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Did he really declare his love for me over the airport PA? Dutch Cross? Ruler of Redwood Prep? More cheesy than heroes at the end of a romantic comedy? My lips curl up. He glances over his shoulder and his eyebrows furrow. “What’s so funny?” “Everything with you has to be intense, doesn’t it?” His nose scrunches. He doesn’t understand. I don’t either.
“There are some things I need to clarify.” Dutch growls, turning to look at me with those sharp eyes. “And I need you to listen because I mean every word.” I nod.
“My mom told me about my grandmother’s will recently, but I wanted to marry you long before that. The night I came to your apartment, I’d already decided that my future belonged to you.”
He juts his chin down. Prowls in the other direction. “I’ve been trying to get you pregnant.” I flinch. He stops and stares at me. “I want you to have my children, but not at the cost of losing you.”
“You’re mine, Cadey. Always have been. Always will be and nothing can change that. No one can change that. Not my dad. Not my brothers. Not… even if I find out you’re pregnant with Hunter’s child, I’d still lay my life down for you and the baby.”
“Listen up and listen well, Cadence. I told you once that I’ll love who you love and I’ll hate who you hate. If one day, you’re pregnant and it’s Hunter’s baby, I’ll love him like it’s my own damn blood.”
“I’d rather have you and some other guy’s baby than not have you at all.”
“Tell me,” he demands, an edge of violence to his voice. “Tell me I haven’t lost you.” “I showed up, didn’t I?” His eyes narrow. “I want to hear it.”
“I wanted to hate you. You’re annoying. You’re pushy. You’re absolutely unreasonable.” His eyes narrow slightly. “But,” I push up on my tiptoes, “I don’t hate you. I never really did.”
“I love you, Dutch.”
“Again, Cadey.” “You heard me the first time,” I whisper, my fingers sliding over his broad shoulders.
“Scared already?” “We’re not going to be that cheesy couple who says ‘I love you’ every second. That’s gross,” I murmur. Dutch’s breath whispers across my lips and I shiver. “We are going to be that gross couple,” he grinds out. “It’s…” My eyes open. “Inevitable?”
“Marry me,” he growls. “Be my wife, Cadey.” I don’t think in that moment. I just feel and let it sit. My choice. What do I want? And Dutch waits. For several seconds, we stand there, staring at each other. I tilt my head up. “Yes.”
“Where’s the bow tie?” Finn asks, slouched in the corner of the pristine white sofa. “I’m not a bow tie kind of guy.” Zane rolls his eyes. Finn scolds me, “Cadence chose this suit for you. You should wear it the right way.”
Zane stands beside me and whispers in my ear, “It might be nerves.” “Or…” Finn joins me too. His almond-shaped eyes bore into mine. “It might be—” “A baby?” Vi says excitedly.
“Marriage doesn’t change people, Zane. It only joins what’s already there. That’s why you shouldn’t jump into it without making sure your partner’s ready.” He glances at the bathroom stall. “Are you sure you want to go through with it? He’s not going to get any better than this.” “Screw off, Finn. I’m leaving. I’m leaving.” I stomp out. I hear Vi and my brothers laughing at me.
“Hey, Dutch,” Bex says, “since I kindly lent you boys my penthouse, how about you return the favor by opening for me next year on my world tour? You’ll be out of high school by then.” I smirk. “I’ll think about that after I make the best decision of my life.”
It’s time to make Cadence Cooper a Mrs.
“I’ll always be here for you, Cadey.”
“Cadence Cooper, I’m going to love you, honor you and serve you for the rest of your life. Words don’t mean a damn. So take this as day one of me showing you—and I’m going to show you every day going forward—why you’re the most important person in my life.”
I look up at Dutch. “I won’t promise you that I’ll always say what you want to hear. Or that I’ll always do what you tell me to do.” “You don’t do that already,” Zane mumbles. Vi laughs. “But I will promise you that I’ll be with you through thick and thin. The world might not understand us, but they don’t have to. We’ll make our own world. And we’ll rule it together. There will never be a Dutch Cross without Cadence Cooper.”
“With the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
She inhales a deep breath and lets it out. “I don’t know what’s going on, but your mother…” Vi’s eyes widen and she flings me a desperate look. Miss Jamieson croaks, “your mother is dead.”
