Page 3 of Kiss the Bride

“Thank you, I knew you’d come,” she gushes, giving me a careful hug and air kisses to save her makeup. “You are literally saving my life.”

“Saving your vows isn’t the same asliterallysaving your life!” I tease, carefully helping her long gown into the passenger seat of my San Marino Blue, BMW Z4 roadster.

“It feels like it.” She shoots me a worried glance. “Couldn’t you drive a bigger car? I’m going to crush my textured bun.”

“Really?” I snigger, trying to make her laugh, “That mess at the back of your head has a name?” Still, I wait until she settles. “Tell me what happened.”

“The girls are already at the church because there was a thing with the flowers they needed to fix. Daddy is with mum who’s a wreck over lipstick. She’s been deciding between three shades of lipstick for the last week including the one she wore on their wedding day and what if he doesn’t notice. Jess called Daddy, so he’s with mum and his wife is who knows where. Daddy’s car was supposed to come back for me, but there was an accident or something so it’s late. Everything’s a mess and I don’t know how to fix it.” Her words tumble out in a rush, as long nails scratch at her palms. “And I can’t find my vows.”

Her eyes blink rapidly, her tell-tale sign of stress when she can’t bite her nails.

As I reverse, I want to tell Liv how she’ll take Mitch’s breath away, vows or no vows. That there is no way her wedding daywill be ruined because of a missing piece of paper and Mitch is the luckiest bastard alive because she loves him. Instead, I squeeze her unadorned hand like the friend she needs me to be. “Livia, we’ve got time. Ten minutes to your place, five to print your vows. We’ll make it.”

“How was Mitch when you left him?”

“Caleb and Pete will get him there. Don’t worry about Mitch.” I check my phone discreetly.

Pete:Mitch still MIA. Any clue?

I can’t respond, not with Livia beside me. The guys will have to find him without me.

“How do I look?” Olivia asks as we join traffic. “You didn’t say a thing.”

“You will be the most beautiful bride the church has ever seen.” I smile at her. “No photos are going to do you justice and I’ll probably have to help Mitch remember his lines.”

“Why?”

“Because you will take his breath away.”

“You always did have a way with words.”

“Easy when you’re around.”

“Thank you.” Her voice is humble and unusually shy. But despite the hair and makeup, I still see the girl who used to wake beside me with tussled hair and panda eyes.

“For what?”

“For being so cool about me dating your friend.”

“Did I have a choice? He was crazy about you, and we’d gone back to being friends.”

“Still, you never made it seem awkward.”

“Livia, I’ve only ever wanted you to be happy.” I can do this, one statement of fact at a time. “Mitch makes you happy, so I’m all good.” Mostly true.

“At least he doesn’t know I forgot the vows. They’re on his computer.”

“Are you sure he left his laptop at home?” I joke. Mitch is always attached to his devices.

“Absolutely. But, Hunter …” Suddenly, we’re fourteen and about to steal a bottle of wine from my mother’s cellar. “He doesn’t know I know his password. So, he can never know we had to come home.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.” What’s another secret to keep?

Like Livia’s fear that Mitch will trade her in for a younger girlfriend, as her father did to her mother. Or that Mitch gambles more than he admits. I only know because he borrowed money from me to pay for his honeymoon. Yeah, I funded my ex’s honeymoon. Karma’s a bitch and has my name tattooed on her ass.

I paid for Olivia’s honeymoon—her honeymoon—because Mitch bet big and didn’t have the cash flow to cover it when the wedding dates got changed.

Fuck. If I hadn’t broken her heart, it would have been me. She’d be wearing my ring and … no. I can’t keep doing this to myself. Olivia’s moved on. Starting tomorrow, I'll move on, too.

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