The wedding was beautiful of course, besides the moment when a pigeon was wheeled down the aisle in a special cart made just for him, the rings next to him in boxes. Not quite sure what that was about, but the pigeon did have a tuxedo on, so that was pretty legit.

The entire time when JP and Kelsey were reading their vows, I held on to Myla’s hand, remembering the day we shared our vows. We eloped. She hadn’t wanted to deal with a big wedding when she had just lost her dad and disconnected from her mom, so we took Banner and Nichole with us, had them FaceTime the rest of the family, and got married on the edge of a cliff in the Grand Canyon. It was intimate and perfect, everything we’d ever dreamed of.

I wondered if she was thinking of the same thing.

Honestly, I have no clue what she’s thinking at this point. When she told me she was proud of me, I was . . . hell, I was blown away. I was not expecting that at all. Given our situation and where the trouble started, I never would have assumed that she was proud of me. So hearing that nearly broke me.

Made me feel guilty.

Made me feel proud.

Made me love her so much more.

“I’m guessing since I saw you two dancing together earlier that things have changed since this morning?” Banner asks.

“I don’t know if changed is the right word. I think things just shifted.” I lift my drink to my lips before saying, “She told me she was proud of me this morning. Proud of the ESPN segment and what we’ve accomplished.”

“Oh shit, really?” he asks. “That’s unexpected.”

“Tell me about it,” I say as I lean my elbow against the bar-height table we’re standing at. “And I can’t decide if she was telling me everything was going to be okay or if she was closing the chapter, you know? Like letting me know she forgives me.”

Banner rubs the side of his jaw. “Yeah, that’s a tough one. I have no fucking clue. It seems like you two have been getting along so well, though.”

“Yeah, I know. And that’s what terrifies me because I think we could make this work. I hurt her deeply by ignoring her needs. Her dreams. Her. Fuck, I hate that I did that to her. And I need to rectify that. I need to make changes that show her that I love her more than anything else in my life. And then hopefully . . . hopefully, she’ll want to stay married to me.”

“Sounds wise, brother,” Banner says. “I guess enjoy this day with her, and when you get to talk to her, tell her how you feel. How you need to make changes.”

“She doesn’t want to stay in California. That poses a huge problem, especially with this new opportunity.”

Banner shifts and says, “Yeah, that sort of does.” He’s quiet for a second. “Do you think you’re going to take it?” When he looks up at me, I see it in his eyes, the realization that there is a possibility that I might not, which means destroying his dreams and the hard work we’ve put forward on this project.