Page 84 of All I Have Left

Emotion swirls inside me as he angles his head down so we’re eye to eye. “I love you more than anything else in the fucking world,” he whispers so the pastor can’t hear, because, yeah, inappropriate. But I smile, regardless, because that phrase has come three times in our life .

The day I lost him.

The night he came home from the hospital.

And now, the day we are finally husband and wife.

Grayson presses his lips to my forehead, and I can feel the smirk forming, water drops on his nose falling to mine.

If you were to see us from a distance, you’d think aww, look at them standing there by the pool, rain falling on them and twinkle lights flickering above.

You’d probably even think he’s whispering that he loves me or something equally as sweet.

Nope. Not Grayson.

“All I care about is getting this dress off you,” he tells me, his hand sliding lower to grip my ass cheek. “I think I need to fuck you on my bed.”

I roll my eyes. “Because that hasn’t happened yet. Besides, we have a hotel room in Dothan, and we leave for Costa Rica in the morning.”

“That’s hours away.” He turns me around and shakes his head, eyes pleading.

“I can’t wait that long.” Cradling my face in his hands, he angles my head up, dragging his lips across mine in a teasing kiss.

“And we haven’t fucked in my room… as husband and wife.

That’s like a rite of passage.” When I don’t agree, he adds, in an extremely desperate and sexy voice, “ Please .”

God, how can I deny him now?

So I let him lead me to his room where he flips my dress up and tells me to get on my knees as he’s rushing to get his pants undone. “Why are you rushing?” I ask, laughing.

He shrugs. “Because I really want this, and nothing has gone as planned tonight. I figure if I just do it quickly, nothing can interrupt us.”

“Eh, quickies are good too. No complaints from me.”

Laughter shakes his shoulders. “And that’s why I married you.”

Looking over my shoulder at him, I suck my bottom lip between my teeth. “Are you going to give me a ride on your rocket ship? ”

His eyes snap to mine with a glare as he positions himself at my entrance. “I hate my family.” I laugh but shut up pretty quickly when he leans forward, hunching over me as he playfully bites my neck. “Thank you for saving me,” he whispers, just before he enters me as my husband.

I think about his words, the meaning, and I don’t think I saved Grayson.

We saved each other.

But… we did not lock the door.

Remember? Wedding from hell. Exactly.

Wyatt opens the door, thankfully after we’ve finished, but my dress is still up around my waist and Grayson’s slacks are around his ankles. Lucky for me, my ass is to the wall so Wyatt’s view is of me on my hands and knees on Grayson’s bed.

He stands there for a moment, tips up his black cowboy hat and grins. “Whoops.”

“Dad!” Grayson screams, yanking his pants up and righting my dress. “Close the door.”

He doesn’t. He motions for Josh who is coming down the hall. “Found them.”

Shit . I’m off the bed and on my feet before Josh enters the room. “We’re doing toasts.” And then he grins. “Were you two fucking?”

“No,” I gasp, trying to smooth out the wrinkles in my dress as I kick my panties under Grayson’s bed.

Josh winks at me. “Missing something, Evie?”

I slap his chest. “Don’t be gross.”

“I don’t want to do toasts,” Grayson grumbles, fixing his belt and loosening his tie from around his neck as he breathes in deep. “You’ll embarrass me again.”

As Grayson walks out of the room, I follow him, my cheeks so red I think they have their own pulse.

The rain has passed and the backyard at the Gomez house looks like something out of a magazine. Hundreds, maybe thousands of candles surround the pool and makeshift dance floor near it. My steps slow when I notice Grayson’s sly smile and his hand slipping into mine.

I gasp, my lips parting a fraction of an inch as my eyes dart from his, to my brother standing on a platform, with his Gibson guitar and the opening notes of “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran.

“Can I have this dance, wife?” Grayson asks, nodding to the dance floor, his smile soft and somewhat innocent, his eyes holding mine.

I smile around my tears and follow his lead. “You can, husband.”

Drawing me in close, our heat becomes one as we dance. “Did you ever think we’d get here?”

I touch my hand to his cheek with the hand I have resting on his shoulder. “Yes, and no.”

Sighing, his smile fades, his grasp tightening. “After the….” He stops and doesn’t expand.

“Yeah,” I finish. “But I think all this happened for a reason.”

He doesn’t say anything, his gaze going to Ethan. “Sometimes. But I don’t know.” He looks at my face and brushes my hair back, his brows pinching together. “I could go without some parts.”

I know what he means. “Me too, but I like where we’re at now.” I take a breath and push away any sad thoughts. I don’t want them today. Today is about us moving forward.

“Husband and wife,” he says, winking at me.

As the song ends, toasts begin and that’s when a very drunk and funny Wyatt steals the microphone. Stumbling his way to the dance floor, he drops the mic.

“Someone should stop him,” Grayson notes, staring at his dad with apprehension. Probably for good reason.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Wyatt begins after picking up the microphone.

“Today we witnessed a unique event in history. It’s the first, and presumably last time, anyone has trusted me with a microphone drunk.

” Julia shakes her head, sighing as she hides her face.

“Oh, honey, relax,” Wyatt says to her, winking.

Then his eyes drift to me and Grayson, smirking.

Grayson drops his forehead to my shoulder from behind me. “He’s going to say something stupid. I know it.”

Reaching over my shoulder, I bring my hand to the back of his head, laughing. “It won’t be that bad.”

“In all seriousness, those two kids right there have been through hell and back, and came out the other side stronger, ready to fight for one another.” Wyatt’s glassy eyes land on mine. “Evie, you’re my favorite daughter-in-law.”

I laugh. “I’m your only daughter-in-law.”

He waves his hand at me. “Which will always make you my favorite.” His eyes move to his son. “And, Grayson, I’m really glad you found someone to ride on your rocket ship with you.”

“I’m gonna kill him,” Grayson growls, but cracks a smile regardless.

The microphone is passed around the crowd but Grayson and I, we’re lost in a moment together. The one where we realize that we did fight for our happy ever after. It wasn’t pretty. And if you looked at us a year ago, you wouldn’t have thought those two people would be the same ones we are today.

But here we are, living proof that when you fall in love, you fight for it.

Even when the love’s not there.

Even through the ugly parts, we knew we weren’t alone.