Look After Us (15 page)

I can hear my mother sobbing from the front row as Ava nervously glances in Tyler and Mia’s direction with a questioning gaze. Tyler gives her an enthusiastic nod while Mia excitedly says, “Marry him! We can be bride BFF’s.”

Mia’s words are followed by someone sitting a few rows back shouting, “Yeah, marry him!”

Ava giggles as she turns to face me, shaking her head with astonishment as a luscious blush glows against her cheeks.

“So what do you say?” I ask, wondering when the hell she’s going to put me out of my goddamn misery, but from the laughter pouring from her pretty little mouth, I’m pretty confident I have my answer. “Will you become Mrs. Ava Bailey?”

The giggles fade away, and I look closely at the way she sucks her bottom lip into her mouth, gazing into my eyes as though she can see deep into my soul. A few moments pass before an all-beaming smile breaks free across her beautiful face. “God, I love you!” she declares before slamming her lips on mine, taking the breath right out of me as she stakes her claim on my mouth.

“Is that a yes?” I manage to whimper out in between Ava’s lips.

“Yes! A million times yes!”

I lean my forehead against hers, smiling down at her. “Do you forgive me?”

She nods eagerly. “There’s nothing to forgive.”

Those words have the smile on my face widening. “You’re amazing, did you know that?”

“
Well
, I do have my moments.”

“Hell yeah, you do.” I go to press another kiss along Ava’s lips when the sound of my brother coughing halts us in our movements, causing us to turn our heads in his direction.

“Um, do you think we could get married sometime today?” Tyler hollers with a shit-eating grin on his face. “You can kiss the bride when you’ve said I do.”

Laughter erupts all around us as we happily, but reluctantly pull away. I hold my hand out for Ava to take and she does without reservation. “Let’s get married then,” I say to her as we take a few steps forward until we’re standing beside Tyler and Mia.

The minister looks between the four of us with a bemused smile.

“You can marry us both at the same time, right?” I ask, hoping there isn’t a religious restriction against double weddings.

“Yes.” He gently smiles. “Your marriage, however, won’t be legally binding since you haven’t applied for a marriage license, so you won’t
technically
be husband and wife, but I’d certainly be happy to perform the ceremony.”

I smile down at Ava whose sweet smile is beaming up at me, before I look back to the minister. I shake my head. “I don’t need a sheet of paper to prove my marriage to Ava. Today is about declaring my love and commitment to her, and legally binding or not, she’s going to become my wife today. The marriage license can come later with our second wedding.”

The ceremony starts and Ava and I stand beside my brother and Mia, watching with warm smiles as they exchange their vows and declare their eternal love to one another. I find myself choking up when I see the overwhelming happy tears filling Tyler’s eyes, his gaze never once drifting from Mia. My brother had always played the field; never staying with one girl long enough to make a real commitment, just a bunch of one-night stands and one-week girlfriends that were strewn together since he was seventeen. He’d always tell me he was waiting for the right woman to come along; the one who would take his breath away the instant she entered a room, who would make him furiously sweat and lose the ability to speak coherently whenever she was in close proximity. The one who would love him despite every single mistake he’s ever made, yet who is able to shape him and tame him into the man that she deserves, the one who would become his game changer. Oh, and the one who could make his toes curl with the best goddamn orgasm ever—his words, not mine. And just like me, after years of waiting for the right woman to come along, he found her when he was least expecting it, causing his entire world to tilt on its axis, changing his life forever.

My heart rate increases when Tyler finally turns to me and Ava, his lips turned up into a big-ass smile; a smile that has ‘lucky bastard’ written all over it.

“Your turn, big brother.”

I let out a steady breath as I turn to face Ava and I can’t help but lose myself in her beauty, especially now as the sun shines down on her, enhancing her beauty further. I can never understand how I got so lucky to find her, but I am forever grateful that I get to spend the rest of my life with her, that she’s mine, and only mine. I’m never letting her go.

“You ready to become Mrs. Bailey, baby?” I ask with a raised eyebrow. With her right hand already encased around my left, she gently takes my other hand in hers and slips her fingers between mine, tightening her hold.

“I’ve never been more ready,” she states confidently, her face aglow with pure happiness. I can’t help the smug sensation that flows through my veins knowing that I’m the person who put that smile on her face. It’s a pretty amazing feat after such a close call yesterday.

“Good, because it’s you, me and Lily against the world,” I say before pressing my lips to hers, unable to care less that I’m not supposed to kiss her until after we’ve said our vows.

Our ceremony begins, and the moment I hear the minister ask, “Ashton Bailey, do you take Ava Jacobson to be your wedded wife?” the world around us dissolves into a mass of nothingness. All I can see is the beauty who stands in front of me as the words ‘I do’ and vows of love, honor, and til’ death do us part roll effortlessly from our lips. Until this moment nothing has ever felt so easy, and being here, marrying the love of my life,
my best friend
… it’s simply as easy as breathing.

A lump forms at the back of my throat as I watch the tears roll down the softness of Ava’s cheeks, all the while softly laughing. Pushing away my tears that threaten to fall, I let out a deep exhale of breath with an adorning smile and reach my hand towards the wetness on her cheeks, wiping her tears away with the pad of my thumb.

Once she’s dry of her tears, I let my hand gradually fall and caress along her bare arm, enjoying the way her skin ripples in a million tiny goose bumps under my touch before slipping my hand back into hers.

I briefly glance in the direction of the minister before resuming my gaze on Ava. “Ashton Bailey and Ava Jacobson. In so much as the two of you have agreed to live together in matrimony and have promised your love for each other by saying these vows, I now pronounce you as husband and wife.”

