As I stood at the altar, waiting for Georgia, I looked out into the crowd. Years ago when I moved to Florida for college, I didn’t have anyone. But today, I had enough that I could fill an entire church.

Although I would have said that my life was full before I met her, I didn’t really start living until I made her mine. She brought the smile to my face each morning, gave me a reason to come home at night, and always made me feel loved.

My parents sat in the front row and stared at me. My father sat up straight, beaming from ear to ear, and looked prouder of me than at any other moment I could ever remember. And Mom. What could I say about her? I could almost see the corner of her mouth turned up, but she wouldn’t give me that satisfaction. It wasn’t her way. It never had been.

Behind me along the altar were my groomsmen. Using that term wasn’t entirely accurate. Each of them had played an important role in my life. They were my family. The only one I’d had for so many years. City, Bear, Morgan, Thomas, James, Tank, and, last but not least, Flash rounded out the group.

City was my best man, much to the dismay of Bear. I had to explain to him that City and Sunshine were the reason we were getting married in the first place. That alone earned him the right to be my best man. Bear stomped around for a little bit, but eventually gave in, though not before being a dick for a little while.

I wiped the sweat from my brow and tried to steady my breathing. Shaking my hands out, I exhaled slowly and emptied my body of all air. I rolled my neck and inhaled before closing my eyes for a moment.

I could do this.

There hadn’t been a day that I’d rethought my proposal or regretted meeting Georgia. She was mine. She was everything I had wanted but tried to avoid. I wouldn’t change a moment of my life.

It brought me to her.

All the heartache and the loneliness put me on a collision course with her. Without Jeanine cheating on me, even though I’d never forgive her, I would never have met my girl.

When the music began to play and the doors in the back of the church opened, my heart started to pound faster and beat with such ferocity I thought it would burst out of my chest. It was finally happening. I was getting married. Georgia was mine…forever.

I squeezed my hands into tight balls as I tried to see behind the line of bridesmaids and catch a glimpse of her, but she remained hidden. I pulled at my tie, trying to cool myself off.

Be calm. I just needed to stay calm.

Fuck. I didn’t think I would be so nervous. I wanted this. I was sure of it. There was nothing that made me question standing here waiting for my future wife to come to me—to say yes and be my forever.

City rested his hand on my shoulder and gave me a firm squeeze. “It’s normal, man. Just breathe,” he said softly in my ear. I nodded and kept my gaze fixed on the back of the church.

Gigi walked down the aisle in the cutest pink dress, throwing pink rose pedals with such determination to every toss. The wedding guests all giggled and smiled at the cuteness, and Gigi, being Gigi, ate it up. She was a ham and totally her parents’ kid.

One by one, the women walked toward me, and I strained to catch the smallest glimpse of my girl behind them, feeling my heart beat a little faster with each passing second.

Until I saw her.

Georgia.

I sucked in a breath, stunned by her beauty. “Jesus,” I whispered. Why was I such a lucky son of a bitch?

Her hair was half up, with dark curls cascading over her shoulders and framing her breasts. She’d muted her makeup so that it almost looked like she hadn’t applied any. I always told her I loved her natural beauty, and today, at our wedding, I fell in love with her a little more than I had been the day before.

As she walked down the aisle, the long, lace train of her dress flowed over the floor with each step. The dress had a plunging, deep V neckline, but not enough to show a ton of breast—stunningly sexy and beautiful how it draped her body.

Our eyes were locked as she walked toward me. I couldn’t drag mine away from hers. It had sunk in that we were getting married, but the enormity and finality of the situation suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks.

A calmness came over me that I’d never felt before. This is what I wanted. She was who I wanted and nothing else is the world would ever change that.

In the beginning, I’d thought she was too young and had too much life to live to be with me. But I’d never been so wrong about anyone in my entire life. Thankfully, our friends didn’t allow me to walk away. They pushed and pushed until I didn’t have any choice but to admit I had feelings for her.

Somehow, I put aside my bullheaded, asshole thinking long enough to realize that the best thing to ever happen to me was right in front of my eyes. Actually, it was the cocksucker that ran her off the road. That single event changed everything.

“Breathe,” she whispered as she took my hand and walked up the altar steps.

I didn’t know I’d been holding my breath the entire time she walked toward me. I couldn’t stop replaying our time together, what brought us together, and how solid our relationship had become.

When she reached the final step, I kissed her cheek. “You look so beautiful I couldn’t help but hold my breath. I thought that somehow I had been dreaming this moment, and that if I even blinked, it would all disappear,” I whispered into her ear before righting myself after the priest coughed.

She mouthed “I love you” before we both turned and took our places in front of the priest.

I couldn’t even pay attention as the priest spoke. I had no idea what he said, nor did it matter. I knew what the words meant, but the thing I focused on the entire time was the girl by my side and the vows I’d written to explain my love to her.

My knees shook as we stood, ready to say the words that expressed our love to each other. I grasped her hands in mine and slowly stroked the backs of her hands with my thumbs.

I was given the cue to begin my vows and I stared into her eyes.

“Georgia, today I devote my heart, body, and soul to you. Before you came into my life, I was a shell of a man, searching for a purpose. You are my reason to live, to breathe, and to be the best man I can be. You make me want to be worthy of your love. I will spend my entire life showing you how much you mean to me. The day my eyes locked with yours, I knew I wanted you, but I thought it would be too selfish to cage a free spirit so young. I was wrong. Love doesn’t stop someone from being who they were meant to be, it only makes them a better version of their former selves. I will love you even after I take my last breath. Today, tomorrow, and for the rest of eternity, I will be yours.”

Her eyes had filled with tears as I spoke, but they hadn’t fallen. She hadn’t even blinked during my words, just stared back at me with her lips parted and barely breathing.

I swallowed hard and inhaled. I’d rattled off the words, everything that I’d felt, without taking a deep breath.

After a short pause, she wiped her eyes and began to speak. “Frisco, when we first met, I thought you didn’t like me, but that didn’t stop our friends from pushing us together. The more time I spent with you, the more I liked you. I realized that you’d closed your heart and were scared of anything that resembled a relationship. Slowly, I gained your trust, and eventually, your heart. But the thing you don’t realize is that I knew, from the moment I kissed you, you’d be mine forever.” She paused and inhaled quickly before starting again. “You’re the first man to make me feel completely loved for who I am. I will never forget the day you saved my life. Not just by pulling me from my car, but the day you asked me to be yours forever. Not only had you given up on love, but I had too. No longer will I be a poorer version of Miss Havisham—spending my entire life alone. No, Frisco, our love is like those in the greatest love stories told throughout history. But our whole story has yet to be written. I will, from now through all eternity, be yours and only yours.” She took another breath and smiled. “Until the sun no longer shines in the sky and the world as we know it no longer exists, I will always be your Felicia.”

I squeezed her hands and began to laugh. That was the reason I loved her the most—the way she could take a serious situation and make me feel so much joy that I thought I could die from happiness.

“By the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The priest nodded to us, but we were too busy gazing into each other’s eyes to even remember that we were supposed to turn toward the crowd. “You may now kiss your wife,” he whispered.

I wrapped my arms around her back, drawing her flush against me, and kissed her. Not the same way I had yesterday, but as the man who now owned her heart. Forever.