Page 68 of Topped

The photographer circled, taking a few extra shots, before Alfie and Jonathan walked out into the afternoon sunshine and the rest of us followed. Rupert slid his hand into mine, gently brushing off my offer to return the handkerchief.

“Keep it, you’ll probably need it again,” he said, kissing my knuckles.

“You just don’t want my snot getting all over your nice suit,” I said teasingly while I shoved the snotty, damp piece of fabric into my pocket. Not that I could blame Rupert. His suit was a beautiful baby pink, the sort of colour which absolutely popped against his brown skin, and was stunningly cut to perfectly fit his curves. I kept looking at the way it hugged his arse, almost wishing this wasn’t such a small wedding that people would notice if we disappeared for twenty minutes.

“That too,” Rupert said, shooting me a smile.

“Come on, let’s go and congratulate the newlyweds.” I dragged him towards Alfie and Jonathan, virtually throwing myself onto both of them and giving them enormous hugs.

“I’m so fucking happy for you,” I said, my heart so light it felt like I was floating.

“Thanks,” Alfie said as he squeezed me back. “I’m so glad we kept it small, I was really fucking nervous with only you lot here.”

“Well, Jonathan’s parents have a reputation of being intimidating,” I said with a chuckle as I glanced over at Theo and Laurie, who were deep in conversation with Fred, the local vicar and a very good friend of Jonathan’s, who’s adorable Scottie dog, Angus, was on a lead at her feet with a tartan ribbon around his neck. Theo seemed to finally have stopped crying, but I didn’t know how long it would last.

“You’re telling me,” Alfie said, grinning at his new husband. “I’m surprised they didn’t show up last night to have words before the wedding.”

“I think they planned to,” Jonathan said softly, a wry smile on his lips. “Which is why Fred invited them to dinner and distracted them.”

“Very clever. You wouldn’t happen to have suggested that?” I asked, glancing between them.

“Oh no, of course not,” Alfie said with a wry smile, kissing the side of Jonathan’s head and looking at him with so much love it was almost tangible.

I’d never seen the two of them look so happy.

I stepped back so Darcy and Owen could step in for more hugs and congratulations, my hand finding Rupert’s again as I watched them. We’d talked about weddings and marriage, but it had always felt like a maybe one day thing. Nothing we were urgently in a rush for. Perhaps in the future we would, and if we did, I thought I’d like something like this—small and fun. Just the people we loved most, the ones who’d always been there for us.

I got the feeling Darcy and Owen’s would be the same, when they got around to it. Or maybe they’d simply turn up one spring after their winter away with wedding rings, photos, and a story of a beach ceremony or a Vegas chapel.

Although since Owen had done that once before, it was more likely to be the beach option.

Once the congratulations were over and a few more photos had been taken, we wandered through Heather Bay to Lick It! for some celebratory ice cream, followed by a trip down to the beach, and Theo and Laurie’s beach hut.

Some of their friends had been down to decorate it for us during the ceremony with black and gold “Just Married” bunting hanging across the front, some coolers of drinks left inside the door, a box of specially decorated doughnuts, and deck chairs spread out in front.

“Oh,” Jonathan said as he spotted it, his bottom lip wobbling as he tried to keep it together, and as soon as I saw that I felt the floodgates starting to open again. Damn it!

We drank sparkling elderflower and champagne and ate doughnuts in the sunshine, kicking off our shoes and sitting on the deck chairs and towels spread out over the sand, talking endlessly about everything we could think of. At some point, Laurie, Owen, and Fred all disappeared to fetch fish and chips from one of the shops on the front, and we ate them with wooden forks as the sun started to set while Angus the dog tried to convince us all he should also be allowed fish and chips.

It was the most relaxed wedding I’d ever been to, and the most perfect day for my friends.

Never in a million years had I imagined opening an ice cream shop together would lead to this, but I wouldn’t change a thing that’d happened, even the hard days and stressful weeks when everything felt like a slog.

“Shall we go home?” I asked, leaning back against Rupert’s thigh as the afternoon wound down and Alfie and Jonathan headed back to their cottage. I was sitting on the sand, my head resting against Rupert’s leg as his hand gently carded through my hair.

He nodded. “Yeah, let’s help pack up and go.”

“Sounds good.”

It didn’t take long to help put things back into the beach hut, then we said our goodbyes and walked hand in hand along the beach to the stairs at the end, our shoes tucked under our arms. Luckily, it wasn’t too far back to the flat and the weather was good, so I didn’t bother putting my loafers back on. They’d only get sandy and uncomfortable.

I’d officially moved into Rupert’s flat about six months after we’d started dating, but unofficially I’d been living there since our first Christmas. Maybe even before then. I’d already been spending a lot of my nights there, and I’d had a key since the early days of our hook-up, so it was only natural my clothes and other random possessions had ended up there. If we were being honest, the only reason we’d made it official was because my lease had come up for renewal and Rupert had said it would be silly to keep it since I spent so little time there.

I’d been very happy to agree.

Since then, the flat had become our sanctuary, our little bubble away from the world. Our possessions had mingled together, a jumbled, kitsch collection of our hobbies and interests, until it truly felt like a reflection of both of us. And now I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

Lizzie still had the second bedroom to herself, although we had talked about the possibility of getting another ball python at some point, since there was room for two terrariums in there. Obviously, the snakes would be kept separate since they were solitary creatures, but both of us had a deep-seated need to expand our family a little further.