Page 5 of More For Me

“Notice he doesn’t say no one tried,” Fox says.

Then the coordinator is sticking her head in, telling us it’s time to get going. Leo seems a little steadier after the shot, but I walk close to him anyhow just in case I need to keep him from going down.

His mom meets us outside the door to the ceremony space and I give him a final pat on the back before leaving to take my spot up front. “I’ll see you out there. You got this.”

The ceremony space looks as kick-ass as I planned. There are candles everywhere with miles of Edison lights crisscrossing the ceiling. We decided to stick to mostly greenery for the flowers, with the occasional rose mixed in, of course. The guest list isn’t as big as Will and Eva’s wedding a few years ago—I think Rose didn’t want it to seem more unbalanced than necessary, since her family is so much larger than Leo’s. So they stuck with the Ransome cousins and a few of the couple’s school colleagues. My mom is here, too, with my sister, and they both wave when they see me.

I meet Rose’s brothers and cousins up at the front. Leo manages to make it down the aisle with his mom without passing out, so I think we’re in pretty good shape. Then the music changes and the guests turn to the door.

And fuck, I didn’t properly prepare myself for this part. I’ve been so pre-occupied with keeping Leo together and all the last-minute wedding prep that I forgot who I would be seeing walk down the aisle.

I take deep breaths as the girls start to walk toward us. First is Will’s wife Eva, followed by River’s fiancée, Jasmine. Alex, one of Rose’s cousins comes next, and then, finally, Everly steps through the doorway.

It doesn’t matter if I prepared myself or not. The sight of her still punches me right in the chest. Everly Ransome takes my breath away when she’s hanging out on our couch in her sweats and an old t-shirt, her hair in a messy bun, contacts replaced by glasses. Everly in a fucking evening gown? With her make-up and hair professionally styled, wearing the damn necklace I bought her last Christmas?

Yeah, I think I worried about the wrong person losing their balance, because I swear my knees almost go out at the sight of her.

She catches my eye and grins her big Everly grin, scrunching up her nose a little bit—because she’s almost as cute as she is gorgeous. River snorts softly beside me, totally on to me, but I can’t bring myself to care. Everly is the only thing I can see.

She’s the only thing I can ever see anymore.

I manage to drag my eyes away from her once she gets to her spot in the front. Rose’s younger sister Violet, the maid of honor, looks a little shy as she makes her way to us. Then Ash, Violet’s twin, appears, holding baby Poppy’s hand. The guests release a simultaneousawwas she toddles down the aisle, throwing clumps of rose petals from her basket.

I watch all these things happen. Even manage to wink at Violet when she gets to the front and laugh when Poppy decides she wants to throw the petals at Ash, instead of on the ground. But out of the corner of my eye, Everly’s still standing there on the other side of the officiant, long black hair cascading around her shoulders, the silver, slinky bridesmaid dress accentuating every curve.

She’s impossibly beautiful. And the longer I stand here, every fiber of my being attuned to her presence a few feet away, the more I think River might be right. Maybe I need to just suck it up and talk to her. Get it all out there, once and for all. Because I’m not sure I can stand much more of this.

And what better place to spill all your sappy, romantic secrets than at a wedding?

Finally, the music changes again and then Rose is standing there, sandwiched between her parents. I force my attention to my best friend as he watches her walk toward him. And yes, I cry a little bit. But that’s okay, because pretty much everyone else is too—including Leo, whonevercries.

I guess that’s what happens when you realize you’re about to marry the love of your life.

The ceremony passes in a blur of vows and music and me trying not to pay too much attention to Everly. When the officiant finally declares them husband and wife, a huge cheer goes up from the crowd and I swear I’ve never seen my best friend look so happy.

After the ceremony, the wedding party gathers in the lobby to get organized for pictures. There’s a lot of laughing and hugging, everyone happy for Rose and Leo and eager to get to the party portion of the evening. I’m happy too—my best friend is married to one of my favorite people, the wedding I helped plan is turning out to be freaking gorgeous, and I get to spend the rest of the evening celebrating with some of my closest friends.

That thought has me looking around for Everly. But when I see her, my heart sinks. She’s a few feet away from the rest of the wedding party, talking to someone. A very blonde, very handsome, very male someone. As I watch, he leans down to kiss her cheek.

And just like that, my good mood goes right out the window, and my stomach sinks to the soles of my shiny Armani loafers.

I may not have brought a date to this wedding, but it looks like Everly did.