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Everyone’s heads swivel towards Cole, standing at his seat at the table next to us. He catches my eye and smiles, then clears his throat. “I know we have a lot of people here who want to give toasts. So I’ll try to keep mine quick.”

Two seats over from him, Finn laughs. “Fat chance. Cole loves to ramble on whenever he gives toasts.”

Cole swats Finn’s head. “I seem to recall some of your toasts being on the… wordy side. Especially at poor Niall and Jade’s wedding. They just wanted to get to their honeymoon and you kept going on and on.”

“That’s not true,” Jade interjects, raising her voice to be heard in the large space. “It was a lovely toast. And I really liked all the stories about Niall you shared, Finn. They were great.”

Niall chuckles. “Sure.Youliked the stories. Because they were all Finn making fun of me.”

“Anyway,” Cole continues, “as the officiant, I figured I’d start us off.” He stops to glance at Maya, who’s sitting beside him, with their daughter, Clara, asleep in her lap. His expression softens. “Love happens when we least expect it. And that seems especially true when it comes to our Blade and Arrow family.”

Chuckling, he adds, “We’ve definitely had some of the most… unique meetings. Fallen in love in some of the most stressfulcircumstances. But I think that makes a relationship stronger. Because if you can get through the hard stuff right off the bat, you know you can get through anything.”

Tate leans her head on my shoulder. “He’s right,” she whispers. “You and me, we can get through anything together.”

I kiss the top of her head. “I know we can.”

“And Erik.” Cole turns his attention to me and Tate. “I’ve known you a long time. As a teammate, a friend, and a brother. I know you went through some tough times. Really tough. But I always knew you’d be okay. Better than okay. Because you are one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.”

A chorus of“Here, here”s follows, along with glasses raising around the room.

Warmth fills my chest.

“So it’s only fitting,” Cole adds, “that you’d end with someone like Tate. Someone who’s brave. Strong. Kind. And”—he smirks at me—“willing to put up with you. That’s the most important thing.”

Tate lifts her head from my shoulder. She smiles. “I’m lucky Erik puts up with me.”

“You guys are a perfect match.” Cole raises his glass. “Both amazing people who found each other in one of the craziest situations I’ve ever heard of. And considering what the B and A family has been through, that’s really saying something.”

Cole lifts his chin at me. “I’m so honored to be here celebrating your wedding. And to welcome another person into the Blade and Arrow family. So.” He pauses. “To Erik and Tatum. Congratulations. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”

A round of“Cheers”echo through the room, along with the sound of glasses clinking.

At our table, we all tap our glasses before taking a sip.

Tate kisses me. “You deserve all the happiness in the world, Erik. And I’ll spend the rest of our lives trying to give it to you.”

Oh.

“So will I,” I tell her. “Every day. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy. To protect you. To prove you made the right decision when you walked through my door.”

“Erik.” She stares at me, her gaze filled with so much love it’s hard to breathe from it. “IknowI did.” Her lips brush my cheek. “And I’ll always be so thankful for it.”

“Tate.”I hug her close, kissing her head as I blink back the threatening tears. “I will too.”