Still in shock, I shake my head. I thought Moffie believed in the whole only-marry-once thing too. The way she talked, she didn’t believe in divorce or anything else either. “Are you just saying this because you’re a fan?”
She grins. “Maybe. I’ve got enough time saved up that I could make a trip out to see you and the eye candy you locked down. Eli wouldn’t understand, but he’d still come support you no matter what. You’re family.”
I huff out a laugh, knowing she’s right. There’s nothing Eli wouldn’t do if it makes Moffie happy. And I want that someday too.
“And maybe Garrick knows Cannon,” she adds nonchalantly.
I glare at her, not finding her as funny as she thinks she is.
She giggles. “I’m just saying, this could be really good for you, girl. I forgive you for not telling me sooner, but now I’m invested.”
Great.
“So, what are you going to do?” she asks.
It isn’t until much later, long after we hang up when she had to stop one of her kids from drinking paint, that I walk downstairs when Garrick gets home. My hands are twisted together, my heart racing rapidly, my forehead dotted with anxious sweat as he looks up when I approach him.
He’s in the kitchen getting dinner ready, something with herbs and spices from the smell, when I blurt, “I’ll do it.”
He stares with raised brows.
I stare with nervous eyes.
And Garrick says, “Okay.”
11
Rylee
My heart is beating so hard that it vibrates my ears with every step I take alongside the man in a silk blue button-up and black dress pants. My eyes are glued to the shining polish of his dress shoes, which the florescent lights reflect off of as we walk. My lackluster flats and dress don’t compare to the material sophistication wrapped around his lean yet toned body.
Garrick tried offering me money to buy anything I wanted for the occasion—a new dress, shoes, anything to make me more comfortable. But instead of accepting the cash he’d handed me, I decided to don my best white summer dress that I haven’t worn in years that was a little too short and a pinch too tight, and my best pair of ballet flats. My hair is down and curled to the best of my ability, and I put makeup on that hides the dark circles under my eyes so nobody can see how little I’ve slept since agreeing to this.
Getting married.
Getting married to Garrick Matthews.
I wish my parents were here. Moffie. My grandparents. By the time I said ‘yes’ Garrick told me he’d get something set up two days from then. Forty-eight hours. Not a lot of time to plan a wedding, yet plenty of time to talk myself out of it and then back in again.
The deciding factor was the updated e-statement I got online for my monthly medication costs. A number that made me cry myself to sleep the night after I agreed to walk into this courthouse. There’d been a soft knock at the bedroom door before I’d drifted off, but I pretended not to hear it. Whoever was behind it thought better to leave me be.
Nausea settles into the pit of my stomach as the arm wrapped tenderly around mine stops us in front of the judge appointed to cement our fate with pretty words and dried ink.
Chase is standing off to the side, looking as dressed up as his older brother in a maroon shirt and gray slacks, watching the two of us with indifference.
When Garrick told him our plan, he hadn’t said anything for a long time. He studied both of us with a close eye, glanced back at his brother, and said, “Mom is going to kill you.”
I’d froze.
Garrick chuckled.
Chase agreed to be our witness.
Here we are.
It isn’t until we’re almost done repeating our vows, which I stumble over making Garrick’s blue eyes light up with humor and even Chase fight a secretive smile, that I realize what comes next.
When Judge Jenson says those six words that has my body locking, I try not to suck in a breath when the Australian in front of me steps closer until our shoes touch. One of his hands gently cups my cheek, his eyes seeking silent permission to kiss me, and I know I can’t say no.
Giving him a barely-there nod, he leans down and closes the gap between us. I swallow my startled breath when his pillowy lips brush against mine, not demanding more than a tender kiss for show. Blood rushes to my face when he pecks my bottom lip, then the top one, and finally both of them together before drawing back enough to graze his nose along my cheek and caress my parted lips with his warm breath.
My heart drums wildly as I run my tongue across my lips and try fighting the blush when his eyes watch me closely, noticing every little movement I make in awareness of his body right there towering over mine.
I take a step back with a shy smile, and with a safe distance between us again, the judge completes the ceremony looking about as pleased as he can be for two strangers. “I hope you two always find happiness with one another. Congratulations.”
The words strike me, a blow right to the heart, and Garrick must see the panic in my face. He takes my arm and places it on his, guiding me back out so Judge Jenson won’t see whatever mood I’m radiating. I can hear Chase follow behind us until we’re outside the judge’s quarters, and that’s when the reality of what I just did sinks in.
Oh my God, I’m married.
It isn’t until I know we’re clear before I let out a tiny breath that relieves some of the burning in my lungs, but the hyperawareness and unreadable emotion is still packed inside my chest cavity, imploding by the second.
It’s Chase who says, “There’s a car waiting out back for you two.
