Page 125 of Except You

“You showed up,” he says, and I grin at him, swiping at my eyes.

“Of course I did. I’m marrying you.”

His bottom lip wobbles. “You sure are.”

Coop hands me something, and I glance down at it, tears falling openly now.

“What did you do?” I ask him, and he shrugs.

“Got your man a ring. Didn’t want him feeling left out.”

I pull my best friend in for a hug before opening the box and looking inside. It’s perfect. Perfectly Max.

I turn it toward my future husband and he grins at me. “Love it. You did good, Coop.”

Coop brushes at his shoulders, preening before he saunters away and settles next to Matt.

Before I know it, we’re saying our vows, our gazes never separating, rings slipped onto our fingers, and when it’s time to kiss, an explosion goes off behind us, making us pull apart. Smoke wafts up from beneath Sem, and I tilt my head back and laugh.

Magnus is pinching the bridge of his nose, and Sem is looking a little sheepish.

“You do not bring fireworks to a wedding, Sem. I cannot with you. Oh my god. If you get arrested, I will not bail you out.”

He shrugs and then gives me a nod. “Had to celebrate the correct way. It’s a happy day.”

Matt grins at Coop, and the man officiating the wedding just pulls a joint out, lights it, and inhales, completely unbothered by this turn of events.

“I’ve seen weirder things. Right, let’s sign the paperwork and make it official.”

With shaking hands, the two of us scrawl our names on the document, and the officiant seals it, telling us he’ll send it off tomorrow.

“Alright, now it’s time to party,” Sem hoots, Magnus in his arms once more.

I glance up at my husband, stand on my tiptoes, and press my lips to his.

“Just so you know and there’s no doubt, I love you.”

Max grins down at me, his hands brushing my cheeks. “Love you too, Bow-tie.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Max

“Put that man down,” a stern voice says behind us, and Sem grumbles, turning to look at the security guard in the casino. He’s probably in the mafia, and I know Sem doesn’t give a shit. He’s probably ready to throw down.

“He’s my husband. I can carry him around if I want to,” Sem says.

The security guard frowns and stares up at Sem, probably hedging his bets on whether he could take him or not. I have my money on Sem. “Not in here you can’t.”

Sem seems to grow in size and Magnus sighs, slapping at his shoulder. “Sem, baby, put me down. It’s fine.” Magnus turns to look at the security guard and reassures him that they will behave.

Sem grumbles that he makes no promises to any such thing.

After a quick celebratory dinner, we made our way to the casino we’re staying in, drinking and gambling and having a good time. I plan on dragging Beau back to our hotel room and fucking him, but right now, I want to stay and spend time with Magnus and Matt. My brothers. If only Mitch were here. But then again, he’s the hardest one to read, the most angry.

I don’t see him coming around anytime soon. When he finds out I’ve married a man, he’s going to lose his shit. It’s why Matt said not to breathe a word of it. He honestly probably would have tried to stop the wedding.

I should thank Matt for that bit of advice.