Epilogue
“Why does this feel like a déjà vu moment?”
I roll my eyes, not surprised. I had half-expected Reggie to say those words the moment he stepped through the doors. What I did not expect, however, is the fact that he came with Alex and Ken. Alex also has his baby squirming in his arms.
“Not to sound weird, but you look dapper.” Ken grins as his gaze washes over my white suit. “Someone should help him with his cufflinks, though.”
I hold up my arms as Alex thrusts his baby into Ken’s arms and goes for it. The three men are all wearing matching white tuxedos, same as mine. The only difference is the red pocket square I have.
“Yeah, I remember why this feels like I lived this moment before.” Reggie is looking through the window, where about a hundred cane chairs have been organized neatly on either side of a white aisle leading to a beautiful wedding arch.
The site of my wedding ceremony.
“Seconds before I walked down my aisle, Blake was here, making that exact face at my stepson.” He nods toward Ken’s bewildered face as he struggles to hold on to my nephew. “And asking me how it was possible for me to ever consider marrying a woman and adopting her son.”
“Great. Rub it in. Add it to the best man toast, why don’t you?” It took a while for me to finally decide on who my best man was going to be, seeing as I’ve got so many good friends. But I finally picked Reggie over Alex. Alex is always going to be my brother—literally, as we grew up together and he’s married to my sister—but Reggie deserved the honor. For one, it was his wedding that set me down the path of knowing that love can redeem a man.
It did for him, and it has for me too.
It’s been a full year since my public confession. Even now, I can’t believe the impact it’s had on my career. I was catapulted into the limelight in a way that still stuns me. I came to Faye’s wedding hoping to get Kevin’s advice on how to get better ad sponsorships, but I don’t need it anymore. Day in and day out, my agent is saddled with deals, trying to sort through the few that suit me and dismiss the rest.
For Faye, things also changed, but in a less pleasant manner. She lost almost a million followers across all social media platforms that day, particularly when she wrote a post saying we were getting back together. Words like “liar” and “fake relationship” haunted her page for months, even after she released the album, Truth. Still, it did remarkably well, shooting to the top spot on the charts in a day. I proposed to her shortly after that, and Faye’s reputation was redeemed slightly when the internet learned we were getting married.
Apart from our careers, things blossomed in a manner more beautiful than I could have imagined. Spending weekends in the cabin and building our love slowly over the year transformed me. In and out. I can finally hang with Alex and Reggie and understand their fascination with finding true love. I’ve been in therapy over the last year, sorting out my issues with my father. Every day, Faye brings me closer to the version of the man I want to be, while I left the man I thought I was content with. And so far, no control issues have spiked up.
Nor will they ever arise.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to tease you,” Reggie says. “Even if all you talked about during my wedding was Faye and how her wedding was unnecessarily huge. Isn’t it funny that you’re here, less than two years later, marrying her?”
I agree with him. Fate is a funny thing.
“Sounds like you’re teasing him,” Alex says as he backs away from my sleeves. Pride glimmers in his eyes as he gives me the once-over. I can see why. Since Brit, he’s been trying to get me to understand why it was important for him to choose my sister over our friendship. We’ve grown past that, but my being with Faye brought a level of healing to our relationship that I didn’t even know we needed.
“Also, he’s right on the wasteful front. Look at how . . . calm . . . their wedding is,” Ken adds. He finally got the hang of holding Alex’s boy.
I look over at the aisle through the window. I let Faye choose everything, and she was quick to decide on a field wedding with less than a hundred guests in attendance. It was easy to narrow the guest list. We both focused on making sure only people who mattered to us would be here. Faye invited her whole family, but only her stepmother showed up. She decided to hold off on inviting celebs, choosing instead to go for the few friends she’s gained over the last year.
“You know, you should be more worried,” Alex says to Ken.
Ken looks horrified. “Did your son already poop on me?”
“No, fool. I mean about this.” He nods at Reggie and me. “You’re the only single one. It’s going to happen for you sooner than you expect.”
He snickers. “Don’t think so. I’m not holding off on relationships, remember? I’ve dated girls in the past. Don’t fancy marriage, but it’s not completely off the table. I’ll be fine.”
I hold back a smile. “You remind me of me.” Ken starts to argue, but I raise a hand. “We’ll talk about it later.” Excitement shoots up like a star within me. “I’ve got to go get married.”
She looks radiant.
The gown is nothing like the ginormous ball gown she had for her wedding to Ben. Instead, Faye chose a simple, off-shoulder, A-line gown that barely has a train, the kind of gown no one would expect a popstar to get married in. The headlines are going to go crazy.
But I don’t let myself focus on X trolls. I look at her as she comes up the aisle, arm in arm with Kev. Her face is almost free of makeup, and she chose to do her hair in a simple updo, with red tendrils that fall down her face.
She’s the most beautiful creature on planet Earth.
Behind her marches Trisha, the girl who sang Faye’s song the first time we went to the bar. They became tightknit friends over the past few months, and Faye was happy to make her Maid of Honor. Reggie’s son, Carl, is right in front of Faye, holding the rings on a fluffy pillow.
I’ve witnessed Alex and Reggie get married, sat in the front row and eyed their happiness suspiciously.
I never could have imagined that it would happen for me. Nor that it was possible to feel this happy.
It seems to take an eternity, but finally, Kevin and Faye are up the aisle with me. He gives me a mock warning glare as he puts her hand in mine—he has never quite forgiven me for what happened a year ago. Alex, Reggie, and Ken have identical smirks as we march past them and up to the minister.
“You look beautiful, soon-to-be Mrs. White,” I mutter. It’s taking every bit of me to not kiss her, but I can’t hold off on telling her how pretty she is.
“You look dapper yourself.” She gives me a small smile as the minister asks everyone to take their seats. I watch as she turns and looks down at our rather short aisle.
“Thinking of running away again?” It’s a joke, but the tiniest part of me is really wondering if Faye considered doing that this morning. I know we’re perfect for each other, but intrusive thoughts are a bitch sometimes.
She grins at me. That smile alone sends the thought fleeing. Still, for clarity’s sake, she gives a verbal confirmation.
“Never.”
THE END