Forever You

by Allie Everhart

  “He kissed you. I just saw him.”

  I roll my eyes.

  While Garret’s inside getting the drinks, his dad arrives with Lilly and Grace. Lilly runs up to the deck, then stops when she sees the strangers sitting there.

  “It’s okay, Lilly.” I go over and take her hand, leading her to the table. “This is Frank. And this is Ryan.”

  They both say hello to her but she doesn’t say hi back. Instead she steps closer to me, hugging my side. She’s not good with strangers since her parents never let her out of the house.

  “Is he your dad?” she asks, pointing at Frank.

  “Yes.” I keep my eyes on Frank as I say it. “He’s my dad.” I’ve never said that out loud before. Frank gets a huge grin on his face.

  “And Ryan is my brother,” I tell her.

  She relaxes her arms a little. “Garret’s my brother,” she tells Ryan.

  Ryan smiles at her. “Yeah, he told me all about you.”

  “My brother’s a really fast swimmer.” She lets me go and talks to Ryan. “He was on a swim team and everything.”

  Garret comes out with the drinks and sets them on the table. Then he picks up Lilly. “What did you do this morning?”

  “Grace took me to the park and I climbed on the bars.”

  “’Cause you’re a monkey?” He tickles her.

  “I’m not a monkey.” She giggles and squirms until he puts her down.

  Pearce helps Grace up the steps to the deck.

  “Hello, everyone,” Pearce says. “You must be Frank.” He holds his hand out to Frank. “Pearce Kensington. Nice to finally meet you.”

  Frank stands up and shakes his hand. “Nice to meet you as well.”

  “And you must be Ryan.” Pearce extends his hand to him and they shake.

  Ryan seems nervous. It is kind of nerve-wracking to meet a billionaire who’s somewhat well-known. Plus, Pearce is intimidating with his deep voice and large stature.

  “And this is Grace Sinclair.” Pearce steps aside and Grace shakes hands with Frank and Ryan.

  “Nice to meet you both,” she says.

  “And you as well,” Frank says as he gives her his chair.

  “I’ll go get some more chairs.” Garret leaves and comes back with some folding chairs we borrowed from Harper. She and Sean come over as well and we do the introductions again. Harper’s parents show up around 5, making for a very crowded deck.

  Sean and Garret set up a long table on the beach and we eat dinner out there. Sean made the entire meal after spending all day yesterday prepping food for the wedding. It’s so sweet of him to do all this for us.

  Later that night, Garret makes a bonfire on the beach and we bring our chairs out and sit around it. Harper shows Lilly how to make s’mores. Lilly’s never had one before.

  Harper just met Lilly and she already loves her. Earlier in the day, she showed Lilly her room and Lilly got so excited when she saw all of Harper’s pink clothes. Her sparkly headbands were also a hit. And Lilly really loved Harper’s nail polish collection, which is huge and all different shades of pink. The two of them are both obsessed with pink so I figured they’d get along.

  As I look at everyone sitting around the bonfire I can’t stop smiling. Grace is talking to Frank, Ryan is talking to Sean, and Pearce is helping Lilly roast marshmallows as Harper assembles another s’more. And Harper’s parents are holding hands, watching the fire burn.

  Seeing them all here, I feel like I finally have a family. A real family. People who care about me. I know I had Frank and Ryan for most of my teen years, but before I met Garret, I didn’t realize how much they cared about me. I used to keep Frank and Ryan at a distance, like I kept Garret at a distance. But as I started to open up more to Garret, I started opening up more with everyone. And now I can see how much Frank and Ryan love me. And I can see what a great friend Harper is, and I can accept and love Grace as my grandmother even knowing what her son did to my mom. I owe all of that to Garret. I wouldn’t be here today, feeling this way, if it weren’t for him.

  I lean over and kiss him.

  “Hey.” He’s holding my hand and he gently squeezes it as he kisses me back. “How’s it going?”

  “Good.” I rest my head on his shoulder and smile up at him. “I like this. Everyone here together. Happy. Having a good time.”

