Page 94 of Traitor

It was perfect for us…and I was now sobbing openly.

Mike was grinning, his bottom lip tucked between his teeth. He mouthed,“I love you,”and I hiccupped as another sob broke free. Somehow, this made his smile even bigger.

C’mon, Lauren. Hold it together.

Josué squeezed my arm tighter in what I thought was an attempt to quiet me down, but when I looked to my left, I realized that he was crying almost as hard as I was. Isaac was the only one out of the three of us who was keeping it together; and his eyes had suddenly become suspiciously shiny.

Mike’s hand was reaching for me before we even made it to the end of the aisle and I didn’t hear anything the officiant said. I was lost in my groom’s eyes; everything else had just become white noise.

He winked at me as he began his vows. Vows that were not at all what we’d rehearsed. “Six years ago, I was just a guy who was drifting along and then I met you. You changed my entire life, Red. It took a lot of work to get to Plan C, but fate must’ve been smiling on us.”

I quirked my brow as he continued, “I know what you’re thinking—Mike, if this is Plan C, what were Plans A and B? Well, Darlin’, Plan B was marrying you while you were handcuffed to the bed in my hotel room last month and Plan A—”

His voice cracked and he clenched his jaw for a few seconds in an attempt to get his emotions under control. “Plan A was marrying you six years ago on that beach in Galveston, because that was the night I found my purpose. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I’d been waiting for a Charlotte my entire life. So, Lauren Santiago-McGuire, I stand before you as a man with absolutely no reservations, choosing to spend the rest of my life with the woman for whom I have the utmost respect and love. I long to grow old with you on our front porch swing as we live out the rest of our lives together.”

I stood in stunned silence.

How the hell was I supposed to compete with that?

I pushed through my vows with an unsteady voice and more tears, while Mike gripped my hands tightly in his and raised his eyebrows dramatically every so often to make me smile. We exchanged rings, but my mind was still wrapped up in his words. Only when the officiant pronounced us man and wife and Mike’s lips met mine was the spell broken.

“Does this song make you want to cry?” Mike teased as we walked out to the dance floor amid clapping. “It is our first dance as husband and wife.”

I swatted his arm. “Don’t make fun of me. I was supposed to be stunning.”

“Oh, Darlin’, you stunned me. I didn’t know it was possible for someone to cry so much just from walking down the aisle. I thought Josué and Isaac were going to have to get you a paper bag to breathe into.” His arm locked possessively around my waist, pulling me into his strong body and reminding me that it had been days since we’d been this close.

I rested my chin on his chest and looked up at him with a sly grin as he led us around the dance floor. “And what about you? Either your eyes got a little misty or you choked up reading your vows—speaking of, I thought we’d agreed on the traditional vows.”

He shook his head. “Must’ve been allergies, and as I recall, we never had a formal discussion on the vows.”

“You were totally crying, Mike. Admit it. And we did have an agreement—just the traditional vows since we were short on time.”

His lips curled up into a smile. “Okay, you might’ve seen a few tears. I still held it together better than you.” He spun me around in a small circle, before completely losing his train of thought. “Damn, Red. That dress—fuck. I can see your tits. Do we have to stay for our entire reception?”

I let out a shaky exhale before nodding. “Sorry, Tex. It’s the rules and our wedding planner would kick my ass if we left now.”

He looked over at the bathrooms and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “We could—”

I groaned. “Subject change—tell me why you decided to write your own vows and more importantly, when you found the time.”

Mike bit down on his lower lip. “Look at you, baby. You’re worth more than the same shit everybody spouts off at weddings. You deserved something better. And can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that I didn’t fucking curse once during it?”

I cringed. “Yeah, you’re a real humanitarian, Mike. I kinda feel like a jerk for not writing something for you now. Can we redo it?”

He laughed softly. “I don’t give a fuck about that—you said, ‘I do’ and that was good enough for me. A wise ass once told me to never stop pursuing, even if I managed to catch you.”

I giggled. “Wise ass? Don’t you mean wise man?”

Mike shook his head. “Nah, I meant wise ass. It was David. I don’t ever want to make you feel like you’re not the most important person to me. Because I tried living without you and I failed. There’s no one who knows me like you do and somehow, you look past all the bullshit and still want me. You are the most important thing in my life.”

I rested my cheek against his chest, breathing him in. “You’re my person, Mike. My best friend.”

The hand that was draped across my shoulders came to rest against the nape of my neck, squeezing lightly.

With a little luck and a whole lot of thigh clenching on my part, we made it through the reception surrounded by the people who loved us. I thought that perhaps I was missing some bride gene, because I’d spent the majority of my wedding and reception anxious to get my new husband into bed.

David gave a toast that somehow didn’t involve threesomes with sorority girls, much to Mike’s chagrin, while Elizabeth talked about how I’d helped her through one of the lowest points of her life.

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