“I vow to grow with you and not apart, to make my accomplishments, ours, and your challenges, mine. I will always love you deeply and honestly, as your equal and your partner. I fiercely want to grow old with you; so we can sit on our front porch on a warm summer’s eve, so we can hold our frail hands together and laugh, so I can simply be with you, and know that I am home. I was born to tell you I love you, to be your wife, to be with you, forsaking all others, for the rest of my life.”

I watch through tear-filled eyes as Leo swallows hard, takes a ring from his pocket and looks deeply into Sam’s eyes.

“I promise you, Samantha, my sunshine, until my very last breath, to fight for life, for joy, for us. To never take your actions, words and kindness for granted, and to write you love songs as often as possible.” Sam bites her lip, trying to keep her tears at bay, and failing.

“I vow to grow with you and not apart, to make my accomplishments, ours, and your challenges, mine. I will always love you deeply and honestly, as your equal and your partner. I fiercely want to grow old with you; so we can sit on our front porch on a warm summer’s eve, so I can hold you in my arms, so I can simply be with you, and know that I am home. I was born to tell you I love you, to be your husband, to be with you, forsaking all others, for the rest of my life.”

With the ring firmly on Sam’s hand, he raises it to his lips and presses a kiss on her finger. Mark hands me a tissue and kisses my cheek as the officiant steps forward to speak.

“By the powers vested in me by the state of Nevada, it’s my pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

“Whoop!” Mark exclaims as we all clap and whistle as Leo bends Sam backwards and kisses her breathless.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Nash!”

“We did it!” Sam exclaims and throws her hand up to Leo for a high-five, which he happily obliges, then pulls her back in for a long, soft kiss.

“That was amazing,” I whisper as tears continue to roll down my cheeks. “He has such a way with words.”

“Told you,” Meg says as she mops up her own face.

“Let’s go eat,” Will says, but holds his hands up as if in surrender. “To celebrate. We all need to celebrate.”

“You all go,” Neil says and hugs his wife close to his side, and it’s in this moment, watching Neil cuddle his wife, kiss her tenderly on her temple as she continues to silently cry, that I realize I have this man to thank for the man Mark has become. What a wonderful example of what it is to be a good husband.

A good man.

“We need to get back to the babies,” Neil finishes.

“Oh, stay just a little while longer,” Natalie says with wide eyes. “The kids are fine.”

Lucy shakes her head and hugs her new son-in-law tightly, then cups Sam’s face in her hands and kisses her cheeks. “We want you all to celebrate. We’ll have a party for the whole family after you’re home. Have fun tonight. Enjoy yourselves.”

“I am proud of you, baby girl,” Neil says and plants his lips on Sam’s forehead as he hugs her. “Have fun.”

“Let’s go celebrate!” Brynna announces, clapping her hands.

“Drinks are on Luke,” Sam says sassily, smacking her brother on his arm. “He’s loaded.”

“So are you,” he reminds her.

“I’m the bride. I’m not paying for anything.”

***

“Why are you sitting over here all alone?” Logan asks as he joins me at the table in the corner of the semi-quiet bar we found off the strip. The music isn’t too loud, the drinks are decent and there are enough pool tables to go around our lively bunch.

Not to mention, there aren’t many people in here tonight, so the celebrity members of our group don’t have to worry about being approached.

“I’m just watching,” I reply with a smile and sip my drink. Mark is currently bent over a pool table, his back to me, making me drool. Dear God, what that man does to a pair of slacks!

“I’ve never seen anything like this group,” Logan says with a laugh.

“I’m pretty new to it too. They’re fun and welcoming…”

“And overwhelming,” he finishes. I lean back and study the man next to me. His brown hair is messy, his green eyes lit with happiness and humor.

“I like you.” I hold my glass up to clink with his. “I’m glad Jax found you.”

“I like you too, gorgeous,” he replies and tips his glass to mine. “And it was me that found Jax.”

“Really?” I lean on my elbow and give him my undivided attention. “He never told me how you met.”

“In the grocery store.”

“Seriously? Picking guys up in the frozen pizza section works?”

“I believe it was over the bananas,” he says and sips his beer. “I don’t know, he looked up at me and something in me just clicked.”

He’s watching Jax across the room chatting with Natalie and Jules. I can hear them laughing. I don’t reply, I simply wait for him to continue.

“I’ve had a different experience than Jax,” Logan says and takes another swig of his beer. “My family is awesome. I never came out to my parents, they just always knew and accepted me for me.”

“I’m happy for that,” I murmur.

“Me too.” He clears his throat and shifts in his seat. “I know that Jax’s experience has been the opposite of mine, and to be honest with you, Mer, I want to hunt down his family and kick their asses.”

“Get in line.”

“I don’t understand how you turn away someone as awesome as he is.”

I follow his gaze to watch Jax tuck Nat’s hair behind her ear. “He has an easy way about him,” I say. “He’s physically affectionate. Always has been. Like that, right there, when he tucked Nat’s hair behind her ear?”

Logan nods.

“He’s always doing stuff like that to people he knows and feels comfortable with.”

“It took him until the second date before he’d let me hold his hand,” Logan says with a rueful shake of his head.

“That’s because he was trying to figure out if he could trust you or not.” I bite my lip, unsure how much to say to this man who clearly loves my best friend very much. “Does he know you love him?”

“Yes.” He sighs and swigs his beer.