Contract Marriage: I Will Never Love You

Chapter 187: A Smile for Her

Rebecca

It’s a late summer afternoon, warm and golden, the kind of day that feels like it’s been dipped in honey. I put on my yellow dress I bought especially for this occasion as today is a very special day.

I don’t usually get nervous before weddings. I’ve attended enough to know how the day goes. The laughter, the dancing, the champagne-fueled toasts. But today is different.

Today, it’s Hailey and Josh’s wedding.

Hailey has been planning this day for months now, and the fact that it’s finally here, that she’s about to marry the most chaotic, endearing man alive, makes my heart ache in the best way.

I glance at the clock again.

Marcus is late.

I lean against the windowsill and smile to myself. He always cuts it close, claiming it’s part of his charm.

I pretend to be annoyed when he is late. He knows I secretly love it. Because just when I think he has forgotten, he always shows up like he has been rushing for miles just to get to me.

I wonder what Marcus will say when he sees me in it.

Probably something ridiculous.

A car horn honks once outside.

I press my hand to my chest.

That better be him.

I grab my little clutch, slip into my heels, and head out the door.

And there he is.

Marcus leans against the passenger side of his car like he’s posing for a magazine cover. Crisp shirt rolled up to his elbows, tie slightly loosened, and that slow, dangerous grin that still messes with my ability to form full sentences.

"Hi, Beautiful," he says as I walk up. "Is it just me, or did the sun come out just for you?"

I roll my eyes. "You are late."

"I prefer ’fashionably on time.’"

"You’re lucky you are handsome," I retort.

He opens the door for me and bows slightly. "And you are lucky I’m hopelessly in love with you."

I slide into the seat and try not to let my smile get too big.

I fail.

As we drive, he reaches for my hand, fingers threading through mine like it’s second nature. The windows are down. The wind plays with my hair. Music hums low from the speakers—something soft and nostalgic.

"You nervous?" he asks as we pull up to the venue.

"About the wedding?"

He glances at me, amused. "About catching the bouquet."

I laugh. "Don’t you dare say anything out loud if I do."

"Not a word," he promises, squeezing my hand.

The ceremony is perfect.

The kind of perfect that is not just about weather or flowers or carefully arranged seating, it is the kind that feels honest. Like something real is being stitched into the air as vows are exchanged.

Hailey looks radiant, glowing in a soft ivory gown that catches the light every time she moves. Her smile is brighter than I have ever seen it. Her bouquet, wild and full of yellow and white blooms, trembles slightly in her hands but not from nerves, I know, but from joy barely held in check.

Josh is standing at the altar, looking like someone has just handed him the universe. His tie is crooked, of course. His hair is a mess, as if he ran his hands through it a hundred times. But the way he looks at her like the rest of the world has disappeared, makes my eyes sting.

Marcus wraps his arm around my waist as we sit in the second row, his thumb brushing the curve of my hip absently.

"You okay?" he whispers in my ear.

"I think I am going to cry," I whisper back.

He grins. "Same. But if you tell anyone, I will deny everything."

The ceremony begins.

The officiant talks about forever in that warm, gentle voice that somehow makes you believe in it. Then, it is time for the vows.

Josh, true to form, starts his with a joke.

"When we met, I knew two things," he says. "One, Hailey was going to steal my last french fry. And two, she was going to be impossible to forget."

The guests laugh, and Josh grins wide, unapologetic.

"But somewhere between arguing over movie genres and you sneak taking embarrassing pictures of me, you became my best friend. The person who makes me braver, sillier, steadier. I love you, Hailey."

Josh’s smile fades into something softer, more reverent.

"You challenge me, you comfort me, you let me make stupid jokes. And today... today I choose you. Every version of you. Even the one who leaves laundry on the floor and thinks microwaved pizza is a gourmet meal."

A ripple of laughter follows, but Hailey holds her gaze on him.

Hailey bites her lip, eyes glassy.

Hailey takes a slow breath, and for a second, it looks like she might laugh. But then she lifts her chin, looks right at Josh, and her voice comes out soft, but clear.

"Joshua Daniels," she begins, and he blinks like he still can’t believe that’s his name coming from her mouth at the altar.

"When we first met, I thought you were trouble. The charming, loud, slightly ridiculous kind of trouble that comes with too much confidence and a snack in your hand."

Everyone chuckles, and Josh looks smug.

"But then you held the door for an old lady with five shopping bags and no patience. You apologized to a pigeon you almost stepped on. And you looked at me like I was the most interesting thing that had ever happened to you."

Josh’s ears turn slightly red.

