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Yeah, he had no desire to go there again

Haven reached under the table and grabbed his thigh, forcefully stilling his leg He glanced at her cautiously and she ser in her expression She could usually tell when he was struggling "Are you okay?" she asked

"Yeah, I’ll be fine," he replied The tension started receding frolowed, and his chest swelled with e she saw the sa to Car else, s or alcohol had ever been She was his world, his fucking life, and now she was his wife

His wifeould have ever thought Carmine DeMarco would have a wife?

"You should eat your food," she said quietly, her s mischievous as she turned her attention back to her plate "You’ll need the energy later"

He groaned at the insinuation and stabbed the meat on his plate It seemed to be some kind of pork, but he wasn’t entirely sure Celia had handled the caterers because neither Haven nor he really cared much about the for so the motherfuckers help themselves, but evidently that wouldn’t fly with the company they kept "Don’t worry, Haven I’ll have plenty of energy for you"

"Oh, I’m not worried," she said as she took a bite "You should be, though"

He laughed as he started eating, already feeling better The shakiness was usually fleeting, although the thoughts were always in the back of hisa drink when Dolass with his fork, calling for everyone’s attention "I think everyone here knoho I am but in case you don’t, my nah he’d never admit that He has, however, admitted that I’m the best man, and as the best man it’s my duty to stand up here and try to embarrass his ass," he started "There’s so much I could say about Carmine, so many words out there to describe him that it’s almost impossible to knohere to start He’s stubborn, foolish, finicky, e, and even quicker to react I tend to think he’s pretty ugly, too, but that’s just my personal opinion"

"Fuck you," Carh his hair

"I forgot to add he has a foul ot to witness today The priest is probably blessing the church again right now," he said humorously "Some lesser-known qualities about Carmine are that he’s protective over the people he loves, and he fights for what he believes in He co selfish, but he’s probably the most selfless person I know

"And then there’s Haven, who has to be the most patient person alive to put up with him At first she and Carirl that was experiencing everything for the first time and the jaded, reckless boy as pretty much sick of it all I don’t think any of us could’ve predicted that these two people from different ends of the spectrum would meet in the middle, but they did They balanced each other, found peace in each other, and together they ed to find love I know that sounds cheesy, like I’, but it’s the truth What they have is rare"

Car under the table to take his hand as Dominic continued

"I don’t know if you all know this, but in high school my brother was kind of a hotshot football player," he said "I’ ht me is that relationships are like football in a lot of ways It’s a teaether to be successful There are highs and lows, good plays and bad calls, and if you’re going to step out on the field, you need to be ready to play the ga on how bad you screwed up, they can cost you a fortune before you’re allowed back on the playing field There will always be rivals, people trying to knock you out of the ga to show for your hard work But it’s not over there, you know That’s when it really starts, because for the rest of your life you’ll be trying to prove to everyone that you, out of everyone, deserved to be given that ring"

He paused, snickering to hiest way relationships are like football, though No matter what you do, no matter what happens, the point of both is to score asis really just a waste of ti her napkin at Do right back into his speech "I think I should wrap this up My old lady’s throwing penalty flags," he joked, holding his glass up "So on behalf of my wife, Tess, and I, I want to toast the couple To Carmine, who couldn’t do better, and to Haven, who quite frankly, couldn’t do worse"

They raised their glasses in toast as Car it was time for the first dance Panic flashed in Haven’s eyes as he took his jacket off She hesitated before letting him lead her out onto the empty dance floor He could tell she was unco, but she tried her best not to let her nerves show

He pulled her to hi, his hands on her hips guiding her as they started swaying to the ers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck as she stared into his eyes He could see the tears she fought back, her eyes sparkling under the lights

"I love you," he said quietly

"I know you do," she replied, her s "I love you, too"

"I’ up the ceremony"

"Don’t be silly You didn’t mess it up"

"I cursed at Father Alberto, Haven," he said "I broke the third commandment Or maybe it’s the second"

"It’s the third," she said "And it’s not that big of a deal I mean, that’s not the only commandment you’ve broken and I’m sure it won’t be the last one, either"

"Is that supposed to ed nonchalantly "Yeah, well, I didn’t break any others standing in the middle of a church"