Page 245 of Promising You
“I don’t know. Next year. Two years. Three years. Whenever you’re ready.”
“I’d marry you this summer if you wanted me to.”
“Are you serious? Because I would totally do that.”
“Then let’s not wait. We can get married on the beach. I don’t need a fancy wedding. I just want this. Us.”
“I do, too, but we’re only 19.”
“We both turn 20 in a few months. And I don’t care about our age. I love you and that’s not going to change, so why wait?”
“I agree. But you know that some people aren’t going to be happy about this. Like Frank. He may be okay with us getting engaged, but he’ll want us to wait until we’re older to get married.”
“He’ll have to get over it. I’m done letting other people make decisions for us. They’ve been trying to do it since we met, but they’re not going to do it anymore. We’re together now and I’m not letting anyone come between us.”
Garret’s smiling at me. “You did it again, Jade.”
“Did what?”
“You added to my list again. You gave me another reason why I love you. I’m going to have to stock up on notebooks.”
“I don’t get it. What’s the reason?”
“You’ll find out when I give you the updated list.”
“When’s that going to be?”
“I don’t know. Maybe our 10-year anniversary.”
“I have to wait that long to find out?”
“Yeah. Why? You aren’t planning to stick around for that long?”
I lean over and kiss him. “I’m not going anywhere. I told you. You’re stuck with me.”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Once again, he pretends this is a bad thing. “So how long am I stuck with you for?”
I kiddingly shove his shoulder, laughing. “I thought you wanted me to stick around.”
He kisses me, then stays close to my lips and says, “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Forever. You’re stuck with me forever.” I smile as I say it.
“Good answer. Just had to make sure we’re in agreement on that.” He kisses me again, then slowly pulls away, smiling. “So back to this wedding of ours. You really want to get married on the beach?”
“It’s exactly what I want.” I peer out at the ocean. “Look at this. It’s beautiful. It’s the perfect place to get married. Plus it’s a lot cheaper than a traditional wedding. And yes, I know you’d pay for a big, fancy wedding but that’s just not me.”
“Jade, I should probably tell you my news now.”
“Yeah. Go ahead.
“Well, since this plan for me isn’t happening now, the organization had to find a different way to punish my dad for what he did to Royce.”
“Yeah.” I feel my heart racing and not in a good way. “So what is it?”
He hesitates, then says, “The punishment is that he has to disown me from the family.”
“What does that mean? You can’t see them anymore?”
