From doing whatever you did with helicopters when you moved house. I was going to miss learning that kind of shit from Viktor Petrenko.
I was going to miss Ranger even more.
He stood for Folk as he married Decoy in the dappled shade of the old apple tree.
I stood for Decoy, and it stopped feeling weird as the pure joy in his shy eyes seeped into me. I’d said yes to this because whatever he thought about what I’d done for him, the impact he’d had on my life was something I couldn’t measure.
Ivy hopped around in front of me, her growing feet on top of mine, because she loved me, because he’d let her. And in return she’d taught me to accept the flutter in my chest I’d carried for Cam back then, the precursor to the riot I felt these days. She’d taught me that loving people didn’t have to hurt, and Decoy lived out that lesson as he slid a ring on Folk’s finger and told the whole fucking world he’d love him forever.
For a man like him, and like Folk, it didn’t seem such a long time.
Their ceremony drew to a close.
Ivy danced into their waiting arms, reminding me she’d also taught me to stand still long enough for two people to get married, but without her anchoring me, I was done.
I made my escape from the front of the small crowd gathered in the orchard. The temptation to leave entirely was so strong it almost choked me, but Cam and Alexei had planned for that—planned forme, the fucking flight risk—and taken seats at the side, keeping me between them.
Alexei subtly passed me an edible. “Is the CBD kind,” he murmured, barely moving his lush mouth. “Not the ones that make you think it would be fun to live in a pond.”
I rolled my eyes and palmed the gummy into my mouth. It was apple flavoured, like everything seemed to be today, and the psychosomatic effect was instant. I dropped into the seat. Cam draped his arm across the back of my chair, possessive and warm, and Alexei held my hand. A moment later, Lida slipped along the loose row of seats and plonked her head on my knee, effectively pinning me down, and I didn’t mind it.
Rubi and River...
I’d lived to see this as much as anyone, and I knew I’d regret it if I bolted.
The registrar called things to order.
Nash stood for Rubi, and Oscar had come from Porth Luck to stand for River. His little boy sat in the front row, his excited face one I expected to see. The one beside him, not so much, and yet still, after so many years of pain and heartache. Of blame and guilt. Of love and hate.
Skylar had come.
With his broken heart and healing hands—hands that had saved me from an abyss I didn’t truly remember.
Alexei nudged me. “Pay attention.”
I usually did, to everything so diligently my head ached with how full and noisy it was. But this edible, Alexei had picked a good one. My chair didn’t feel as though it was swallowing me whole, and my brain quieted enough to realise the formal part of Rubi and River’s marriage was over.
The registrar stepped back, and the celebrant Alexei had talked about a few nights ago, the one I recognised from Mateo and Embry’s wedding, took her place.
Jevon.
He wore clothes Rubi could only dream of, and his energy was the kind of phenomenon that hypnotised even Alexei. He had a London accent laced with Jamaican patois. He laughed a lot and tipped Rubi’s top hat to a dafter angle.
“I like these weddings you bikers dream up, where everyone can be themselves, shoes or no shoes.”
Because River hadn’t wanted to do this in his mismatched boots. So he married Rubi barefoot with the biggest smile on his face I’d ever fucking seen. “Boo, I’ve loved you my whole life. And I’ll love you for-fucking-ever.”
Rubi grinned, his hair fluttering in the gentle summer breeze. “Something bigger than us chose this, Riv. It’s more than love, it always has been, and I’m so fucking thankful we grew enough to live with it. And that you remembered to tell me this shit was happening today.”
Laughter rippled through the open air, but I drew a slow breath as Rubi’s words wrapped around my heart. Cam’s thumb stroked the back of my neck, and I knew if I looked at him, I’d see every emotion squeezing him too. How close had we come to not living our own love story? What if he’d never met Alexei? Would we ever have got out of our own way?
Probably not. But I suppose it didn’t matter anymore. My gaze drifted to Alexei and he slipped me a dark smile. A conspiratorial smile. My partner in crime forever and always, and we had a secret of our own.
Later.
Jevon moved aside and Joe Carter stepped up and performed the same handfasting ritual he had for his cousin, silent this time, without the Romani words that had been only for Embry, but the sacred meaning of the threadbare silk scarf binding Rubi and River together didn’t need explanation.
I felt it.