Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,361

so low that only I could hear.

“L-love...you. Al-always. Love you, always.” I nearly cried at how his face was scrunched up in concentration at his declaration. I wrapped my arms around his neck and whispered yes what felt like a million times in his ears before crashing my lips to his. Wet tears left streaks of emotion down his face, and I kissed them all away while he placed the ring of flowers around my neck before he pulled away and joined the others in the circle.

Patrick was next. He started dancing towards me, shaking his hips while singing one of those nursery rhymes he was determined to teach me. He didn’t care that others were laughing, he only had eyes for me. “I love making you laugh, Ash. I wanna do that all the time. I want to take every damn burden off your back and make sure you live your best life. I love everything about you. I’m supposed to be the twin that’s good at words, but all I can think about is how much I’m just ready for you to be my wife already so we can get this happily ever after started.”

I laughed then said in a loud voice, “Yes, Patrick.”

He kissed me tenderly and slowly before whispering over me. “Don’t want to give them too much of a show.” He then placed his red flowers around my neck and fist pumped the air while walking back.

Kemper was next. Naturally, he had a folded sheet of paper ready and pulled it out, prepared to read the thoughtful words with precision; I wouldn’t have expected anything else.

“Ashleigh, I never thought I’d be lucky enough to find a love so pure, so wonderful. You’re kind, you’re thoughtful. You make me feel invincible and call me on my shit. You have the most empathy of anyone I’ve ever met, and when I’m with you, I truly want to be the best version of myself.” I smiled at the sweet sentiment. “But more than that,” Kemper added, “you make me let go. Of my expectations of myself. Of perfection. You help me enjoy the journey and learn from the mistakes. You take the pressure off because I know that, at the end of the day, you’ll always love me, and for that gift, I could never say thank you enough. I love you. I’ll always love you. You’re the imperfectly perfect woman for this perfectly imperfect man.”

“Yes,” I whispered before wrapping my arms around him for a kiss. He dived in, lapping me up with his tongue before growling into my mouth, audience be damned.

We kissed, and kissed, and kissed for an embarrassingly long amount of time before, somewhere in the crowd, someone shouted, “Come on, we’re ready to eat already!” I pulled away with a laugh before quickly putting his flowers over my head and watching him adjust his pants as he walked back to the circle. The other guys were patting him on the back, and I had to roll my eyes.

Maverick came to me next. “Ash,” he said with a sigh, “I’ve struggled with what to say to you because, again, I just feel my words aren’t enough. You’ve saved me in so many ways, and I am so thankful to have you by my side for the rest of my life. I love you. I’ll always cherish you. I’ll make sure you’re happy and keep you safe. I’ll encourage your dreams, cry for your pain. I’ll even laugh at Patrick’s jokes if it makes you happy,” he teased.

“Hey!” Patrick exclaimed.

“Yes,” I replied. “A thousand yesses.”

Maverick leaned forward and left a smoldering kiss on my forehead in reverence before dropping a sweet kiss to my lips that I felt travel through my entire body. When we pulled apart, he placed his flowers around my neck before returning to his spot in the circle.

Last, but certainly not least, Huxley strutted towards me. It seemed fitting that he would be the last to solidify this union. He was the last to trust me after all.

“Ash,” he began with a grin. “You wanna marry me?” he asked. A bright grin broke out on my face. Ah, Huxley. The man of few words.

“Yes, you big idiot,” I said back, making everyone laugh. He stormed over to me then cupped my cheeks. Leaning forward, he whispered into my ears.

“I love you so much, Ash. I’ll love you now and forever.” He then kissed me deeply while picking me up to spin