Chapter Seven
An hour and a half later, I was Mrs. Cassidy Hamilton.
Blake and Marley hadn’t believed us, had thought we were messing around, until we’d sent them a Snapchat outside The Little Vegas Chapel and told them to get their butts down there or they’d miss the whole thing.
I think Blake broke about fifteen driving laws, but they made it in time.
We’d stopped at home to change before we’d gone to the chapel. Seth had worn one of his killer suits that made me want to eat him alive, and I’d worn a strapless white lace dress with a tiny poof to the skirt, and my favorite pair of shoes—gold glitter peep toe sling backs. Jimmy Choo. A gift from Seth’s mom last Christmas. I adored them.
The minister had been dressed like Elvis, and the whole thing had been perfect. To an outsider, it could have been tacky. But to us, it was Vegas, and it was home.
Before reaching us, Blake had contacted his father, who had then hooked us up with the presidential suite in the Marebello—one of his hotels—for our wedding night.
I swiped the keycard from Seth, wanting the first look at what would be an amazing room.
He swiped it right back. “Hey, yeah, I don’t think so.”
And before I could blink, Seth had swung me into his arms. I yelped and clung to his neck. “What are you doing?”
Seth grinned. “Carrying you over the threshold, what does it look like?”
“Shouldn’t it be over the threshold of our house? We’re only here for one night.”
Seth frowned. “I’m not sure. Isn’t it supposed to be over the threshold of the first place you spend the night as a married couple?”
“I thought it was where you would spend your lives. And our lives, after tonight, will be lived at home.”
“Yeah, I guess—” Seth widened his eyes. “What the hell are we doing?”
I laughed. “I have no idea.”
“Can I just carry you inside please? And I’ll do it again when we go home tomorrow?”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Perfect.” Seth looked at the door and huffed out a breath. He tried—and failed—to get the keycard into the slot. “Maybe I should have let you open the door.”
“You got this, baby,” I assured him.
“You’re right. I so got this.” He adjusted his grip on me and turned, smacking my head off the wall.
He so did not have this.
Seth set me on my feet, unlocked the door, pushed it open and picked me back up. “Ready?”
“For an ice pack and an Advil? Hell yes.”
He snorted. “Here we go. Over the threshold. The first one, at least.”
I leaned over and kissed him, suddenly not caring at all about the fancy suite. Seth didn’t pause, he just carried me straight on into the bedroom. He laid me on the bed, stretching his long, lean body out over mine.
Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, I drew him down for a lingering kiss. “Hi, husband,” I murmured against his mouth.
“Hi, wife,” he chuckled.
“Man, that sounds weird.”
“Weird like, different but I’ll get used to it in a day or two, or weird like I just made the worst mistake of my life, but if Britney can get annulled then so can I?”
I blinked. “Um, the first, I guess?”
“Okay then.”
“You’re so weird.”
“Hey, you married me.”
“I know…what the hell was I thinking? You think I could call Britney for her annulment guy?”
Seth pulled a face at me before turning serious. “Can I ask where your head is at?”
“Right where it’s supposed to be.”
“Good.”
I blew out a breath and ran my hands over Seth’s shoulders, down his strong biceps. “I feel like…I feel like I can finally move, Seth. For years I’ve felt trapped in this weird limbo.”
Seth shifted off me so he lay on his side. He traced his fingertips over the curve of my breasts. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not entirely sure how to describe it…sort of like I felt guilty for experiencing anything remotely resembling happiness. I didn’t deserve it, I didn’t deserve to be happy after what I did.”
“Cass,” Seth said softly.
I rolled over to face him and stroked my finger across his jaw. “I know. I know it’s stupid. But it’s how I feel. How I felt. After seeing Billy, spending time with him, his mother…I’m finally at peace with my decision. And I know that I can’t stop living my life. Because our life is going to be amazing.”
A slow smile pulled at Seth’s lips. “There’s my girl.”
“There’s your wife,” I corrected.
He sighed. “And the nagging begins.”
I gasped and swatted his arm.
“Ouch, and the domestic abuse,” Seth choked out through his laughter.
“Oh, you are such an asshole!” I cried. I swung my legs over his and straddled his lap.
Seth grinned. “Now this is more how I imagined this night going.”
I couldn’t stifle my laugh. “Perv.”
“Hey, you married me.”
“Is that all I’m going to hear for the next fifty years?”
Seth’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “Fifty years? You’re kidding, right? Baby, I’m keeping your ass around until we’re at least in our nineties. Longer, if we’re lucky.”
“And whatever comes after that,” I said.
“Preach.”
“Man, I love you.”
“Then kiss me, wife.”
“Sure thing, husband.”
Outside, the celebrations were still going strong. Fireworks lit the night sky, and any minute now, they’d be going off in here too.