I looked out into the gathering of people, seeing Veronica and Raoul, Austin and Beth, and Hunter’s parents. Austin gave me a thumb’s up, and I gave a nervous smile. Daniel and Joel were there too, along with Joel’s parents and Daniel’s mom.
Joel and Daniel had graduated last May, so I hadn’t been able to officially coach them, but I still saw them a lot. Both boys were attending University of Arkansas; Joel was going for computer science and Daniel was taking the classes for a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership while pursuing college football—just like I’d done.
Although it was a small wedding, I’d spared no expense. I wanted it to be perfect—something we’d remember when we were old and gray.
I’d hired a professional decorator who had created a beautiful archway, sitting area, and had made the meadow look like something out of a fantasy movie. I also hired a band, which was playing soothing, classical music. Hunter’s favorite. They were on a Bach symphony, when all of a sudden; they ended the song and began playing something entirely different.
An instrumental version of Staind’s Tangled Up In You.
Hunter came into view, and the tears I’d worked my ass off at keeping back started to fall anyway.
A cello played the melody of the lyrics as he walked toward me, down the aisle of flower petals and past our friends and family. His dad walked with him, not keeping it together at all as he wiped at his eyes.
I smiled and began feeling anxious.
Hunter was so close but still too far away. I needed to touch him. To have him in my arms.
“And who gives this man away?” the wedding officiator asked.
“I do,” Tom said. “His father.”
I stepped forward and Tom placed Hunter’s hand in mine. Finally, I could breathe. I interlocked our fingers, smiling into Hunter’s watery brown eyes, and together, we turned and faced the pastor.
“Friends and loved ones, we are gathered here this day to join Corbin Taylor and Hunter Walsh in matrimony.” He started in on the beginning formalities of the ceremony, but all I could focus on was Hunter’s hand in mine and the insane rushing of the blood through my veins.
It was already the happiest day of my life, and it wasn’t even over yet.
“Now, is it correct you two have written your own vows?” the pastor asked. We said yes, and he motioned for us to continue.
Hunter took a deep breath and looked into my eyes. I nodded to encourage him, and he squeezed my hand. Public speaking was an anxiety of his.
“I’d be lying if I said I liked you when we first met,” Hunter started. The crowd laughed at that, as did I. “You stole my crayon and it caused our first ever fight. But even then, even when we were five, I knew there was something special about you. You became my best friend and from that, we fell in love. You’ve loved me at my best, and you’ve loved me at my worst, and I want you to keep on loving me…as I have always loved you.”
“Not sure I can top that,” I said when it was my turn, which caused another laugh from our friends. “Guess now is a weird time to tell you that the reason I stole your crayon in kindergarten was because you were wearing a dinosaur shirt, and I thought you were cool.” Hunter chuckled and wiped tears from his eyes. “You’re my best friend and always have been. Sorry, Austin.”
Austin gave me a shit-eating grin and called out, “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”
I looked back at Hunter, gaining strength from the warmth in his eyes. “Through epic battles through Middle Earth to destroy the one ring, journeys across the high seas as pirate lords in search of lost treasure, and with every shared laugh, I have fallen madly and stupidly in love with you, Hunter Walsh. I want nothing more than to be yours. Forever.”
“Repeat after me,” the officiator said before starting the end of the vows.
Hunter asked me to be his, and I said I do. He slid the ring on my finger, and more tears streamed down my face. Fuck, I hated crying in front of people, but I was happy and overcome with that happiness.
Then, I asked him to be mine. And as dumb as it was, my breath hitched in my throat as I waited for him to say those two incredible words.
“I do,” Hunter said, slightly trembling as I slid the ring on his finger.
“By the power vested in me by the state of Arkansas, I now pronounce you husband and husband,” the pastor said and smiled as he stepped back. “You may now kiss your husband.”
Hunter and I locked gazes before I slid my arm around his lower back and pulled him to me.
It was throwing tradition out the window, but I had something to say before sealing the deal. I’d researched Shakespeare quotes the night before, since Hunter and I liked to recite random shit to each other all the time, and I found one that was fucking perfect for this exact moment.
I stroked his freshly shaved jaw and quoted from the play Cymbeline, “I can express no kinder sign of love, than this kind kiss.”
And then I kissed him.
***
“Great job today, guys!” I said after football practice that Wednesday afternoon. “We’re goin’ to kick Charleston’s ass on Friday.”
“Hell yeah!” Ian jumped up and chest bumped another kid named Reese.
