Page 24

“Okay, Bridezilla,” Rain winked at Marci, his tone light and joking. A few of the bridal party laughed, including Liam, and Marci pretended to growl at him, holding her hands up and curling her fingers like claws. Cackling, Isaiah tossed his head back, quickly flashing his own pretend talons, and they cutely snapped at each other until they collapsed into giggles.

Refocusing, Mason captured it all, including the reactions of the bridesmaids and ushers, and his lips curled in a half grin as he heard the click of Rain’s camera backing him up.

“A perfect match!” Owen declared from his spot next to Tristan. Also in a tux, he was there to assist; he’d even helped Mason bring in some of the equipment. However, Liam couldn’t stop staring at him and needed to be reminded several times to look at the lens.

“You got that right!” Marci winked at him as Isaiah bent down to kiss her on the cheek, their height difference larger than Mason and Rain’s, and the morning’s passion snuck into Mason’s thoughts again, only leaving when he gritted his teeth and moved, distracting himself.

“So, how does it feel being the first couple to get married in the glass room?” Rain asked as Mason stopped off to the side, snapping photos.

“Honored,” Marci smiled, patting her chest over her heart and Mason caught that too. “I’m still in shock that John suggested it.”

“Where is John?” Glancing around, Rain looked like he actually wanted to see the man. Mason had never met him, but after the stories he’d heard he was more than fine with staying strangers.

“South of France.” She shifted, her veil sliding off one shoulder. “He said ‘I love ya, girl, but no offense, weddings are boring. I didn’t even wanna go to my own!’ ”

Apparently, her imitation of him was spot-on because several people burst out laughing, and Mason swung his camera around, trying to catch the happiness in the air.

“Wow, that is serious Johncore,” Ollie declared, wiping a tear from his eye as he leaned on Finn.

“Right?” Marci turned, putting her back to Isaiah’s chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. “He tells me that and then he covers my entire wedding.”

Several people, including Rain, yelled “ What? ” and Mason used the distraction to grab a few more sneaky photos of Rain, keeping their tradition going.

“True story.” Isaiah held his hands up, his broad shoulders stretching the suit jacket. “I’m still in shock.”

“Wait, I’m wheezing.” Ollie let out a surprised laugh. “He really is a good guy at heart.”

In his peripheral vision, Mason noticed Owen nodding in agreement. Had John helped him and Liam too?

Stepping forward with a serene smile on his face, Tristan easily grabbed the room’s attention.

“Sorry to interrupt but guests are starting to arrive.”

“I should be upstairs already!” Marci exclaimed. With the help of her maid of honor, she gathered her dress and led everyone up to the bridal suite, blurring the line between bride and ma?tre d’. Mason and Rain followed at the back, both of them taking photos, and even though Rain had assisted more than a dozen times now, Mason still marveled at how well they worked together. Being able to speak to each other without words came in tremendously handy, and teaching Rain about photography on the go had reignited his interest. It was good for him to review the basics and Rain was soaking it all up like a sponge, taking thoughtful, well-balanced pictures that held a lot of potential.

It was odd, nurturing Rain in his photography journey, and it reminded Mason of how Gran had pushed him. It was also odd having pride for someone else, but every time he thought about how hard Rain worked on himself and how far he’d come, Mason felt light, buoyant.

But Rain wasn’t the only one making strides because Mason had been asked to do another show this summer, one that Dolores was heading up, and he still hadn’t come down from that high. When he’d first gotten the call, he’d curled up on the studio floor in disbelief and when Rain had found him, he’d thought that something was wrong, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Things were finally, unbelievably, right.

“Did you get establishing shots of the glass room?” Rain asked, going over the checklist on his phone as Mason grunted affirmatively. “Good, I can go downstairs and take pics of the guests.”

“Stay here. You’re responsible for Marci from the suite to the ceremony.” Mason lifted Rain’s camera, nodding in approval at the settings.

“You trust me with that?” Rain tilted his head, his eyes wide and sparkling. While he still served at The Pointe, he’d been slowly shifting to part time. Far too busy assisting Mason with his plentiful bookings and preparing for his drone license, he planned to leave the catering hall by autumn.

“Yes.” Mason gave him a good frown. “Get the back of her dress as she comes down the aisle.”

“Okay,” Rain straightened up, letting out an excited breath. “Thank you, Mason.”

