Page 97 of Tangled Up In You
“Don’t faint,” she mouthed.
I rolled my eyes, but smiled anyway.
With two grooms, it’d been tricky trying to plan the wedding ceremony. Did I come out first, and then him? Vice versa? Hunter and I’d researched how other gay couples had done it, and some had walked out together, from different directions, and then met in the middle. That had seemed like a good idea, but then I asked if he could walk down the aisle toward me.
Yeah, he had then made a quip about being the bride, but I explained to him my reasoning.
“I want you to choose me,” I had told him that night, after we’d made love and were holding each other in bed.
“Idochoose you, Cor.”
“No, I mean…I want you to be the one to walk down the aisle,” I illuminated, grazing the tips of my fingers along his shoulder blade. “It’s hard to explain, but having you be the one to come to me, and then me taking your hand…I don’t know. It sounds stupid, but it’s like you’re making the choice to be with me. That even after all the heartache I’ve put you through, you forgive me and want to spend your life with me.”
“Don’t forget I played a huge role in all that heartache too,” he pointed out, staring up at me with inquisitive eyes. “Are you afraid I’ll change my mind?”
I shrugged, swallowing the lump in my throat. He’d hit the nail on the head.
“Okay,” he said before kissing my collarbone. “If it eases your mind, I’ll be Juliet.”
And just like that, the sadness was lifted and we laughed. Just as I hoped we’d spend the rest of our lives laughing.
At the memory, I teared up.
This is it.
More than twenty years of friendship, with seven of those years being filled with regret, and it all came down to this moment. I couldn’t see Hunter, but I felt him. I knew his heart was racing just as fast as mine as we waited in anticipation for the moment when he’d walk down the aisle. For the moment when we said our vows—promises to love each other through thick and thin.
I looked out into the gathering of people, seeing Veronica and Raoul, Austin and Beth, and Hunter’s parents. Austin gave me a thumb’s up, and I gave a nervous smile. Daniel and Joel were there too, along with Joel’s parents and Daniel’s mom.
Joel and Daniel had graduated last May, so I hadn’t been able to officially coach them, but I still saw them a lot. Both boys were attending University of Arkansas; Joel was going for computer science and Daniel was taking the classes for a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership while pursuing college football—just like I’d done.
Although it was a small wedding, I’d spared no expense. I wanted it to be perfect—something we’d remember when we were old and gray.
I’d hired a professional decorator who had created a beautiful archway, sitting area, and had made the meadow look like something out of a fantasy movie. I also hired a band, which was playing soothing, classical music. Hunter’s favorite. They were on a Bach symphony, when all of a sudden; they ended the song and began playing something entirely different.
An instrumental version of Staind’sTangled Up In You.
Hunter came into view, and the tears I’d worked my ass off at keeping back started to fall anyway.
A cello played the melody of the lyrics as he walked toward me, down the aisle of flower petals and past our friends and family. His dad walked with him, not keeping it together at all as he wiped at his eyes.
I smiled and began feeling anxious.
Hunter was so close but still too far away. I needed to touch him. To have him in my arms.
“And who gives this man away?” the wedding officiator asked.
“I do,” Tom said. “His father.”
I stepped forward and Tom placed Hunter’s hand in mine. Finally, I could breathe. I interlocked our fingers, smiling into Hunter’s watery brown eyes, and together, we turned and faced the pastor.
“Friends and loved ones, we are gathered here this day to join Corbin Taylor and Hunter Walsh in matrimony.” He started in on the beginning formalities of the ceremony, but all I could focus on was Hunter’s hand in mine and the insane rushing of the blood through my veins.
It was already the happiest day of my life, and it wasn’t even over yet.
“Now, is it correct you two have written your own vows?” the pastor asked. We said yes, and he motioned for us to continue.
Hunter took a deep breath and looked into my eyes. I nodded to encourage him, and he squeezed my hand. Public speaking was an anxiety of his.
