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“Better. Because I can’t wait to make it official. I can’t wait to start the rest of our lives.”
28
WE BEE-LONG (ARCHER)
Months Later
Planning a wedding is stressful as hell, so we decided against it.
Winnie woke up the next morning, wanting to get married right there in Solitude with an officiant sent out to us, but I convinced her my mom and brothers should get to see us off.
Probably a good thing.
Mom would curse me until her dying day if her eldest son got hitched without notice.
Even Rina’s okay with the whole affair after hearing about it from Colt.
I thought she’d be bitter when I called to tell her Winnie and I were engaged, but she just sounded amused.
“I knew it was coming,” she’d told me. “Just don’t fuck it up this time, Archer.”
This time.
I resented that because it almost implied I was at fault last time, but hell, why argue?
A man can learn from his mistakes. He can bury his darkest days. He can seize a second chance and make it thrive.
Colt aside, everything with Rina was a mistake.
Winnie is not.
I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the way she loves me.
I don’t think I ever want to—not if it means losing my sense of awe that I could ever win a woman like this.
It’s a beautiful spring morning when our wedding day arrives.
We adhered to tradition and slept in separate rooms, even if I hated how weird it felt waking up without her by my side.
I’ve gotten used to having her morning bed head in my face.
Still, it’s just one day and I can’t be mad.
My phone pings with a text and even without looking, I know it’s her.
Winnie:I’m excited. Are you freaking out yet?
Me:Only because I have to wait at least twelve more hours to fuck you boneless.
I smile at her emoji-speak of laughing faces and hearts before I set my phone aside.
The only two parts of this wedding I had much say in is the officiant—goddamned Patton, who got himself licensed specifically so he could marry us—and the rings.
Oh, and the food, stacks of gourmet pizzas and snacks because we didn’t want white-glove fancy.
We’ve both lived enough of that.
I only wish I’d been able to talk my way out of getting stuffed into this monkey suit, but she wasn’t having anything less than her groom dressed like a prince. According to my brothers, that’s the best part.