Page 109 of Forever Mine
Perfect.
Chapter Thirty-One
TEN MONTHS LATER…
ELIJAH
“How’s JD?”Dad asks when I get off the phone.
My cousin can’t be here today because of a family emergency.
“Worried about Connor. His surgery went well, so that’s good.”
“Hold still or you’ll mess it up,” Jessi says, forcing my head back around.
She’s been primping, styling, and doing I don’t know what to my hair for the past half hour.
“Is it necessary to put this much effort into something that’s just going to frizz as soon as I step outside?”
“Yes, and trust me, Julien will appreciate the effort.”
Julien. The love of my life. My soulmate. From the first time we locked eyes at the swim meet—every touch and kiss, every time we make love, every time we fight, every spoken word, the hard times, the good times, the really great times, the tears, thesmiles, the laughter and happiness—has led us to this day. In less than an hour, I get to marry the man of my dreams.
Ash chuckles from his spot by the window. He’s been watching Mr. Jameson fuss over the bows on the seat coverings.
“He could wear a paper bag over his head, and it wouldn’t matter.”
“You’re a man, and therefore have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jessi replies. After rubbing some pink goo between her hands and applying it to my hair, she declares, “Okay, done!” She steps back to admire her work. “You look hot. Like, if I was into guys, I’d do you right now hot.”
Getting up, I walk over to the full-length mirror, shocked by the man looking back at me. I look damn good. Sophisticated. GQ-polished. I also see a man who is ready to start the next chapter of his life. A man who is about to marry the person who completes him in every way.
“You win,” I tell her.
She beams a smile and flips her rainbow-streaked ponytail with flair. “Told you.”
Ash whistles. “Julien’s gonna lose his mind when he sees you.”
Other way around. I’m about to come out of my skin waiting to walk down the aisle to my man. Look into his silver-gray eyes, eyes that always look back at me like I’m the most important person in the world, and recite my vows to love him forever.
Shit. My vows.
I pat my shorts pocket, then the other one, and start to freak out when I don’t feel the folded piece of paper I swore I put in there.
“I can’t find my vows.”
I panic. Heart-feels-like-it’s-going-to-hurl-itself-right-out-of-my-body panic.
“They’re in your right pocket.”
“I just checked! They’re not there!”
Like a madman, I begin tearing around the room in search of the piece of paper that contains the words that took me months to write. Words I rewrote over and over again until they were perfect.
Jessi grabs my arm in a forceful grip that belies her tiny stature. “They’re in your pocket.”
Her hand digs in and produces the folded square of paper that wasn’t there a second ago.
“Oh, thank God.” I snatch it out of her grasp and kiss her.
