Page 146 of Save Your Breath

We hadn’t even entertained Austin’s “scathing tell all” with Garrett Orange. They may have felt like they won for the first few days while we were silent, while the Internet went feral and some of Mia’s fans turned on her. But the majority of them were waiting for our statement, hoping and praying that the rumors weren’t true.

Ignoring that whole mess was easy to do once we announced we had set a date.

And just a little over a week after that tell all, we were tying the knot.

Sure, there were gossip sites and rabid fans who still questioned the validity of our relationship, who wondered if the whole thing reallywasfake. But there weremorefans and journalists arguing the opposite. They showed photos and videos of us on repeat, the one of my proposal getting especially high circulation as fans shoutedhow could this possibly be fake?!

And it wasn’t. It never had been.

Austin and Garrett had failed in their mission to dull Mia’s shine. And as long as I was around, I’d protect her like the rare gemstone she was.

No one would ever know for sure that we’d started dating as a ruse — no one but those close to us, anyway. And we knew they’d never tell a soul. Maybe the theories would continue, but after today, I had a feeling all the naysayers wouldn’t have a steady leg to stand on.

One shot of me sobbing like a baby at the sight of my future wife would surely shut them all up.

Wife.

The word made my chest swell, my heart race, my skin prickle with possession and the overwhelming desire to protect her with everything that I was. My nose already tingled with that sensation that comes right before a good cry — and I hadn’t had one of those since my mother passed.

Today, the tears would be of joy.

The house felt smaller than I remembered in that moment, with all the people we loved most filling the space. When I’d arrived from Switzerland, this place had felt too big to wrap my head around. But, slowly, this mansion began to feel normal, natural. As close to home as I could get at that time in my life.

Mia and I had spent countless afternoons here as teenagers, lounging on floats in the pool or sprawled out on the living room floor doing homework. I could still picture her running down the stairs, her laugh echoing through the space, tugging me along by the wrist to hear her new lyrics. I’d pretended not to care about them, pretended to be annoyed — but I loved it.

Back then, she was just a girl with wild dreams and a reckless smile, and I was the boy trying my damndest not to cross the line her father had drawn between us.

And now? Now she was the woman upstairs in the very same room she used to sleep in, slipping into a wedding dress that would no doubt be my undoing once I saw her in it.

A smile found my lips as I glanced at the front window, where a light dusting of snow had begun to fall, the flakesmelting against the glass before they could linger. It felt poetic, somehow. The years between us had melted away, too — time and distance and pride keeping us from saying what felt impossible to admit out loud. Now, all the excuses, all the pretending, all the miscommunication dissolved like the snowflakes on that window.

It was just us, surrounded by our loved ones, ready to exchange vows and rings that would tie us together forever.

“Earth to Aleks!” A hand clapped down on my shoulder, and I turned to see Carter wearing his signature too-wide grin. He always looked like a kid in a candy store. “You good, man? You’ve got that ‘wedding jitters’ look.”

I huffed out a laugh, shaking my head. “No jitters. Just... taking it all in.”

Carter raised an eyebrow, following my gaze around the room. “Well, take it in later. Right now, we need your muscle in the dining room. Something about a garland that refuses to cooperate.”

He’d no sooner said the words before a golden retriever puppy ran past us with a high heel in his mouth, the poor thing struggling to drag it along as Liv chased after him.

“Carter! I swear to God, if your dog chews my Manolos, I will take your next tooth out without anesthesia!”

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath, and then he was shrugging at me with that goofy grin again. “Guess getting a new puppy this week wasn’t my brightest idea.”

“You think?”

He laughed with another squeeze of my shoulder. Then, he took off, chasing after Liv like he always had been. “Zamboni! Bad dog, Zambo. Drop it.Drooopit.” He pretended to scold the pup when he caught up with it, but I didn’t miss how he secretly scratched behind the thing’s ear with a wink like he’d trained it to help him get Livia’s attention.

I wouldn’t put it past him.

“Garland, Su Man,” he reminded me as he put his arm around our perturbed team dentist, showing her proudly that her high heel was unharmed. She shoved him away, but I swore I saw a smirk on those dark rose lips of hers.

I could hear the guys in the dining room calling for my help, but I hesitated, my gaze drifting to the stairs as if I might catch a glimpse of her.

My bride. My Mia. The girl I’d been so sure I could never have.

And now, the woman I’d spend the rest of my life proving I deserved.