  He kisses my forehead. “Yeah, it’s nice, isn’t it?”

  “Really nice.”

  Everyone stays until 10, then goes back to their hotel. As I’m getting ready for bed, I notice how much more relaxed I feel now than I did last night. I had a few moments of panic today, thinking about the organization and what they might do, but then I’d get distracted by something Lilly was doing or something Frank was saying, and the panic would go away.

  Pearce said Roth and those other men flew back to New York right after the meeting. I was relieved knowing they’d left town but what really helped me feel better was having everyone around me all day. I felt safe and protected. And loved.

  Garret and I get into bed. I shiver a little because tonight the breeze coming in our window is chilly.

  “You cold?” he asks.

  “A little.”

  “You want me to close the window?”

  “No. I like hearing the waves.”

  He reaches down and pulls up the blanket that we keep at the bottom of the bed, then slips his arm under the sheet and pulls me back against his chest. “I’m going to miss you tomorrow night. You sure you want to stay at Harper’s? Because I really don’t want you to.”

  “I know, but it’ll make our wedding night more special. You’ll want me even more if you go without me for a night.”

  “I can’t possibly want you any more than I already do.” He says it right behind my ear as his hand dips down under my string bikinis.

  My breath catches. “What are you doing?”

  “What do you think I’m doing?”

  “It’s late and we have to get up early tomorrow. Don’t you want to sleep?”

  “If this is my last night with my girlfriend, I don’t give a shit about sleep.”

  I turn back to face him. “I didn’t even think about that. This is the last time I’ll spend the night with you being my boyfriend.”

  “And I want to have sex with my girlfriend one last time.” He kisses me and I feel my body getting all hot and tingly.

  “After we do it here, could we do it in the shower?” My voice is a little too eager.

  Garret laughs. “I fucking love you, Jade. And yes, we can do it in the shower.”

  Over the course of the night we end up doing it twice in the bed and once in the shower. We didn’t get much sleep, but Friday morning I wake up feeling full of energy. I think I’m on a high from being so excited about the wedding. I’m sure I’ll crash when it’s over but for now I’m wide awake.

  The rest of Friday is a complete blur. Everyone comes over to the house late morning and we set up chairs and blankets on the beach and just hang out there all afternoon. Lilly plays in the sand. Frank takes a nap. Grace reads. Harper and her mom talk and read magazines. Garret and his dad surf. Who knew Pearce could surf? Kiefer’s out there surfing, too. Ryan attempts to surf, after a brief lesson from Garret. And I just sit and watch, taking in the scene.

  Sean is the only one working, but he won’t let anyone help in the kitchen so we leave him alone. He likes to blast his music and be alone while he cooks.

  It’s a fun and relaxing day but it goes way too fast. Andrew, the guy who’s marrying us, shows up at 5 and we have our wedding rehearsal, which isn’t really necessary given how small and informal our wedding is, but we do it anyway. And we let Lilly practice tossing her flower petals around.

  Afterward, we have dinner, which of course Sean insisted on making. Tomorrow he hired people from the restaurant he works at to set up and serve everything and clean up afterward. I gave him money and forced him to hire people because I want him to enjoy the reception with Harper and not
be hidden away in the kitchen.

  Friday night I go next door to stay with Harper. Sean goes over to stay at our place. There’s no bachelor party but Garret ordered pizzas and invited Ryan over and the three guys are watching action films all night.

  Harper and I get takeout from a restaurant in town and bring it back to her place. After we eat, she paints my nails and toenails, then does her own.

  “I’m going to miss you, Harper,” I say as I watch her paint her big toe with light pink polish.

  “Don’t start, Jade.” She keep her eyes on her toes. “I don’t want to cry tonight. I’ll be crying enough at your wedding.”

  “I’m just saying this summer is going so fast. School’s only a month away and then we’ll live on opposite coasts.”

