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“So you really are a momma’s boy, huh?”
“You’ve met my mom. Seen how she fusses over me. Imagine that times ten as a kid. I’m the youngest and the only boy. Double whammy. Quinn and Tara hated it growing up.”
You’re fucking gorgeous.” His words are laced with awe, like he can’t even process what he’s seeing.
“Cassie, you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You’re going to walk in there and all eyes are going to be on you. Everyone is going to wonder how on earth I scored a fuckin’ eleven.”
“We’re gonna work on this.” “On what?” “This fucked-up idea you have of yourself.” “I don’t have—” “You do, Cass. And it’s fine. Gives me somethin’ to do. I’ll spend as long as I need to show you how beautiful you are. Run to the ends of the earth. Tell you every day you’re gorgeous, remind you how damn hard you make me. Whatever it takes until you see what the rest of the world sees.” “I’ve got a belly and—” “Shut up. You shut up and you kick those assholes out of your head. You don’t let them get to you, don’t let them tell you how to feel about yourself when you’re the most beautiful
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“No, not talking about this anymore. You’re not gonna shed a single fuckin’ tear. Not now. Not with me. We’re going to walk down those stairs, sit in the stupid fuckin’ ceremony room, and watch your scumbag father marry a gold digger. Then we’re going to drink and eat and dance on their dime, have a blast, and then I’m going to come back here, strip you down, and remind you you’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.” And like always, when he sets down the law, I agree with a soft, craggy, “Okay, Luke.”
“The fact you cheated on her mother for years is your business. Even the fact that you barely talk to your daughter—your own business. The fact you clearly invite her to these events to use as a punching bag, to get a laugh? Fucked. But the fact you look at your daughter, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and say that, make a young girl feel shame in her own body, fuck with her confidence, fuck with her emotions and how she sees the world? You’re scum.”
“You want to change your shit, you come to me. You come talk to me and I’ll decide if you get that chance. Any business dealings with Dawson Financials? Consider them done.”
“I can and I will. My father is a family man.”
“He finds out you treat blood like this, any ties you have are severed. I’m a lot like my father, cuttin’ ties easy.” “This is ridiculous—” “What’s ridiculous is you neglected a little girl and still fuck with her head as a grown woman. What’s fucked is she is absolutely terrified of hitching herself to any man because all she’s ever seen is the shit you handed her and her mother. She’s so fuckin’ scared, so sure all men are hiding things like you did, festering garbage within a pretty Trojan horse, she built a business around helping women avoid it.”
Free of this man. Luke cut the tie I needed to snip years ago for my sanity, and now I’m free of it.
Every single man wished like fuck he was in my shoes, getting that smile from you.”
“Makin’ it my mission to show you how fucking beautiful and sexy you are, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, Cassie. This is all mine. All fuckin’ mine. I’m keeping it, you hear me? Keeping you. Keeping this fuckin’ beauty for myself.”
“I am, Cass. You keep fooling yourself, telling yourself what you need to. But I’m keeping you. This is mine, not letting any other man have it.”
“Don’t you see it? Don’t you see how fucking beautiful you are? Absolutely perfect, the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen. All of this, fucking perfect.” The words catch at the small tear in my heart, one of thousands, catching it like a tiny threaded needle, adding a single stitch to the tear. Not enough to repair it —no, that’s my job. Only I can do the repairs, but a single stitch, a splint to keep it safe while I do the work.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met,”
“There’s no way you can think that, Cass. Not after these past weeks. Not after Friday, after yesterday. This is more, Cassie. This is not you setting me up. We talked about this. We are more. We’re fucking great together.”
It’s because I’m different. We’re different. I knew it from the first day, when I found you cryin’ on the side of the road. Walked to your car, had you yellin’ at me for showing up late, and I think I knew then. You were it for me, attitude and fuckin’ mascara face and all. You’re so damn scared, though. I want to help, Cass. I do. But I need you to fuckin’ work with me.”
“I told you that first date I was keeping you. I’m here. I’m keeping you. You want to push me away, fine. You want to be Cassie, want to be scared and convince yourself we have nothing, fine. You need me to prove I’m not a piece of shit, that I’m real and I’m yours? I’ll wake every fuckin’ morning just to do that. I’ll wake up and do everything in my power to prove it to you. But what we’re not doing is this. You lying to me, lying to yourself. Telling yourself we’re less than we are.” The look in his eyes… I want to fall. I want to let myself go. I want it. So. Damn. Bad. But I…
Insecurities I find to be her more beautiful parts.
That means he’s kept this dumb fortune in his pocket or in his wallet for three weeks. Brought it with him everywhere. Brought me with him everywhere. No man has ever done that, cared enough about me to want to carry me with him.
Don’t let that smile get to you and let him get away with everything. He needs someone to keep him on his feet, keep him in line.”
And somehow, despite all of that, you’re the most beautiful person I know. You’re kind and generous, a friend to everyone. You make me laugh, and you try to act mad when I do dumb shit, but you don’t hold it against me.
I’m going to work on it. I need… I need to get over this. Learn how to deal with it, to love myself. Because the way I feel when I’m with you? The person I am when we’re together? You make me want to love that person. As you put it, I need to learn how to shut up the hurt little girl.
I know I’m not perfect. I’m not the daydream, but I’ll try. I’ll try every day. If you can put up with my crazy and be patient with me, I’m setting it all aside. I’m ignoring the fears and anxiety and the wall, and I’m letting you in. I want you to show me how beautiful life is, what it’s like to let people in. You and Gabi and your family and your friends… you’ve shown me already just how beautiful life can be. I want more. If you’ll take me.”
“Cassie, the fact you have to ask if I’ll take you back is funny. But the fact you thought it was even an option for you is even more hilarious. No way in hell was I letting you get away from me. I was going to give you time to breathe, sure. But let you get away? Not a chance. I needed to sit back, lick my wounds, ask the experts for help before I took on the next part of my battle plan.”
“I’m also a man, meaning she thinks everything I do is tinged a bit with male stupidity.” “She’s not wrong,”
“This is gonna work, Cass. We’re gonna have to work for it. You’re going to have to trust me, and I promise to keep you safe, guard your heart, but it’s going to take time, okay? And when you get scared, I need you to talk to me. There’s nothing we can’t get past if it’s us together.”
Cassie is mine forever.
After our lunch, we went to the small bookstore in town I could spend hours in,
“Love fighting with you. Love that you don’t let me get away with shit and call me out, that you like to bust my balls. I love that you’ve learned to let people in—God, baby, look at this room, all these people. They all love you as much as I do.” Sobs gets stuck in my throat, transforming from frustrated back to awed in a moment.
“You’re beautiful. So beautiful, Cassie, inside and out. Everyone knows it and wants to be in your universe because of it. You’re kind and dedicated, live to give people fairytales and happily ever afters and protect them from disappointment. And now it’s your turn.” And then it happens, and I can’t control the hitch in my throat. The tears instantly start rolling. Luke goes down onto one knee, staring up at me with his big green eyes, his dimple, and his huge smile pointed at me and only me. “Cassie, will you do me the honor of being my wife? Let me make your life a fairytale, show you how
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Because he didn’t just give me himself, his love, his trust. He gave me this—people to surround me and support me, help me when I’m down and cheer with me when I’m up. I know deep in my soul he’ll never lead me astray; he’ll always be faithful and kind and the man I fell for. So with that in mind, knowing all he’s given me, all he will give me, I say the only thing I can. “Okay, Luke.”
