A little over an hour later, Jake and I stood in front of the floor-length mirror attached behind the closet door in the hotel room as his fingers kept touching my hair.
“Jake, he’s waiting,” I whined, bouncing over the carpet barefoot. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”
The dress was a mix between bohemian and beachy, with lace detail down to the floor. What took Jake over an hour on my hair could’ve taken me ten minutes, my locks framing my face in semi-natural waves. The makeup, however, was impressive. I’d never known how to use the tools, and Jake applied heavy eyes with bronze cheekbones and rose-pink lips. My freckles still shining through the light blush.
“One last thing,” Jake disappeared as I admired his work, “ah, here it is.” He appeared behind me and fitted a flower crown over my head. “Absolute perfection.”
“I don’t even know what to say.” Shocked could never cover it, I was gobsmacked. “I never thought I’d ever look like this, or even be standing here in a white dress. I’m getting married. This psychopath is getting married,” I spun around, “I don’t deserve this, Zeke. I don’t deserve him. This is too much,” I rambled, freak-out mode setting in.
Jake crossed his arms, smiling.
“Why are you smiling? What’s so funny?”
Both of his palms landed on my shoulders. “You just called me Zeke.”
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t.”
“Yeah, you did.”
My fingers grabbed my temples, massaging circles as I paced the room. “I’m officially losing it.”
“Mia, listen to me. You calling me Zeke means you feel him. He’s here, ready to watch you marry Oliver fucking Masters. Do you really want to disappoint Zeke?”
“You think so? He’s here?”
“Of course, he’s here. He’s the one walking you down the aisle.”
Mia was late, but it could be because of Jake. Liam kept reminding me of that every five minutes in hopes of lifting the nerves off my shoulders, but it didn’t help. Memories from six months ago, waiting outside the gates of Dolor for her to meet me, wouldn’t leave. The memories only tormented me.
The three of us stood beside the Rock of Gibraltar over the white sand, the ocean as our witness. There were no chairs, no music, no family—only Liam, Christy, and me, waiting for Mia and Jake to arrive. Christy was the lady marrying us, with short blonde hair, wearing a conservative pink dress. She wasn’t a local, and I only knew this because I couldn’t stop asking her questions about herself to take my mind off the time. Christy got married in this exact spot four years ago and never left Gibraltar. “This is the same spot John Lennon got married,” she informed me, standing under an arch beneath the evening sun.
“Oh, yeah?” I knew this, God, I already knew, but my head was in another place … Wherever Mia was at the moment.
Where are you, love?
I adjusted my collar and smoothed down my khaki slacks, thinking maybe the letter I’d wrote freaked her out. But as soon as that thought came to mind, a slight wind blew through us, easing all my doubt. The last two years played out inside my head, and how I fell in love before her lips ever collided with mine. My head dropped back to face the sun, speaking against the cool October breeze. “Thank you, brother.” I closed my eyes when Liam tapped my shoulder.
My head snapped forward and … Mia …
There.
She.
Is.
There is my girl, my evermore.
And there went my hands, shaking.
I pinched the bridge of my nose to fight what my emotions were doing as Mia stood across from me, ten feet away. I wanted to run to her, but I couldn’t bloody move. I wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked, but couldn’t move my lips from the shape of my smile. The only thing I could do was swipe my shaking palm down my face to remove the tears to see her better. She was fucking real, and she was here.
Mia walked toward me with her heart-stopping smile, and the entire world silenced. Christy had already started talking, but I couldn’t hear anything aside from my heart pounding in my ears. Jake stood behind her, and I hadn’t noticed him walking over at all. The only thing in front of me was Mia, consuming all my senses.
I clutched both of her hands into mine. “Hi, love,” I whispered, lost in her coffee-brown eyes.
“Hi,” she whispered back, gaze darting between Christy and me.
Christy asked if we had anything to say, but ‘Hi’ was the only word I could manage, and I knew this would happen. Mia had always stolen words right out from this bleeding poet’s mouth, shaping them into stars and lighting up the sky.
“I have something to say,” Mia said, surprising me. Christy nodded, giving her the floor, and then I felt stupid for being so weak in that moment. “You wrote me a letter today,” Mia smiled with glossy eyes, “and I wasn’t planning on saying anything, because you’ve always been better with words and explaining how you feel. So, this may not come out right …” I squeezed her hand, letting her know it was just her and me, and she fought back the tears before continuing, “but your letter, it reminded me of those sunsets I watch every morning, and that sacred moment when light and dark can co-exist, making something beautiful across the sky. I’ve always been the dark, but you’ve always been the light, Ollie, and together, our love burns in color. You are my every beautiful sacred moment, and I promise to stay for the rest of my life.”
Mia’s hand came up to wipe my eyes, and I kissed her palm.
Christy continued, and we exchanged vows.
Mia said, yes. And an explosion went off inside my heart as I took her tear-stained face in my hands, desperately catching her lips with mine. She tasted like the ocean and freedom, and I sank into that kiss. Lips moved like water with that kiss. Tongues slowly grazed, hearts wildly pounded, and planets collided with that kiss. I wanted her to take me away and live inside our feelings forever. The cheering went off around us, and our foreheads connected when I opened my eyes. “I love you, baby.”
Mia smiled with a natural glow in her golden-brown eyes. “I love you.”
I INSISTED on carrying Mia over my shoulder through the door. We’d spent the last few hours celebrating, dancing, and drinking with Liam and Jake.
Mia was officially drunk. Or perhaps I was the one wasted. I couldn’t tell anymore.
Everything after the ceremony was a blur.
“Oh-my-God,” Mia whispered from behind me.
I paused halfway through the hotel room with my arm holding the back of her thighs. Mia had danced in the ocean at midnight, soaking the bottom of her dress where sand clung to the lace. “What is it?”
“We don’t have any fucking pictures,” she called out, smacking my arse.
“Oh, there are pictures, love,” I laughed, then continued my trek to the bathroom, “of you dancing, doing shot after shot, and not to mention, the tabletop incident.” I’d noticed the balcony doors wide open, wine glasses set out, and a bottle of champagne prepared in a bucket of ice outside on the terrace. Music played inside the room with rose petals scattered across the bed. The Rock Hotel was posh, and Jake must have planned this out for us.
Mia cringed in my hold. “I didn’t.”