  A tear drips down her cheek and lands on her freshly painted toe. “Dammit, Jade. Look what you did. Now I have to redo that one.” She sets her polish aside and looks at me. “I was going to say this tomorrow but I’ll just say it now since I’m already crying.” She wipes her cheeks. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. The friends I had growing up in LA weren’t that great of friends. They acted nice and came to my parties and we hung out, but I knew they were only friends with me because my dad’s famous and because we have money. And yeah, I have some friends at Moorhurst, but it’s not the same. I’m not friends with them like I am with you.” She sniffles. “Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that.”

  I give her a hug. “I feel the same way. I’ve never had a friend like you. You’ll always be my best friend, Harper.”

  She smiles and wipes the tears from her face.

  I reach over to the table next to us and grab the box of tissues. “Sorry I made you cry.”

  “It’s fine.” She takes a couple tissues from the box. “I already cried earlier today. And last night. I cry way too much, don’t I?” She laughs.

  “Why were you crying earlier today and last night?”

  “Just stuff with my parents.”

  “Does it have to do with Sean?”

  She nods. “They don’t like him so they’re being really mean to him and I can’t figure it out. I mean, yeah, Sean’s not wealthy but he’s a really good person. And he loves me. But for some reason, that’s not enough for them. I don’t want to talk about it. They’ll come around eventually.”

  Harper is a talker, so if she says she doesn’t want to talk about something, she really doesn’t want to talk about it, so I don’t ask her about it. I let her lead the conversation for the rest of the night, which of course means we end up talking about guys and kissing and sex.

  She considers this my bachelorette party so she gets her laptop out and pulls up photos of naked men. I’ll admit the guys are really hot but they don’t do much for me. I have my own guy who’s way hotter and right next door. Looking at all these guys just makes me miss Garret. I can’t wait to be with him tomorrow night.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  22

  It’s Saturday. My wedding day. And I’m not nervous at all. This is what I want. I want to be Garret’s wife. I want him to be my husband. I want to be with him forever and I can’t wait for that forever to start. And now it’s just a few hours away.

  I didn’t sleep much last night because I’m so excited about today. Plus, it’s hard to sleep without Garret next to me. I’ve been lying awake since 6 this morning, waiting for the day to begin. Harper came into the guest room at 7 to wake me up, all giggly and girly, almost as excited as me about today.

  As we’re eating breakfast, someone knocks on the door.

  “Can you get it?” Harper asks. She’s making one of her healthy green juice drinks. She has a juicer and uses it every day to make these strange juice concoctions.

  I open the door to find Garret standing there, freshly shaved, his hair still a little wet, wearing a light-blue fitted t-shirt and shorts.

  “Good morning,” he says.

  A huge smile lights up my face, and his, too, as he lifts me up into his arms and kisses me. I kiss him back and we keep kissing until we hear Harper yelling from the kitchen.

  “Are you guys ever going to stop?” She’s laughing. “We have things to do today.”

  Garret sets me down, keeping his eyes on me. “I missed you last night. I barely slept.”

  “Yeah, me, too,” I say, gazing back at him.

  He pulls me outside so Harper won’t bother us. “So today’s the day. You nervous?”

  I hug his chest, breathing in his freshly showered scent. “Not at all. I can’t wait to marry you.”

  He kisses the top of my head and holds me closer. “God, you feel good. I can’t believe you made me sleep alone last night. That totally sucked, Jade.”

  I look up at him. “Yeah, but now I want you more than ever. I thought about you all night, so don’t expect to get much sleep tonight.”

  “I don’t think I can wait until tonight.” He leans down and whispers. “Let’s go back to our room.”

  His warm breath tickles my neck, making me shiver. “No, we’re waiting until tonight. I’m done with boyfriend sex. The next time I do it I want it to be with my husband.”

  He puts his lips to mine. “You’re killing me. But if that’s what you want, we’ll wait.”

  Harper pokes her head out the door. “Garret, you want breakfast?”

  “Sure. Sean will be over any minute.” Garret laughs as we follow her to the kitchen. “I don’t think he liked staying at our place last night. That air mattress isn’t exactly comfortable. I think he ended up sleeping on the floor.”

  “Really?” She pouts. “Now I feel bad. I should’ve just had him stay over here.”