On hearing the words
husband
and
wife,
the missing pieces I hadn’t realized were missing in my heart have been pieced together with Ava’s, and it’s beating more steadily with a rhythm that finally feels real and whole. It has only occurred to me that before I met Ava, my heart was only half-heartedly beating, but upon meeting her it picked up speed until today I finally found my rhythm; a beautiful, transcendent beat that gives love and life a brand new meaning. Ava is now a part of me forever; she’s my other half, and as long as her heart beats along with mine, my life will be complete.

The minister addresses both Tyler and me with a smile before saying the words that couldn’t have come quick enough. “Congratulations, you may both kiss your brides.”

I don’t waste a single breath as my fingers slip through the soft strands of Ava’s hair, cradling her neck with my passionate grip before my lips slam against hers, claiming her, marking her … solidifying my love for her with my first kiss as her husband.

After losing myself in her kiss, I reluctantly pull away, resting my forehead against hers. “I love you, baby.”

Her eyes flutter closed with a heavenly smile as she brings her hands up to mine that have drifted to the sides of her face. “I love you too, husband.”

My heart comes crashing to a stop at her words, and I become mesmerized by them. “Say it again,” I demand.

She giggles. “I love you too,
husband
.”

Her words sound like music to my ears and I suddenly want to take her here and now, but I’m swiftly reminded of the hundreds of people witnessing our declaration of love at the sound of the minister saying his final words. “I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Bailey … and Dr. and Mrs. Bailey.”

Mrs. Bailey …

Wow, right there is what perfection sounds like …
my perfection.

THOUSANDS OF TWINKLY LIGHTS
glitter around us as I sway gently in the arms of Ashton, dancing our first dance as husband and wife. With my head resting on his chest, I watch as the sunset fades into the night sky with striking hues of violets, pinks, and ambers stretched out along the horizon. It’s breathtakingly beautiful. It’s ridiculously romantic and I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect setting for my first dance. I sigh contentedly as we continue to move to the sounds of ‘Kiss Me’ by Ed Sheeran.

“You okay, baby?” Ashton asks before brushing his lips against my hair.

I step back slightly so I can look at his handsome face. “I’m perfect, husband.”

He lets out a groan. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing you call me your husband. It’s making me hard,” he says in a low voice, pushing his erection against me.

I giggle. “You’re always hard.”

“True,” he admits with a grin. “But …” His eyes darken as they drink me in before they come to a lingering stop on my cleavage. “You’re fucking beautiful. It’s impossible to not get aroused. And that dress …” he says, his eyes still taking in my breasts that sit against the plunging neckline. “I’m an intelligent guy and yet when you walked down the aisle, I was lost for words.”

“Um, my eyes are up here.” I smile, watching how he finally looks up and meets my gaze with a sexy smirk.

“Oh, so they are …”

“You’re insatiable,” I say with laughter.

“It’s hard to be anything else when my wife is so damn beautiful.” A shiver trembles along my spine; loving the way
wife
rolls off his tongue like second nature. I never thought in a million years that I’d become Ashton’s wife today …

Today has been a whirlwind of a day that’s for sure. I woke up this morning with swollen eyes and my heart torn from the previous night. Throughout the night while speaking to Alana—after my tears had subsided—I finally came to the conclusion that Ashton would never jeopardize what we have or intentionally hurt me. He loves me, and the fact that I was the first woman he ever brought home with him speaks volumes. It gave me faith that maybe we’d be okay.

However, I was still irrationally pissed off with him and hurt when I was forced to spend the morning in the presence of the woman who purposely forced herself on my fiancé and tried to sabotage our relationship. I wanted to claw Riley’s eyes out for the hurt she caused, but through some inner strength I had no idea I even possessed, I held my head up high and ignored her, not wanting to cause any drama on what would be the happiest day of Mia’s life.

But to go from that to dancing in the arms of my new husband almost doesn’t seem real. It feels as if I’ve been transported into a fairy tale land of make believe stories and happy endings that only happen to the likes of Cinderella. Ashton definitely stepped up and became the prince that every girl deserves. That
I
deserve. My mind is still in disarray at how he stood up in front of everyone and declared his undying love for me before asking me to marry him there and then. I seemed to fall in love with him all over again, and in that moment I knew that our love was unbreakable, that no one could ever stand in our way.

“I can’t believe we’re married,” I say with an almost dream-like sigh, gazing into Ashton’s green eyes that shine beautifully from the reflection of twinkly lights that glimmer against the nightfall sky.

“You better believe it, baby …”

I gently lean my head against Ashton’s shoulder as he holds me tighter against him. My eyes wander over to the dance floor and my eyes fall on Mia and Tyler who are swaying gently to the acoustic brilliance of Ed Sheeran, looking as much in love as Ashton and me. They look incredibly happy in their own little wedding bubble. Tyler peppers her with loving kisses and whispers sweet little nothings in her ear, with not a single worry in the world. I’m so honored that we get to share this incredible day with them, that their happily ever after became
our
happily ever after too.

Today I married the man who not only became my husband, but my best friend,
my soul mate.
And I know that Ashton and I are not legally married, that to any judge our marriage is non-existent and means
nothing,
but to me, in my heart and soul it means
everything
. We made a commitment that will last forever; we vowed to love each other until our last dying breath, and no legalities will ever change that.

I am, however, excited to get our marriage legalized so I can finally rid myself of the family name that tarnished my childhood and took away my innocence at such a young age. I’m still proud of being able to hold on to that name for as long as I have done, since the man who that name originates from is a man that is never far from my thoughts, a man who loved me unconditionally … but that name died the moment my brother did.
He
made something that was once beautiful into something tainted with poison, and I finally want to break free of the connotations that the Jacobson name holds, for good.