“Don’t thank me. You’re a photographer, this is what you’re supposed to do.” Mason’s pride for him surged. “I have to go downstairs. The ceremony is going to start soon.”

Going up on his toes, Rain gave Mason a quick kiss that he tried to savor, letting Rain’s lavender ocean scent wash over him until he had to pull away. Walking down the hallway, Mason stopped at the door to the main staircase and turned back, but Rain was looking away, overtly fixing his hair in the shiny marble wall.

With a grin, Mason raised his camera, zooming in and capturing Rain’s reflection as he stared right into the lens, making a small heart with his hands.

While weddings were a lot of hurry-up-and-wait, Marci and Isaiah’s day seemed to flow easily, and before Mason knew it, he was standing in the glass room, thumb on the shutter as the music started and the doors at the back opened, revealing the first bridesmaid.

Now that Mason had been working on himself, attempting to heal, he found that he wasn’t as overstimulated as he used to be when he worked weddings. Maybe it was because he’d found the perfect assistant, maybe he was actually improving, or maybe it was both, but these events no longer felt like an assault, allowing him to unfurl his muse-fueled inspiration as Marci came down the aisle. Rain stayed several feet behind her, out of frame while he captured the back of her gown, and the excitement in his eyes had Mason grinning.

As Marci approached with her parents on either side, Mason darted over, grabbing the perfect angle as they stopped to place a rose on a chair dedicated to her brother, who’d passed when she was young. Sometimes Mason’s taciturn nature came in handy because while everyone else, including Rain, blinked away tears, he was able to catch the bare emotion on Marci’s face.

After Marci’s parents hugged Isaiah and the couple settled at the front, Mason couldn’t help himself, he snatched a quick photo of Rain with camera in hand, looking sultry and stunning and every inch a dark elfin prince. He now understood why Liam had been so distracted by Owen because as the ceremony went on, Mason had to concentrate more than ever, especially during the vows when Rain met his gaze from across the room and Mason saw his entire future in those clear, gray eyes.

Are you hearing wedding bells, Cricket?

RAIN

“How are you doing?” Soda in hand, Rain caught up to Tristan during the second course.

“Good, good.” He seemed a bit flustered, which made sense since he was still new to all of this. Marci had taken him under her wing over the last month, putting him through ma?tre d’ boot camp, but she’d told Rain that Tristan didn’t require much training because he was a natural. Of course, the staff had been drooling over him nonstop but Rain and Marci had shut them down, giving Tristan some breathing room.

“Do you need help with anything? I’m kind of on a break.” Rain’s eyes tracked Mason as he weaved through the guest tables behind the newlyweds, taking photos while they greeted everyone.

“No thanks, kid…” Distracted, Tristan drifted off, and Rain followed his gaze to Jax, who was tucked in the corner talking to one of the new servers. Unlike the rest of the kitchen, Jax wore a black jacket and pants, which suited his post-apocalyptic vibe, and while he had a resting angry face and was a bit standoffish, he consistently worked his ass off.

Unfortunately, Jax had attracted almost as much attention as Tristan, especially with the doe-eyed server who’d backed him into that corner. It was like a car crash; the poor guy asked Jax a question and Jax leaned in, eyes flashing as he gritted out several words through his teeth.

“Oof,” Rain cringed as the server recoiled, taking off in the other direction. “I guess he won’t be asking Jax anything ever again.” He looked over to see if Tristan had caught the whole thing and stilled, his eyebrows flying up. Not only was Tristan’s gaze still on Jax, but there was pink along his cheekbones, right above his neatly trimmed beard.

Rain blinked in shock, opening his mouth to grill Tristan, but Kate sidelined him, springing up with Emma in tow.

“I have news.” She bounced on her heels, her bright yellow bob bouncing with her, and by the expression on her face this was good , so Rain shelved his interrogation.

“Hang on.” Rain waved at Ollie and Liam, who were chatting nearby, and they hurried over arm-in-arm as Tristan snapped back into the present, gave Rain a nod, and went back to work.

“What’s up?” Ollie asked, head tilted as everyone blinked curious eyes at Kate, who grinned.

“Bryce is now in the find-out stage of fuck around and find out,” she announced, showing them the screen on her phone.

Instantly, Ollie grabbed his own device and started typing, tapping a few times before letting out a gasp.

