Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
You made it.
Cole, Charlie, and Jackie were here.
Gray managed a slight grin and hoped he’d get a chance to catch up with them at the reception.
Cole had visited with his boyfriend once during the pandemic, and Gray FaceTimed here and there with Charlie and Jackie, but it wasn’t enough.
They weren’t just survivors anymore. They were friends.
“Nervous?” Darius asked under his breath.
“Oh yeah. You?” Gray smiled at William and Kelly, and—
“Dada! Dadaaaaaa!”
“Cassidy, come back here!”
But Cass was on a roll in her pretty dress.
She darted down the way, and Darius said, “Not anymore,” right before he bent down and swooped up their girl. “Hey, angel. Why you runnin’ away from Nana?”
She laughed and squished his cheeks together. “I wun, wun, wun!”
Gray was gonna need aftercare for his jaw with how much he’d smiled this week. He reached up and wiped crumbs of whatever Mom had fed her from her cheek.
“Ooooh!” She became excited when two sea gulls flew over them. “Jus’n, boyd!”
“Justin can look at the birds later, sweetheart,” Gray chuckled. “It’s time for you to get back to Nana.”
She bobbed her head and waved at everyone, stealing the show with her charm. “Hi! Hi, hi!”
Mom to the rescue.
“You little rascal.” She narrowed her eyes playfully at Cass and stole her away. “You’re not escaping again. Oh no, you’re not.”
Gray shook his head in amusement and hugged Darius’s arm.
Before long, they reached the adorned wedding arch, and Gray smiled politely at the officiant before he peered up at the tiny lights and the greenery. Then he met Darius’s affectionate gaze and faced him fully.
“On this beautiful day, we’re gathered to witness and celebrate the marriage of Darius Quinn and Gray Nolan…”
Even as the music faded so they barely heard it, the melody and the lyrics were etched into Gray’s mind and pushed memories onto him. Glimpses of their darkest days, fragments of scenes they’d lived through, the road trip where they’d gotten attached to Jayden, flashbacks and panic attacks, the Texas sunsets in the desert, nightmares with echoes from those who hadn’t made it, and…throughout it all, Darius had stood by Gray.
When Gray had taken off, Darius had followed.
Gray almost didn’t hear what the officiant said but had heard the script before. He spoke of trust and faith.
There’d been a time when Gray had doubted everything. He’d lost his faith. He’d trusted no one.
“I don’t believe a goddamn word you say.”
“That’s your emotions speaking,” Darius stated. “If you used your head, you’d come to another conclusion. You’d remember what I said about your mother, about my sister—”
“So what?” Gray snapped. He glared at the motherfucker. “Maybe you’re from Camassia. Maybe that restaurant in the marina is really yours. Maybe you talked to my mom, but so what? It doesn’t prove you’re here to take me home.”
“You’re right.” He dipped his chin. “I’ve been casing you since you were born. I infiltrated a town and brought my entire family into it—”
“Asshole,” Gray growled. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I’m aware.” Darius sighed and walked over to sit down next to Gray on the edge of the bed. “Listen. I didn’t wanna take this job, but when shit falls into my lap, I can’t ignore it for too long.”
“I’m the shit?”
“You’re the shit,” he confirmed.
Darius squeezed Gray’s hand and smiled faintly.
It’s time, knucklehead.
Gray swallowed hard and blinked past the sudden blur in his vision.
“May the vows you make to each other today last for as long as you shall live and give you many, many tomorrows of joy,” the officiant said. “Darius and Gray, do you enter this union of marriage willingly?”
Gray quirked a smile at his man, and they responded together.
“We do.”
“And will you cherish each other as husbands, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death parts you?”
“We will.”
But Gray felt the need to add, “But we’re shooting for eternity.”
Darius’s warm chuckle was music to Gray’s ears.
The officiant smiled indulgently and went on to read a passage about family, one they’d chosen together. A text they’d picked with Jayden in mind. A text about how important each family member was, how those who were no longer with them still lived on in their memories, and how children—how their children—were every bit as much a part of the vows.
They were almost there.
At one point in time, when the worst was over, this had still been unthinkable.
“So I might even get to meet your family one day?”
Darius huffed a chuckle. “Have at it. I’ll introduce you, and you’ll regret it.”
Gray’s smile widened. “Loud bunch?”
“You bet.”
“Good. I like big, crazy families.”
Darius’s own smile was a little rueful, and he looked down at the sand. “I saw a picture…” He cleared his throat. “I guess it was from your mother’s wedding. You looked happy.”
Oh. Yeah. Good times. Good memories. “It was a good day. Mom and Aiden wanted to do something small and quick, but Isla and I interfered. They got hitched up at Coho Pass.” He paused. “The only thing that bugged me was that the leaves hadn’t started turning red yet. It was still kinda green everywhere.”