Do you mind if we film it to potentially use in the show?”
“Potentially?” I ask, confused.
“We don’t use every wedding we film in the show,” she explains. With a wry laugh, she adds, “Some are more entertaining than others.”
I exchange a glance with Jesse, and seeing that he doesn’t seem to have a problem with it, I lift one shoulder in a shrug. “Sure, why not.” It’s doubtful they’ll get anything entertaining enough from us to warrant it being used in the show anyway.
So, it turns out that the wedding gondola is basically just a normal gondola painted white. When Alfredo paddles it up to the edge of the canal, Jesse and I take our seats in the boat facing him, and he starts paddling slowly away.
The ceremony is very basic, with Alfredo saying the lines and Jesse and I repeating after him. When he pronounces us married, it feels completely surreal, like it’s some kind of weird dream that I’ll wake up from any moment.
And then he tells us to kiss. There’s only the briefest moment of hesitation before I lean over, take Jesse’s face in my hands and kiss him. The entire world seems to melt away when our lips touch. I forget that we’re being filmed, that there are people on the edge of the canal watching, that we’re currently in a really tiny boat. All I know is Jesse.
I get to my feet, pulling him up with me so I can hold him closer. And that’s about the time that I remember we’re on a gondola…
The boat tips dangerously at our sudden movement, and before I can do the sensible thing and sit down, I find myself being hurled into the canal. Jesse, who I was still holding onto, topples in after me.
Fortunately, the canal isn’t too deep and I’m able to stand easily, the water reaching to about my chest. As I swipe a hand over my face to clear away some of the water, I vaguely notice Alfredo has managed not to follow us idiots into the canal. Clearly his years of experience on the gondola allowed him to steady the boat and save himself. Too bad it wasn’t enough to save us.
I obviously lost my hold on Jesse in the fall, but he breaks the surface of the water about a yard away from me, his tall frame also allowing him to stand easily.
He lifts a hand to push his wet hair back from his face, and when he lowers it I’m half-expecting to see annoyance or agitation filling his green eyes. But none of that’s there. Instead, they’re alight with humor. In fact, his entire face is lit up, and after a moment, as though he can’t hold it back any longer, he starts laughing.
It’s a perfect, precious sound that I haven’t heard nearly enough of in the past two decades. As though my mere presence was enough to sap whatever joy he might otherwise have felt in a given situation.
Unable to hold myself back, I reach for him, pulling him against me and crashing my lips to his. His arms wrap around mine as the kiss deepens, quickly becoming just as intense as the others we’ve shared tonight.
I could easily stand there forever, chest deep in water, just kissing this man. But a chorus of cheers and hoots reaches my ears, and I manage to break away from Jesse to see a crowd has gathered at the edge of the canal, everyone smiling at us, their phones out to capture the moment.
I let out a soft breath of laughter. “We should probably get out of here.”
He nods, smiling wryly. “Good idea.”
We both wade over to the edge of the canal. Fortunately, we’re not too far from a set of steps that lead to a gate, so it’s not too difficult for us to get out of there and onto dry land.
“Oh my god, you guys! That was amazing!”
Glancing up from helping Jesse up the slippery steps, I see the producer we’d spoken with earlier has rushed over to us. “Um…thanks,” I say a little awkwardly, not really knowing how to respond.
“We’d love to use that for the show,” she says.
I exchange a curious look with Jesse before turning back to the woman, whose name I’ve completely forgotten. “Really? You want to use that?”
She nods. “Absolutely. It’ll make great TV.”
I glance at Jesse again and he just shrugs. I can tell he’s thinking the same thing I am: what’s the harm. By