Own the Wind (Chaos #1)(106)

“Fuck me,” he muttered.

Then I knew he’d lost patience, because Shy slanted his head and kissed me.

Yes.

I dreamed a dream and there I was, a ring on my finger, my man’s mouth on mine, standing with my dream, feeling it come real.

I was right about what I was feeling.

I was feeling everything.

And it was beautiful.

* * *

Six months later…

In front of the altar at our church, I stood next to Shy while holding a bouquet of ivory roses with white hydrangeas at the base, the stems wrapped in ivory satin ribbon, my hair up in a series of elegant curls and twists because, for some reason, Shy requested it be that way.

I was wearing an ivory gown, also sophisticated (to go with my hair), the garter Ty-Ty wore at her wedding to Dad around my thigh, Shy’s mother’s diamond earrings at my ears.

In this getup, I was getting married to Shy.

Tyra was my matron of honor.

Landon was Shy’s best man.

Dad, of course, gave me away.

We didn’t bother with a flower girl, since Rider and Cutter both played ring bearers.

Being a now-somewhat-experienced old lady, I managed to hold myself together and not cry when I said, “I do.”

I lost it when Shy said it, but I figured that was okay since I could hear Tyra crying right along with me.

The best part of the ceremony was after Shy kissed his bride, and when we were done, he didn’t let go. So I stood in his arms, my thumb stroking his jaw, my eyes gazing up at him. The world had melted away, so I didn’t hear the hoots and hollers of friends and family.

I only heard what he muttered in a voice that was weirdly raw but unbelievably beautiful:

“Like I’m the only man on the planet.”

In that minute, he was but then again, for me, really, when it came down to it, he always had been.

Though I didn’t understand why he said those words and even later, when I asked, he didn’t answer. He just smiled at me.

I figured I should let him have his secret. It didn’t matter anyway, because the words he spoke were true.

After the ceremony, we had a big blowout. The shindig to end all shindigs.

And the best part of that was after we had our first dance as husband and wife to a lame song I picked, Shy again didn’t let me go.

Seconds later, Jose Gonzalez’s “Heartbeats” started playing.

A very not-lame song that Shy picked.

It wasn’t exactly a song you could dance to, so we didn’t. We just looked into each other’s eyes, held each other close, and swayed as I let the words of the beautiful poem Shy chose for us wash over me.

It was the best day of my life, and a lot of that had to do with looking into my husband’s eyes and seeing, plainly, it was the best day of his.

The only man on the planet.

The only man for me.