The guys went to their lockers and started changing out of their pads and jerseys. I was still getting used to being on that side of the line; the coach instead of the player. But damn if I didn’t love it nearly as much. Seeing the excitement on the boys’ faces and seeing their growth as not only athletes but as great kids was just incredible.
There was even a girl on the team named Hannah, who was badass.
“Thanks for everything, Coach Taylor,” she said once I’d walked out of the boy’s locker room. She was nearly six feet tall and had more muscle than some of the guys. “Did you and Mr. Walsh have a good honeymoon?”
“The best,” I answered with a smile. My ass was still a bit sore from it, but I was keeping that detail to myself. “Great job out there today, Hannah. Keep throwing like that and you might make quarterback next season.”
“Really?” she asked with disbelief.
“Definitely.”
Hannah smiled and threw her arms around me. “You’re amazing!”
I pat her arm, grinning. She had no trouble keeping up with the boys on the field, and off the field she was energetic and kind of a girly-girl.
After saying bye to her, I went to my office to get my gym bag before walking out to the parking lot. Hunter had already gone home, since I’d had to stay for after school football practice, and I was eager to get home to him.
I wondered if it’d always be like that—that never-ending desire to have him with me. Probably. I’d heard newlyweds went through that phase, where they constantly fucked and couldn’t get enough of each other, but I believed it was less of a newlywed thing and more of a Hunter one.
It was just him.
It’d always been him.
When I pulled up to the house, I saw him through the kitchen window. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but it looked like he was wearing an apron. My sexy little chef. When I first came back to Willow, I would’ve never thought we’d be here. Happily married and falling more in love each day. But we were.
Veronica and Raoul were staying with us while Veronica had a break in her modeling schedule, and I saw them walking hand-in-hand down the small stone path I’d built a few months ago that led from the sunroom and to the terrace in the backyard.
I got out of the car and walked up the porch.
“Honey, I’m home,” I said like the goofball I was as I went inside.
“Oh yeah?” Hunter called from the kitchen. “Why don’t you come peel these sweet potatoes then, honey?”
Cracking a smile at his smartass mouth, I entered the kitchen. Hunter moved the glasses up his nose as he read something in his recipe book, looking too fucking cute. I hugged him from behind, kissing his shoulder. He smelled like cooking spices and his subtle cologne.
He turned in my arms and kiss
ed my jaw. “About time you got home.”
“Feel free to punish me later,” I suggested, wiggling my eyebrows.
“Shut up and kiss me,” he said before taking a handful of my shirt and drawing me to his chest.
Obeying his command, I kissed him. His soft lips opened to welcome my tongue, and I tasted him like I was an addict and he was my drug of choice. Hunter moaned and snaked his arm around my waist, swirling his tongue with mine.
I would never get tired of kissing him.
With that thought, another one sprang to existence. Well, more like a memory. One of us as eighteen year old boys, lying together by a lake in the summer—the summer before everything changed between us. Hunter had tasted like banana Laffy Taffy as we’d made out on the grass, beneath the hot sun.
“I think I could spend forever kissing you,” I said, staring into his big brown eyes and holding his hips.
At first, Hunter didn’t seem to catch on, but then…he did. His features softened and he nuzzled my jaw.
“I think I’d let you,” he responded, repeating the exact words he’d said to me all those years ago.
Second chances rarely happened in life. Once something was broken, it was hard to pick up the pieces and make it whole again. Hunter and I had been given a second chance, and there was no way in hell I was letting it go to waste. We’d done a lot to fuck it up between us, and yet, we somehow found our way back to each other.
Found our way back home.
The End
About the Author
Jaclyn Osborn was born and raised in the state of Arkansas. When not writing, she can be found plotting and gaining inspiration for the next story. The men in her head never leave her alone, but she doesn’t want them to. Writing is her passion and she’s thankful for each day she’s able to live her dream.
All types of genres in the gay literature world interest her, in both reading and writing, and she hopes to delve into them in her writing career. So far, she has written adult contemporary, young adult, medieval, and historical.
Other Works
The Awakening Series
-Michael’s Awakening (Book 1)
-Zack’s Awakening (Book 2)
-Benji’s Awakening (A Companion Novella)
-Kane’s Awakening (Book 3)
The Cadbury Series
-Strength to Forgive (Book 1)
-Scars We Hide (Book 2)
Standalone Works
Dear Adam
Axios: A Spartan Tale
Tangled Up In You
Port Haven Series
Noah’s Song (Book 1)
Reaching Avery (Book 2)
Tangled Up In You Page 26