trembled while she walked down the aisle. Conrad hugged her before giving her arm to Bryce. She held on and whispered something in his ear.
No harsh words. No fighting.
And once Mandy pulled the ribbon with Condolences scrawled in beautiful calligraphy from Lindsey’s bouquet, we were good to go.
I hadn’t listened to one of the father’s sermons in years. Hell, I’d ducked out of the church on Easter and Christmas when Mom wasn’t watching.
I never once believed a word out of my father’s mouth…
Except when he delivered surprisingly good advice.
The last thing I wanted was to trap Mandy in a marriage because we had a child. The only thing that might have made it worse was marrying her to save face in the community. I left home specifically to avoid those types of obligations. My father had demanded I live a life of respectful piety and perfection, and he tortured me with that fate for eighteen years.
Mandy worried she’d be caught in a loveless life. I avoided the opposite. A life of fear.
My child would never feel trapped like that. Not as long as I lived.
“Dearly beloved…”
My father extended his hands over Lindsey and Bryce.
“I am honored to stand before you today, witnessing the marriage of Lindsey Prescott and Bryce Washington. I’ve had the privilege of watching this lovely couple grow from children into the beautiful adults they are today, and I am so happy they are beginning their lives together.”
I didn’t buy my father’s fake sincerity, especially when I knew what he’d say if it were me and Mandy at the altar instead.
Mandy stared at her sister, clutching both of their bouquets in trembling hands. She actually listened to Dad’s sermon on love, life, and commitment.
She believed it.
Every word.
Mandy wanted nothing more than that life of romance and devotion, a life I never thought was possible until I fell for her.
She watched, captivated.
And I imagined it was us before the altar—her eyes wide, her smile perfect, declaring her true feelings to all who would listen.
Dad rested a hand over the bride and groom’s hands. “Marriage is a gift. Most times it will be hard. Sometimes it will be painful. But, given the chance, it will become your greatest joy. Just as you’ve grown together as childhood friends, you will now explore this new world of love and commitment as partners, with all of its surprises and challenges.”
I snorted. Rick frowned at me, but I didn’t care.
I just had the biggest surprise and challenge of my life thrown at me, but there was no one I’d rather handle it with than Mandy.
Hell, I didn’t think life could throw anything crazier at me. Even if it did, I’d do everything in my power to ensure she experienced only happiness, pleasure, and love.
If that was marriage, what did I need a ring for?
“You’ll find your relationship isn’t simply an agreement between two people to live in harmony,” Dad said. “As a wife, you will comfort, guide, and support your husband—even when it is hard to trust…and harder to imagine his commitment. And, as a husband…” Dad paused for just a moment. “You will have a great responsibility. You must become more than a man.”
I looked up. My father’s glance was quick, hardly enough for Bryce or Lindsey to notice.
But I did.
And I seized a breath for whatever was coming.
“You will become a husband to a wife. A lover to a woman. Eventually a father to a child. And while those things may sound like three separate duties, you’ll find they are one. These responsibilities are what define a man, and you must demonstrate this honor to the woman you love.”
How?
It didn’t surprise me that Dad answered. He loved the sound of his own voice, but goddamn, I was glad he talked.
“How do you do this?” Dad smiled, patting their hands. “You love her. Simple as that.”
Well, fuck. I already did that.
There had to be more, right?
“Now, I understand you’ve prepared your own vows…”
Wait.
Dad stopped preaching, but it couldn’t be that simple.
My feelings for Mandy were complicated, a tangled mess of ill-intentions that created life-changing consequences for both of us.
But maybe that’s what love was?
It wasn’t Lindsey’s wailing tears as she pledged undying, forever devotion to her snuggle-buddy bear. And it wasn’t Bryce awkwardly reading a speech Lindsey must have written for him.
Love was what I felt for Mandy.
Responsibility. Desire. Protectiveness.
And if she hadn’t figured it out yet, then it’d be up to me to show her exactly the type of life we’d make