Page 37 of Blinding Lights

Hunter bends down to Ava again and whispers in her ear, making Ava giggle. She nods then runs over to stand beside me.

“See? Now it’s six. You have to stand with us.” Hunter grins proudly and Beckett’s face uncharacteristically reddens. He pauses for a beat before walking to the end of Hunter’s line and standing with the guys, making me completely melt.

Ava squeezes my hand, and when I glance down, she smiles up at me before her eyes dart away, settling back on Hunter, just like the rest of us.

“Now we’ve worked that out. Are you ready for your bride?” The officiant raises a brow, his gaze lifting to the end of the aisle as Olivia steps into view.

“I sure am.” Hunter nods with a chuckle, until his eyes find Olivia, and in an instant, the humor’s gone, replaced by a magnitude of love. It’s obvious the rest of the room has faded away and all he sees is her.

For the next thirty minutes, my eyes well with tears as I watch my friends get married, only occasionally sneaking glances at the man who saved my daughter. The man who’s been occupying my mind for weeks now.

After Hunter and Olivia are announced as husband and wife, they walk back up the aisle, with the rest of us to follow after.

Ava’s grip tightens on my hand, and I’m not sure how to play this until Beckett walks over.

“Would you like to walk with me, Miss Ava?”

Ava visibly swoons and she’s not the only one. The difference is that I hide my reaction while her adorable little nose scrunches and her entire face lights up.

“Yes, please, Mr. Beckett.”

I stifle a laugh as Beckett’s eyes meet mine, silently asking if that’s okay. I nod, and mouth a quick “thank you” as he once again holds out his hand for Ava to take. “Shall we?”

“Bye, Mom.” She waves and my chest tightens while my heart beats frantically against my rib cage.

Maybe having a prince wouldn’t be so bad.

Ava walks away without a backward glance, and a giddy laugh slips out just as Henley looks back, her suspicious smile making me school my features.

Hunter’s cousin draws her attention away as he offers her his hand, seconds before Atlas walks over.

Hunter and Olivia didn’t want to rank any of us by importance, so they were very laissez-faire about our entry and exit for the ceremony. I walked out second during the rehearsal last night, but third today. For our exit, our instructions were simply “pick a partner and follow us out.”

Olivia did, however, throw us a curveball while we were getting ready earlier today, announcing they were partnering us up for our walk into the reception tonight. And they wanted us to come up with an idea to make our entrance fun. Henley was paired with Atlas, and from the way she jumped to exit the ceremony with my partner, Dean, Hunter’s cousin, just now, I know she’s working hard to avoid Atlas as much as she can.

With a shake of his head, Atlas smirks as he makes his way over to me, bowing comically. “Will you do me the honor of accompanying me up the aisle?”

“I’m not sure how I feel about being second choice…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He grins and I playfully roll my eyes, linking my arm through his.

“So…what are your intentions with my girl?” I whisper, joking around.

He stiffens momentarily until a chuckle rumbles out of him. “How much do you know?”

“Not much. Maybe you could fill me in?” I shrug in innocence and Atlas shakes his head.

“No can do, Lils. I’d never betray my wife like that.” He mouths the word wife, and I swear the lightest tint of pink flushes across his cheeks, but it’s gone seconds later, as though I imagined it. Only I didn’t. He likes her. Atlas likes Henley. Maybe more than either of them realize.

We’re all ushered to the photographer as we reach the edge of the garden, and I panic until I find Trudy rushing over to meet Beckett and Ava. She fawns over Ava as she clasps her hand, waving when she catches me watching them.

My feet ache as we stand around, smiling for what feels like a million photos, and the second we’re done, I sneak away, needing to say goodbye to Ava before we’re introduced for the cocktail hour.

“Hey sweetie, how are you doing?” I lower myself to her level and instantly regret it as I lightly wobble in my heels.

“Can I stay, Mom? Please.” She holds her hands up to her heart, and tension fills my chest. I’d love to say yes, but my mom is waiting to leave. Since there are no other kids attending the wedding, I initially declined Ava’s invite, assuming she’d be bored.

“Nana’s ready to take you home. She told me she has a movie night planned.”