“It’s true,” he said triumphantly. “It’s in his story, he’s holding some kind of letter and above it, it says ‘ My old job sucks. I’m getting sued because I changed a pan . What a scam.’ ”

Rain wasn’t surprised. Mason still grumbled about having to give John a written statement along with all the photos from the day of the fire, and if all that proof had been collected, then Bryce was in for a world of hurt.

“Changed a pan?” Emma scoffed in disbelief. “He caused a whole fire. Even if he didn’t mean to, it happened because of his actions, and those actions were malicious. He did that shit on purpose.”

Kate nodded along, flexing the hand that had gotten burned.

“Bryce shouldn’t have that up, it’s bad for his case,” Liam stated.

“He’s not known for making good choices.” Rain pressed his lips together, eyebrows up, and Liam gave him a look that said oh well .

“By the way, that portrait Mason did of Ms. Chauhan?” Liam looked at Rain and shuddered. “It’s amazing…and very intimidating.”

“Oh, you saw it?” Rain had gone on the shoot with Mason, meeting the legend herself and basking in the presence of someone who was the complete opposite of his mother.

“You can’t miss it,” Liam nodded, his face cutely solemn. “It’s life-sized and hangs behind her desk.”

“That feels on-brand for a Queen like her.” Hands on his hips, Rain smirked.

“I feel like I should meet this woman.” Emma raised an eyebrow.

“ Yes. ” Rain pointed at her. “You two could destroy the world.”

Emma threw her head back and laughed, and normally Rain would be right there with her, but he noticed Owen talking to Mason.

Gesturing Rain’s way, Owen must’ve said something awful because Mason pulled back, frowning deeply and shaking his head. But that didn’t seem to deter Owen, who said it again, making a shooing motion toward Rain, and Mason followed that order, probably just to get away.

“What’s up?” Rain met him halfway and they stared at each other for a few seconds before Mason took a breath.

“I’m in front of you.” He made a face like he’d swallowed a lemon. “So, your Hart is in the right place.”

Rain made the same face back. “What?”

“Owen wanted me to say it to you. It’s supposed to be a pun on my last name. I didn’t think it was funny either.” He glared at Owen, who gave him a blinding smile and a thumbs-up.

“Oh,” Rain bit his lip, strangely enamored. “It’s not supposed to be funny. It’s cute. You are my Hart on Valentine’s Day.” Standing on his toes, he pecked Mason’s lips. “Can you take a break?”

“Yes. Marci said that she’d hurt me if I didn’t.”

“Great.” Rain had an idea. “Stay here.”

Within minutes, he’d given his camera to Ollie, grabbed their coats, and dragged Mason out into the cold February night. Heading around the building until the noise from the reception dissolved, Rain brought them to a small stone bench where they sat, enjoying their reprieve.

Letting out a long breath that froze in the air, Mason looked up at the crescent moon and Rain joined him, soaking in the silence until he heard the click of a sneaky photo.

“The ceremony was really sweet.” They’d locked eyes a few times during the vows; Rain didn’t know if it had been the energy around him or his heart, but at that moment he’d begun to wonder what it would be like to profess his love to Mason in front of everyone and slip a ring on that familiar finger. “Do you think we’ll get married one day?”

Flicking his eyes to Mason, he readied himself to see fear, concern, but all he found was curiosity.

“Do you want to get married?” Mason asked, his words soft. Truthfully, Rain wanted to glue himself to Mason forever because it turned out that relationships did work and they were worth it. Maybe not all of them, but some, and he knew deep in his soul that he and Mason would endure, for this kind of love only came once in a lifetime.

“I’m an elfin prince and I have to marry royalty.” Rain placed a hand on his chest. “Which means you’re the best match since you, Mason, are the king of my Hart.” He grinned as Mason made the connection, a slow smile growing on his face, his sea-glass eyes practically glowing. “See, that’s how you do it-”

Swept up into Mason’s arms, Rain was cut off by a passionate kiss that was a pledge, a promise, a vow, and he returned the sentiment until they were breathless, their connection bright and bold under the night sky.

Cupping Rain’s face in both of his hands, Mason stared deeply into his eyes. “You are my muse and my love. Never leave me. I’m obsessed with you.”

“Deal.” Happy tears glittered in Rain’s eyes and he wanted to shout to the world about how much he loved this man, this photographer with his sneaky photos who gave Rain sanctuary, insight, and courage, who built him a shrine and who worshipped him unconditionally, changing Rain’s life for the better and capturing his heart with the click of a button. “Because I’m obsessed with you too.”

THE END