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“Then do it,” I challenged. I held her a few inches away so she could see I wasn’t kidding. “Marry me tomorrow, Cassie.”

Her mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”

“I’m completely fucking serious.”

She was amazed. “You are serious. You really are.”

“We could get our marriage license in the morning. I’ve been saving money to buy you a ring so we’ll go shopping and then we’ll go downtown to the courthouse in the afternoon. They perform ceremonies on a walk-in basis. I checked.”

“What about everyone else?”

“We can ask your parents, your sisters, Dalton and Breck to be witnesses. And then later on if you want we can have another ceremony in front of family and friends.” I brushed my lips across hers. “Cass, I know I don’t have the resources to give you the dream wedding you deserve. And we don’t have to do it this way if it’s not what you want. But sweetheart, I would be the happiest son of a bitch on earth if I could call you my wife by this time tomorrow.”

“Curtis,” she whispered. She wiped a tear from her eyes. “You’ll never stop surprising me, will you?”

“I hope not.”

She kissed me. “Then yes,” she whispered against my mouth, “I will marry you tomorrow.”

Our kiss deepened while my hands started roaming and events were on the verge of getting interesting when she suddenly leapt to her feet.

“I have to call Cami! I have to call my mom! Oh my god, I have to find a dress!”

She scurried into the apartment in search of her phone. She must have called Cami first because I heard a lot of excited carrying on and a maid of honor request.

“I have the dress I bought for Easter and never wore,” she was saying. “No, it’s not white, but it’s very light pink. I’m getting married, Cams. Can you believe it?”

I left the patio just as Cassie was ending the call with her sister. Brecken emerged from his bedroom and blinked at us.

“What’s going on?” he wanted to know.

“Curtis,” Cassie laughed. “Brecken wants to know what’s going on.”

I slid my arm around Cassie’s shoulders and faced my little brother.

“You got any plans tomorrow afternoon?” I asked him.

“Plans?” He scratched his head. “I don’t know, either I’ll take a bus to the mall or go down to the baseball field and hang out. Why?”

“Because I’d like to ask you to be my best man.”

He was confused. “Huh?”

Cassie clapped her hands together. “We’re getting married!”

Brecken raised an eyebrow. “Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow.”

A slow grin spread across his face. “No fucking kidding?”

“No kidding,” I said, ignoring his language for once. “Make sure your good pants are clean.”

Brecken continued to stare at us and when he realized we were indeed serious his lip quivered with emotion. “I really love you guys,” he said.

Cassie went to him with her arms out and wrapped him in a hug. “We love you too, Breck.”

I hugged him next. Life hadn’t always been easy for Brecken. His mother abandoned him and ultimately wound up in prison. He lost the only home he ever knew growing up and was dumped into the care of a clueless older brother who hadn’t even figured his own shit out yet. I was already so proud of the man he would become. And I was proud of the home Cassie and I had made for him. I could manage to be proud of that now. Even though I’d also lost Tristan along the way.

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