going to cry again,” Landry determined.

Rory pushed a tissue into my hand.

“Makeup is on the counter,” Madison told me.

“We’ll meet you downstairs,” Landry said.

I nodded.

The girls moved toward the door as Matty came closer.

“You really do look beautiful,” he said.

I smiled.

“Wait,” Rory called from the door. “I want a photo.”

Matty moved to my side, his hand automatically going around my waist, and I laid my head on his shoulder.

“Hold up the box,” Rory instructed. Matty held it between us, bow out. “Perfect,” Rory praised and snapped some photos. As she did, I leaned up and kissed his cheek.

When Rory was gone, I looked down at the box. “Did you get me a present?”

“What kind of brother would I be if I didn’t?”

“You’d still be the best brother I’ll ever have,” I said sincerely. I meant it.

He didn’t seem to know what to say to that, and it made me smile. “Here,” he said, holding out the gift.

“Shouldn’t I wait to open it with Ben?”

“That isn’t for Ben. It’s for my sister.”

My eyes filled with tears, and I fought them while tugging slowly at the silk ribbon tied around the white box. When it was free, I lifted the lid and reached into the tissue paper.

I sucked in a deep breath, and it caught in my throat. A tear dripped right off my lashes, landing on the tissue paper. “Matty.”

“I wasn’t sure what to get,” he said, fidgeting in place. “So I thought I could get you something you could wear, you know, for the wedding but then after too…”

I reached into the box, hooking two fingers beneath the bracelet.

“But you don’t have to wear it today. I mean, you already look fucking beautiful, an?—”

His words cut off with anoomphwhen I launched myself at him. I was tall for a girl, so I didn’t have to stretch very far to wrap my arms around his shoulders. The second his arms closed around me too, I started to cry. It wasn’t pretty. I was pretty sure this qualified as ugly sobs. The kind of sobs that came out of your diaphragm.

Matty froze even as he hugged me while I cried all over him. After a moment, he said, “Is it ugly then?”

I laughed. It was watery and loud. His poor ears. I pulled back and used the tissue Rory gave me to dab my face. “Ugly?” I scoffed. “It’s my favorite thing just behind the ring Ben gave me,” I said. “It’s even better than my dress.”

He seemed doubtful and also at a loss for words.

I thrust the bracelet at him. “Tell me about it.”

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