Chapter 35 Mila
Chapter 35
Mila
Fin hands me his phone, open to a Pulse Tok account. There’s just one video available, saved to the drafts folder. Not yet posted or available for all to see.
“Why have you got one of these? A Pulse Tok account?”
“Just watch it, Mila.”
“If this is a smutty video,” I begin as my heart beats like hooves, somehow intuiting what this is.
I’m in that dress, veil rippling in the breeze.
Fin is in his light suit, so handsome, the linen barely creased.
I take a seat as I’m handed a pen, our wedding certificate placed in front of me as I bend my head. Then come up laughing.
“Oops!” My eyes dance as I look to Fin. “I signed my own name,” I whisper hiss his way.
He’s smiling too. Indulgently. Lovingly. But it can’t be love. Not that soon.
“What shall I do?” I whisper theatrically, leaning in.
“What do you want to do?” Fin’s tone is soft, intimate.
My expression turns pensive. “I was supposed to get married today. For real.”
“To your ex? Today was your wedding date?”
I nod. “Yes.” Then I frown, more like Eurgh, no . “According to my grandmother, my Prince Charming is called Alexander. I’m supposed to marry him today. She has the sight , you know.” Even as I say it, I’m rolling my eyes.
“Well, in that case . . .”
Fin takes the pen from my hand, and twisting the certificate around, he signs it with a flourish.
“What did you do that for?” My words sound gleeful as I reach for him, kissing his cheek like this is the best game ever.
“Read it.”
I lean over the certificate and squint. “You must be a doctor.”
“Nope.” Using his finger, he spins the certificate again, and I watch as he touches each word with the tip of his pen. “Phineas Alexander Gunning Colton DeWitt. Do you know what that means?” he asks, looking up again.
I shake my head.
“This was preordained. This is real. You and me were meant to be.”
The recording stops, loops back.
“Alexander.” My hand falls away, my gaze rising to his. “You told me the morning after. It was on our wedding certificate.” My words are soft and halting as I process what this means.
“I guess you just weren’t ready to hear it.” He slides a lock of hair behind my ear, his expression tender. “That wasn’t shrooms, Mila. That was all me.”
“Really?”
“As God is my witness, I was as sober as a judge.”
“And you’d still do this for me? You’d marry me. Love me. And let me walk away with all that money?”
“I mean, you could stay, be rich and be deliriously happy. Or you could walk away and earn yourself a stalker.” He shrugs, like this is out of his control.
“A stan.”
“Weren’t you listening? No stan. Your stalker would be called Phineas Alexander Gunning Colton DeWitt.”
“I bet he was a really ugly baby,” I whisper in a repeat of that conversation. Would it have made a difference if I’d woken the morning following our wedding and remembered? If nothing else, I would’ve remembered his look of wonder, of determination. I would’ve known how he made me feel like I was shining from within.
Love is supposed to be a journey, I think as I press up onto my toes. And some journeys are just a little more meandering than others. Some have sharp turns and slopes. Others have nasty bumps in the road.
I slide my arms around Fin’s neck and slide my lips over his, our resultant kiss neither delicate nor uncertain. However we got here, I’m so happy we did.
“Good thing that baby is a real looker now,” Fin whispers as our kiss breaks. His eyes shine; mine, too, his handsomeness turning hazy.
“Sadly, he’s not very modest. In fact, he has a great big—”
“ Yeah, he has. ” His tone turns to pure smut.
I shake my head. I’m in for some ride with Fin. I mean, not that way. But also, yes, that way. Soon, I think.
“Rich, good looking, and devoted. I guess that means, in the husband stakes, you lucked out.”
“You’re determined to make me crazy, aren’t you?”
“No, smut muffin. I’m determined to always love you.”