Page 68 of Spreading Her Wings

I gasped, my jaw dropping. Andy and Jules. My sisters. The dress. “Today?”

“Today.”

Everyone in the room stared at us. “Okay. Let’s get married today.”

I looked in the mirror in the dressing room of the garden venue my friends had somehow managed to book with next to no notice. Surely it had something to do with the Carlisle brothers. I made a note to thank the two of them later.

Behind me, the door opened, and where I expected my mom to be, Auston stood. He wore a black tux with a golden tie that brought out the rings around his eyes. My chest fluttered, and a warmth grew in my core. I licked my lips, dragging my eyes from the smooth leather shoes he wore to the glittering smile in hiseyes. He shook his head in unnecessary disbelief, as if he wasn’t sure I’d be standing here.

“You’re not supposed to see the bride before the wedding,” I said, stepping into his open arms and nuzzling my face against the tattoo on his neck. “It’s bad luck.”

He chuckled, kissing the top of my head and tightening his arms. “I like to do things that scare me. I couldn’t wait to see you when everyone else did. I had to see you now, and my god, I’m so glad I did. You’re beautiful.”

I brushed my hands over the hand-threaded beads that made the calf-length skirt I wore shimmer. I twisted my hips, letting the long, heavy fabric brush over my legs. When I traced the lace beading on the neckline, his mouth dropped and his eyes lingered.

“Thank you. So are you.” I giggled when I realized I’d called him beautiful. “I mean, you look amazing. I’m so lucky.”

“I’m the lucky one, kitten.” His lips barely touched mine, and I was thankful he didn’t smudge the lipstick I’d taken so long to apply perfectly. “I’ll see you at that altar,” he whispered. His breath was sweet, and part of me didn’t care about the lipstick anymore.

“Okay, that’s enough. You need to go.” Andy grabbed him by the elbow and led him out the door, leaving it open for Jules and Simone to make their way in, followed closely by my mom and sisters.

Within minutes that felt like hours, I was standing in the archway of a door leading to a room full of floor-to-ceiling windows. My arm was hooked through my dad’s, with a bouquet of mixed greenery and baby’s breath in my hands. There were only a few chairs in the room, each filled with someone who watched with a grin on their face as I took my first steps.

At the front, Auston stood with Logan, Ash, and Jackson at his side, and across from them, Andy, Jules, and Simone wipedtears from their eyes. I chuckled when I noted the lack of neon lights and loud music, but my laughter was quickly choked away by the swarm of butterflies that filled my stomach and chest. The type of smile that made your cheeks hurt stretched across my face, and Dad squeezed my hand.

“It’s not too late to run,” he said with a laugh.

I looked up at him and rolled my eyes with a playful nudge. “I’m not going anywhere. He’s the love of my life, Dad.”

“I know he is. I’m proud of you, sweetheart. Auston is a great guy, and he’s the luckiest man alive so long as he treats you right.”

At the end of the aisle, Dad hugged me, and Auston grabbed my hand to lead me to the altar. I handed my flowers to Andy when she reached for them, and my heart pounded in my chest. “Your tits look great in that dress,” Auston whispered when we turned to face each other, and my laugh bounced off the vaulted ceiling.

Simone moved and stood next to us, and I grinned at her when she half squealed as she looked at our joined hands. “We are here today to celebrate the marriage between Auston and Katieagain. This time with all of their friends and family,” she continued with a nudge. Logan chuckled, the rest of the wedding party joining in with a wave of giggles.

Auston’s eyes didn’t leave mine except to glance at the way the dress cut just right to accentuate my cleavage. Every time he did, my chest filled with flutters, and I bit my lip. There was a hint of mischief in his stare. Probably because he’d gotten away with helping plan a surprise wedding without telling the bride.And he succeeded.

I looked at the way my mom clung to my dad, a smile on her face and her eyes shining with tears. My sisters sobbed in the seats next to them, and Sasha practically danced in her seat behind them. She was a direct contrast to the normally moodyCarlisle brothers who sat next to her with their eyes glued to my friends.

Turning my attention back to Auston and Simone, my heart felt full, but when Simone spoke, it stopped beating. “Auston and Katie are going to come up with their own vows.”

“What vows?” I whispered to Auston, remembering in a panic the vows we’d made in Vegas.I promise to fuck you good, like really good.I can’t believe I’d said that. “I don’t have anything written!”

He cleared his throat. “Just speak from your heart, babe. I didn’t write anything either.”

Simone turned to me, and I took a long, shaky breath.Just speak from your heart.

“Auston, you’re the love of my life. You ask me if I trust you, and the answer will always beof course.You make me feel alive and like I can do anything. I told you I wanted to do something that scared me. I never meant for that something to be falling in love with you…ormarrying you on a bet in Vegas.” I paused when my dad laughed off to the side, and I nervously grinned at Auston. “I want to do things that scare us for the rest of our lives. I promise to love you in a way I never knew was possible before you and with every fiber of my being.”

He tightened his grip on my hands, and Auston pulled me closer to him. “You’re my everything, kitten,” he started with a chuckle, followed by a deep breath. “You hated it when I called you that, but now your face gets this little smile every time. One that will never not make me feel like I’m having a heart attack. And now, I call you my wife, and I promise to make you smile likethatevery single day. I promise to always order pizza with pepperoni and olives and to always bring home gummy worms for movie night. I’ll always help you make the second batch of brownies when we burn the first, and I promise to eat the barely burnt ones because you made them, even when you insist wethrow them out. Babe, until the day I die, you are my reason for living. You are, and always will be, the air I breathe.”

Tears streaked my face. “And I promise to make you scream my name as often as possible because we both know you can’t get enough of me,” he whispered softly enough that I almost didn’t hear him. He winked, and a deep blush colored my cheeks. I looked briefly to make sure nobody had heard him for just a second before I realized I didn’t care if they had.

Sniffles around us let me know I wasn’t the only one with tears in my eyes, and I leaned into the warm scent of amber that radiated off of him. I licked my lips and darted my eyes from his hazel ones to his mouth.

“Just tell me I can fucking kiss her already, Simone.” He growled, his eagerness causing him to narrow his eyes and making his stare more intensely focused. I swallowed.

“So impatient.” She giggled. “With the power basically vested in me by the website I was supposed to totally get ordained on but didn’t because you’re already married… I now pronounce you husband and wife,again.”

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