  She sets two glasses of green liquid in front of Garret and me as we take a seat at the table.

  “What’s this?” I hold up the glass.

  “Just drink it,” she says as she disassembles the juicer to clean it.

  “I’m not drinking this.” I sniff it. “It’s green and it smells like grass.”

  Garret laughs as he holds his own glass up. “There’s no way in hell she’ll drink that, Harper. I don’t even know if I’ll drink it.”

  She stands there facing us with her hands on her hips. “Come on. Just try it. It’s oranges, spinach, strawberries, protein powder, and some fresh herbs. It cleanses your system and makes your skin glow.”

  “My skin already glows.” I set the glass down and lean over to kiss Garret.

  “The herbs increase your stamina,” she says, going back to cleaning her juicer. “You might want to try it, Garret.”

  He huffs and looks at me, annoyed. “What are you telling her? That I don’t have stamina?”

  “I didn’t tell her anything. Harper, look what you started. Now he’s mad at me.”

  “I’m not mad at you.” He pulls me onto his lap and starts kissing me. I kiss him back, forgetting the fact that we’re in Harper’s kitchen.

  “Okay, you two.” I hear her behind me, laughing. “Are you really not going to drink these?”

  I look back and see her holding the glasses. Garret takes one from her. “I’ll drink it.”

  “I thought you didn’t need it,” I say.

  “I don’t. But since she made it for us I might as well try it.” He takes a big gulp. “It’s not that bad if you can get past the grassy smell.”

  Sean comes walking in, going right up to Harper and kissing her. “Hey. Missed you last night.”

  “Oh, yeah?” She uses her flirty tone. “I made you something.” She hands him a glass of the green juice.

  He eyes it, then smiles back at Harper. “So I guess we’re not sleeping tonight.”

  She shakes her head, smiling. Apparently she’s made this drink before and tested its effects.

  Garret’s watching the interaction, still holding his drink. “So this shit really works?”

  Sean glances at us. “Yeah, buddy. You drink that and you’ll be amazed at the results.”

  “Huh.” Garret hesitates, then gulps the rest
of it down. Then he grabs mine and drinks it.

  I’m staring at him.

  “What?” He sets the glass down. “I’m getting my fruit in for the day.”

  I shake my head at him just as his phone rings. It’s his dad telling him what time he’ll be over. And then Harper’s phone rings and then Sean’s. And from that moment on, there’s a flurry of wedding day activity.

  Sean’s restaurant friends come over and get to work on the food. The company we hired to set up the outside arrives, and the florist brings the flowers over.

  Before I know it, it’s late afternoon and Harper hides me away in her room, telling Garret I’m hers until the wedding starts. While Harper does my hair and makeup, Kelly and Lilly hang out with us. Kelly paints Lilly’s tiny fingernails and toenails a bright, bubble-gum pink. Lilly picked the color. She’s so excited about it Kelly can barely get Lilly to sit still long enough for her to paint all 10 fingers and toes.

  If Katherine found out we did this, she’d totally freak. Lilly’s never had her nails painted because Katherine thinks nail polish on children is tacky and inappropriate. But Katherine’s not here and I checked with Pearce before we did it and he was totally fine with it.

  Later, Kelly helps Lilly put on the pink dress we got her and the little white sandals. Then she uses a curling iron to curl Lilly’s normally straight blond hair. She looks so cute. She’s like one of her little dolls. I make Harper take a photo of her with my phone and then she takes one with hers.

  “I’m just like a princess!” Lilly says, twirling in front of the mirror. The dress has a knee-length skirt that flares out as she twirls.

  She comes up to me. “You look like a princess, too.”

  “Yeah, we all do. We all have pretty dresses.” I’m now in my wedding dress, sitting on a tall stool while Harper messes with the pins in the back of my hair.

  Lilly’s staring at me. “You look really pretty.”

  “Thank you. You look pretty, too.”

  Kelly takes Lilly’s hand. “Let’s go get your flower basket.”

  Harper waits for them to leave, then says, “She’s so cute. I have to go visit her when I’m back at school. You think Pearce would let me babysit?”