I snapped the lid shut and handed it back to him. His smile fell and he crinkled his forehead as he slowly took it back.
Then I shrugged while forming a grin on my face. “Let’s make this trip even more memorable.”
He let out a huge breath while un-crinkling his forehead. “So…you’re in this for the long haul? Even if I get orders to move to Japan or Hawaii? You’re coming with me?” His green irises showed a small amount of fear.
I rose my eyebrows. “Especially if it’s Hawaii. You’re my home, Luke.”
Luke’s lips captured mine with a throaty growl, “Then let’s get hitched, baby!”
I squealed and he grabbed my hand, pulling me across the busy street.
Before we walked inside, he looked at me once more. “You’re serious, right? You’re really going to marry me?”
I reached up on my tiptoes, placing a small kiss on his lips. “Yes. Now stop worrying, let’s go!”
He grinned, and pulled me the rest of the way in.
After getting everything settled, I was ushered towards a back room that was tackier than all get-out—but that only made the experience that much better. I’d never considered myself to be a traditional type of girl, anyway. This was right. I could feel it all the way in bones. My face had literally begun to hurt after smiling so much for the last twenty minutes.
Life with Luke was anything but ordinary. We were completely unorthodox. But, that’s why I loved us so much.
“Wear this one!” JoJo exclaimed.
She was over the freaking moon. As soon as Luke had texted Ryan, he and JoJo had come running through the door holding hot pink shopping bags with a very inappropriate logo on the front.
She kept chanting, “I knew this would happen! I knew it!” Then she’d blurt, “Look at her ring, Ryan! Look!” Luke and I just laughed even harder.
“That looks perfect,” I whispered, feeling butterflies whizz throughout my stomach. JoJo held up an ivory, lace dress that several other women had probably worn before me, but I didn’t care. I shimmied out of my gold, sequined dress and pulled the gown over my head. Its silk fabric slid down my body quickly, and JoJo buttoned up the back.
Fiddling with the buttons, she paused. “Wait.”
I waited as she unbuttoned the dress again, and then unclasped my bra. It slid off my shoulders and I threw it to the ground, where it fell swiftly to land beside my discarded dress. Once I was buttoned up and JoJo had adjusted the gown, a smile overtook her face.
She stepped aside and my heart skipped a beat.
Even though I was in a dingy, barely-lit dressing room with generic wedding photos of smiling couples lining the walls, I had never felt more right in my entire life.
My hazel eyes shined with happiness, my cheeks were flushed with excitement. My hair could probably have looked better, but the overall effect was perfect. The ivory-colored dress hugged all my curves with its silky material, and a small bit of lace outlined the deep v that stopped just a few inches below my sternum. I looked like a bride, and I was about to marry one of the best men who had ever walked this earth.
“If Ryan and I didn’t already pay a shit-ton for our wedding in a few months, I would totally do this, too.”
“You still can! No one has to know that you two are alr
eady married when you have your real wedding.”
She smirked and I could already see her wheels turning.
“Are you ready, bride?” A shorter lady with curly hair and eyes lined in electric blue popped her head into the dressing room.
I nodded my head enthusiastically, and she handed me the bouquet of light pink flowers I had picked out.
JoJo grabbed my arm and led me down the narrow, hot pink hallway and before I knew it, we were at the altar, which was brimming with fake flowers.
Luke appeared just seconds later and I squealed. He threw his head back and laughed at my high-pitched noise, but not before his eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face.
He was wearing an Elvis-like tux with ruffles in the front and a small, blue bow tie just underneath his chin. His emerald eyes shined radiantly at me, and I could have sworn I saw tears glistening in them.
Before the ceremony even started, I walked over to him and kissed him softly on the mouth.