Epilogue
Katie – six months later
“I need to fuck you out of that dress,” he mouthed the words to me across the space between us, my blush instantly heating my chest and drawing his attention to the low sweetheart neckline.
Lace covered my wrist to my shoulder, a long veil–three times the length of the A-line dress–flowing behind me, and Sawyer’s hands locked firmly with my trembling ones.
It was officially our wedding day. Valentine’s Day. I wasn’t sure about the date, but Sawyer convinced me that he wanted the day to be mine and all about me, and he demanded that all our loved ones would spend the day showering me in affection and admiration.
I’d woken up a nervous jumble and the only thing that’d calmed me, finally, was his touch. I’d had to resist sprinting down the aisle the second I’d seen him waiting at the end of it in his dark navy tux. Per tradition, we’d spent the night before our wedding apart, and I’d regretted every minute of it.
The truth was, my nerves were only calm in his arms. So from this day forward, I was vowing to never be apart from him again.
“Do you take this woman…?” The officiant we’d hired to lead our ceremony began his slow ramble of the traditional vows, my mind floating away with me as I thought about our honeymoon, our life together, our future children…I was the luckiest girl in the world because it would all be with him.
“Katie, my sweet cheeks,” Sawyer mouthed that last part before surprising me with his own vows, “I knew you were mine from day one. You stole my heart in high school and never gave it back. I’m just lucky you walked into my gym and reclaimed what was already yours. I can’t wait to spend forever making you the happiest woman alive, because you’ve already made me the happiest man just by saying yes.”
The intimate crowd of our family and few friends oohed as the officiant announced our marriage. And then Sawyer hauled me into his arms, right off of my feet, and pressed his lips to mine.
He walked me down the aisle, cradling me close to his heart as we shared our first kiss as husband and wife.
“Thank you, Sawyer.” I choked on my own happy tears.
“Thank you, Mrs. Dixon, you saved my ass way back then, and you do it now. I owe you a lifetime of thanks.” He caught the shell of my ear with his teeth. “And I plan on repaying you exactly every eight hours.”
I stifled my giggle as the rest of the congregation stood and followed us out, rose petals and bubbles following us down the aisle.
By the time we were settled at the head of our own wedding table a while later, my mother was already clearing her throat and standing to toast us. She interrupted the small crowd with the tinkling of her fork against the glass before looking down her nose and smiling at me.
Her eyes drifted back to the crowd almost instantly before a radiant smile split her face. I shivered, plastering a fake grin on my face and looking up at my mother with all the warmth I could muster.
I glanced at the clock, thinking our eight hours were nearly up. Sawyer’s constant taunting about getting his eight hour fix of me making me–and my body–painfully aware of every hour of the day.
“My Katie Girl, what can I say?” Mom finally interrupted my thoughts. “It seems like we just did this with your sister,” she pushed on with an awkward laugh. “Katie is my sweet, smart daughter, so driven and ambitious. I never had to worry about her. Always straight A’s, president of debate club and the student paper. Sometimes she even gave me parenting advice,” she shook her head, “so precocious. Obviously, she had her struggles, but then…well, I was so proud when she announced she was starting her own business, and let me tell you–so shocked when I realized she’d found a way to turn her struggle, and some might say her number one passion, into a business. Sweet Curves bakery has taken all of our lives by storm, most of all hers. Sugar wasn’t the enemy anymore, it made her famous.”
Mom paused, shaking her head before her eyes trained on the crowd again. I clenched my nails into Sawyer’s thigh, making him wince. My father, sitting on the other side of my mom cleared his throat and tried to get the attention of his obtuse wife.
“So there she went again, proving everyone wrong, most of all me,” she took a drink of her champagne. “Smart girl,” she scoffed, “I think the wisest thing she did was walking into Sawyer’s gym that day to get her life under control, and then she found love.” She turned to me then, smiling wider, “and Sawyer saved her life. He made my girl into a healthier version–”