“The clue is surrounding you. Open your eyes,” Tyler says.

My eyes take in my surroundings; the white rows of chairs, the cream and white flowers that hang from every row, and the petals scattered along the edge of the white aisle runner, but I’m still clueless to what he means. It isn’t until fifteen minutes later when the ceremony begins that his words finally click into place.

I stand beside my brother, smiling proudly at him when the single key of a piano begins to play a classical version of ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perri. I find my eyes drawn to the aisle and everything around me ceases to exist when the love of my life makes her way down the aisle, dressed in the most beautiful dress I have ever seen her in. It fits her flawlessly. It’s strapless, giving me a clear view of her shoulders, shoulders that I happen to find sexy as hell. My eyes travel lazily down her body, and my dick almost goes hard as I take in the plunging neckline that makes her cleavage look incredible. My stare continues its downward journey, noticing the way the dress clings to her curves before it flows effortlessly to the floor.

She looks beautiful, almost angelic like.

Holy fuck … she’s … wow.

“Close your mouth, dude,” I hear Tyler whisper with a snigger beside me, but I pay him no attention as I find it impossible to tear my eyes away from the beauty that is Ava, watching the way the sunshine sparkles against her dress and how the light wind ripples against the long waves of her hair. I can’t keep the dream-like smile from my face as she nears, and I’m confident that my penetrating stare and my awe-like expression is making her nervous by the way her gaze continuously keeps flickering to the ground.

“My eyes are open. I know what I have to do,” I say to my brother without breaking my gaze from Ava, but out of the corner of my eye I see the shit-eating grin break free along his face and I know he knows exactly what I’m going to do.

“Can you at least wait until my girl comes down the aisle please? So I can warn her that you’re about to crash her wedding.”

I chuckle. “Sure thing.”

My laughter falters when Ava finally steps in front of me and it takes everything in me not to reach out and touch her, to bring her in my arms and never let go. She smiles hesitantly as she briefly meets my eyes before she looks back down, letting out a shuddered breath. I hate that she’s so nervous, but it probably doesn’t help that I’m currently eye fucking her entire body. It’s hard not to when she looks as incredible as she does.

“You look beautiful, baby,” I say as she steps to the right of the minister just below the wedding arch, and I can’t miss the way her smile widens at my words as her eyes look down at the flowers she holds in her hands. The other bridesmaids walk down the aisle one by one, but I don’t pay them any attention. My eyes stay locked on my girl, unable to look away. I frown when her body suddenly locks up, and her nostrils angrily flare as the last bridesmaid approaches. With a flicker of my eyes, I see that it’s Riley who seems to be looking only in my direction. Fuck.

“Ava,” I whisper, and she looks up with what looks to be tears in her eyes. My heart bottoms out and the need to wipe those tears of hurt that begin to fall down her face consumes every fiber of my being. My need to protect her, to look after her … to make her mine is all I can think about, and I need to start by wiping those tears away, and I will the moment Mia gets her ass down this aisle.

“I love you,” I mouth to Ava, focusing solely on those deep chocolate eyes of hers, my own eyes burning into them as if I’m trying to search into her very soul, demanding the deepest part of her to listen to me. That I love her and only her, and that no other woman is ever going to get in the way of that. That she is whom I want to live, breathe and die with. She is the person I want my all with. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Ava is my world, and I want to spend whatever time I have left on this earth with her and Lily, and any future children we might have.

Swallowing down my emotion, I force my focus to the aisle and smile proudly when I see my nephew, adorably suited and booted with a ring-bearer cushion in his hands, walking towards the alter with a toothy grin.

“Looking good, Junior,” I praise when he steps in front of me, giving him a quick high-five, which he excitedly reciprocates before he goes to stand beside Tyler. I return my attention to the aisle and watch as Mia rounds the corner with her father. I briefly glance towards my brother to see his mouth agape, his eyes trained on his wife-to-be as she begins her descent down the aisle, tears already brimming to the surface of his awe-struck eyes.

Normally I would have teased him, but since I spent the night almost on the verge of tears, struggling to cope without Ava in my arms, I’m hardly in the position to mock.

I glance back into the direction of Mia but not before stealing a peek at Ava. I stall, momentarily surprised when I find her pretty gaze on me; especially since this is the first time she’s looked at me for longer than half a second. However, the moment our eyes lock, she quickly looks away and returns her eyes to the front, without giving away a single thought, except for the flush of pink that begins to glow against her cheeks.

Mia finally approaches and even though no one can compare to Ava, I have to say Mia looks near enough as beautiful in her wedding dress that appears to be almost identical to the bridesmaid dresses, except it’s white and the train continues on for what seems like miles. Her smile is bright as her father presses a gentle kiss against her cheek before handing her over to Tyler. I find myself smiling as I watch the dumbfounded expression on my brother’s face, his eyes a mist with unshed tears as he takes in his fiancée and the beauty that glows from her. I’m so happy he’s finally found his soul mate, and I couldn’t be more honored to be experiencing this moment with him.

My heart rate picks up speed when he pulls her into him and whispers in her ear. A moment later her wide eyes fall onto me, a huge smile gradually taking over her face. She gives me an excited nod, before saying, “Well go on then. What the hell are you waiting for?” I chuckle under my breath, mouthing a quick, “Thank you,” before turning my attention back to Ava. My eyes penetrate hers with determination as I step in front of her, and I can tell by the way her eyes flicker from side to side that she’s nervous. Maybe even a little terrified as her shoulders suddenly begin to rise and fall, her breathing labored.

I take her soft hand in mine and breathe a sigh of relief when she doesn’t pull away. Thank God.

“Come here,” I say pulling her to the front of the altar.

“What are you doing?” she whispers in a panic-stricken voice, her eyes wide.

I take the flowers from her other hand and pass them to my mom on the front row. “What I should have done the moment you said yes to my proposal.” I ignore the questioning stares that I feel burning into my side from the guests and focus on the only person in the world that matters to me, taking her hands into mine.

“Ava, I’m so in love with you, and as I look at how incredibly beautiful you look right now, I know I’m the luckiest man alive … well, one of the luckiest men alive.” I wink at my brother before resuming my stance in Ava’s direction, my fingers clutching tightly against hers. “I spent a lifetime searching for something I didn’t know I was searching for, but it seems the moment you came into my life I knew I’d finally found it. I finally found the missing piece in my life. You are everything to me, and no one will ever compare, no one,” I emphasize, hoping to get it into her head that no one, including Riley, will ever have a piece of my heart. Only Ava will have that piece of me.