Acacia was next to Cassie on the bed, giving a spirited lecture about which exercises were best for your lats, despite neither of her best friends listening. Parker was on the other bed, which she got to herself since she was the graduate.
“Cassie,” Parker said, a snap in her voice like this was important.
Cassie locked her phone, put it in her pocket, and gave Parker her undivided attention. “What’s up?”
“Why aren’t you married to my mom?”
Acacia whipped her head toward Parker. Cassie’s mouth went dry.
“What?”
“Why aren’t you married to my mom?” Parker asked again. “Like, you’re not even engaged? It’s been like four years.”
Cassie swallowed. Her adrenaline was through the fucking roof. She was either too drunk for this conversation, or decidedly not drunk enough.
“Uh—” Good start, Klein, good start. “Because—”
“Do you not want to marry my mom?”
“No, I do,” Cassie said immediately. “I mean, like, I want to be with her forever—I don’t really care if that means we get married or—”
“You don’t care if you get married?”
Cassie felt like she was fucking this up. Acacia was watching like it was a tennis match, back and forth and back again.
“Look, Parker, you know I’m crazy insanely in love with your mom. She’s—she’s everything, honestly, and if she wanted to marry me and you were cool with that, yeah, fuck, absolutely, I would love to marry Erin.”
She’d never said any of that out loud before, had hardly even thought it, to be honest. They’d never talked about it. It wasn’t like her genes had a great track record with commitment of any kind, and Erin had a marriage go south already. Marriage had always seemed like a worthless piece of paper, really, but the idea of being married to Erin? Cassie couldn’t help the way she grinned.
“If I was cool with that?” Parker said.
“Yeah,” Cassie said. “Like. I know some people ask the father first or whatever? I’d definitely ask you.”
“First of all,” Parker started, and Cassie was certain she was about to get a feminist rant, but Acacia cleared her throat and Parker reined it in. “I won’t even get started on how fucking ridiculous it is that you would need anyone’s permission but my mom’s. And second of all, here’s my blessing. Marry my mom. I’m cool with it.”
Cassie’s face split wider with her smile. She fished her phone out of her pocket and was halfway to writing a message when Acacia pulled it from her hands. Cassie looked up at her quizzically.
“Maybe a drunk message is not the best way to propose?” Acacia said gently.
“Holy shit, I have to propose,” Cassie said. “You guys, oh my God, help me, what should I do? It has to be perfect, you guys.”
Parker groaned. “She’s not gonna shut up the rest of the night. I never should have said anything.”
ERIN
Erin knew Cassie would say yes.
After all, she’d been the one to suggest it when they were buying the lake house.
“Would this all be easier if we were married?” Cassie had asked their real estate agent.
“Well,” the agent had said, noticing the way Erin’s eyes had bugged out, even if Cassie hadn’t. “A joint bank account would have simplified the paperwork, but it doesn’t make much of a difference, and the contracts have already been prepared.”
Cassie shrugged. “Figured I might as well ask. It’s not like I’m not gonna be hers forever anyway, you know?”
It was a throwaway line, like it was no big deal. When Erin had kissed her senseless the moment they were alone, Cassie—once she’d gotten her breath back—had gaped at her and said, “What was that for?”
That was when Erin had decided to propose.
She’d already known she’d be Cassie’s forever, too, but that made her want to make it official. Standing up in front of their family and friends, announcing it, This is my person—she wanted that.
Erin also knew she could’ve proposed to Cassie at breakfast, or in the car, or the grocery store, or anywhere. Cassie was hardly the type to need a big production. Erin wanted to give her one anyway. Or—she at least wanted to make it special, because it was. She wanted to make it fit her feelings on the whole situation—that even if a marriage license were just a piece of paper, the idea of marrying Cassie meant a lot to her.