"I didn’t fall in love with you all at once. It happened slowly. A little more every time you made me laugh when I wanted to cry. Every time you believed in me more than I believed in myself."

She pauses, blinking fast.

"You’re my favorite mess. My unexpected calm. You make everything louder and brighter and somehow more peaceful all at once. And yes, you snore when you fall asleep on the couch halfway through movies. But you also remember the names of my plants. You make coffee for me when I forget to eat. You are my home."

Josh swallows hard.

"So today, I promise to choose you. Even when it’s hard. Even when we are old and bickering about whether to get cats or dogs or weird hybrid alien pets the future invents. I will choose you. Every day. In this life and whatever comes after."

She laughs quietly as a tear slips down her cheek. "And I promise to always, always take the blurry pictures too. Because those are the ones that make us laugh."

The officiant lets out a breath. "Beautiful," she says, dabbing her eyes along with half the guests.

Josh mouths, I love you, and Hailey mouths it right back.

The officiant clears her throat, a little choked up herself. "Well... if there’s anyone not crying, I’d like to know your secret."

Everyone laughs gently, tissues dabbing cheeks all around. noveldrama

And then: "By the power vested in me, and with a whole lot of joy, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Josh, you may kiss your bride."

He doesn’t wait.

He leans in and kisses her like the world finally made sense.

And Hailey kisses him back like she just found her favorite forever.

Josh wipes his eyes like he is trying to look cool about it. He fails spectacularly.

I turn to Marcus and catch him looking at me.

"What?" I ask.

"You’re glowing," he says simply.

"I am sweating."

"Beautifully," he says. "I want our vows to be even more spectacular."

I raise an eyebrow. "That’s very presumptuous of you to think I’d ever marry you."

He grins, mouth cocky and challenging, but his eyes caught on mine in a way that feels suddenly, dangerously true. "Is that a challenge? Wait until you see my proposal."

I laugh, a quiet bubble at the back of my throat. "I want them written in calligraphy and delivered by carrier pigeon, minimum."

"I was thinking skywriting." He says it so deadpan I almost believe him.

"Oh my god, don’t you dare," I whisper.

He leans in and kisses me on the cheek. "I love you."

The words are so easy for him now.

~-~

After the wedding is over, he drives me home. He walks me to my door.

Inside, he stands behind me and wraps his arms tight around my waist. "You ever think about spending forever with me?" he asks, and his cheek is rough against my ear.

"I do."

He laughs, that rare, full-bodied sound that I love best. "Good. Because if you didn’t, I would have had to start that PowerPoint presentation I made for ’Convincing Rebecca to Marry Me’."

I turn to face him.

He’s dead serious.

"You made a PowerPoint?"

"It’s got graphs," he says proudly. He slides his hands up my arms. "Pie charts. Compelling data visualizations."

I can’t help it. I laugh until I hiccup.

I let my head fall against his chest, still laughing, still hiccupping. He smells like sandalwood and soap and something familiar that makes my chest tighten.

"You’re ridiculous," I murmur.

"Ridiculously in love with you," he replies, and I groan softly at the line, even as my heart soaks it in.

I look up at him and whisper, "You know, you don’t need pie charts. You already convinced me."

His expression shifts, something fierce and tender all at once. He brushes a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Yeah?"

I nod. "Yeah."

He kisses me again. One hand cradles my cheek, and the world blurs until there is only him.

When we finally pull apart, he presses his forehead to mine and says, "We’re gonna be so obnoxiously happy, aren’t we?"

"I hope so."

He chuckles, kisses my nose, and whispers, "You, me, and Megan. She called dibs on being your flower girl, by the way, and said we better hurry up before she gets too old."

I laugh, full and bright. "Oh no. Pressure from a ten-year-old. We really are on a deadline."

"She’s very persuasive," Marcus says solemnly. "She also drew us a wedding dress design and made a seating chart for the reception. Spoiler alert: she put herself at the head table."

"Obviously," I say, smiling against his collarbone. "She earned it."

This is what it feels like, I think. To be chosen, not just in the glitter of grand gestures, but in the everyday, in the ridiculous, in the quietly unfolding ordinary.

"Rebecca," he says, and something in his voice makes me look up.

He is not joking now.

There is no pie chart, no skywriting.

Just him. Just me.

"I meant it," he says. "Forever."

I nod once, my throat tight. "Me too."

We do not need vows yet. Not tonight. But something has already been promised, in the curve of his hand at my back, in the softness of his kiss, in the way he shows up late but completely mine.

So I whisper, "Okay. Let’s be obnoxiously happy."

And he smiles that smile that’s meant just for me.

—-The End—-