Chasing Forevermore by J.D. Rivera

tired. I think my parents replaced all their furniture with new stuff.”
    “I’m tired, too,” Hayes said, yawning as well. “I’ll probably pass out as soon as I lay down.”
    “Well, aren’t we a fun bunch? I understand why you’re in town, but what are you two doing at Jan’s? Y’all are alone, shouldn’t you be enjoying your freedom a little more, doing something fun?” Carson asked.
    “We are. I’m trying to convince her to marry this stud,” Hayes said, smirking and pointing to himself.
    “O-kay. Maybe she doesn’t want to because you call yourself a stud.”
    I burst out laughing and Hayes’ narrowed his eyes playfully at me. I shrugged, continuing to laugh. It was funny.
    The waitress brought our food and we all dug in. Having not eaten all day, I was starving, and Hayes and Carson always ate like they hadn’t in weeks.
    “This is so good. I swear, nobody else has chicken fried steak this good,” Carson said between bites and I nodded, agreeing with him.
    “I know. And you know how much I love Tina, but the chicken fried steak there is not even close to Jan’s.”
    “I’m so telling her you said that.”
    I shrugged. “And I’ll tell Brad you hit on Miranda.”
    “I did not!” Carson shouted, letting his hand slap the table.
    Hayes and I laughed. “Then don’t tell Tina what I said.”
    “But you really did say it, and I didn’t hit on Miranda.”
    “I don’t think that matters,” Hayes stated. “Brad would believe her.”
    “Fine,” he gritted out, but he was grinning.
    We stayed and chatted with Carson for an hour before deciding to call it a night.
    A couple hours later, after I helped Rose clean the kitchen, I curled up next to Hayes and draped the comforter over us. The entire evening, I had been thinking about his proposal to have his dad marry us. And the more I thought about it, the better it sounded. I’d love to be Mrs. Hayes Morgan and be able to tell the world, especially sluts like Baylee, that he was mine.
    “Hayes?”
    “Hmm,” he mumbled, letting his hand trail up and down my back.
    “I want to get married.”
    His hand stilled and he moved to look me in the eyes. “What?”
    “I want to see if your dad will marry us while we are here.”
    Hayes’ eyes were shining. “Are you serious?”
    “Yes,” I answered, and captured his lips for a small kiss. “I love you. And I want to be your wife.”
    “I’m positive you have just made me the happiest man on the fucking planet.”
    ***
    Hayes had talked to his dad and he had agreed to marry us. And since Carson was still in town, Hayes had also texted him, asking him and his mom to be our witnesses. I was happy, more than happy, but I couldn’t stop the feeling of missing out on getting a real wedding.
    Even while I tried on cute little white dresses at the shops downtown with Rose, I couldn’t shake it. But I needed to. At the end of the day, an actual wedding didn’t make a couple any more married. And I was getting a great husband, which was the most important part.
    I stood in front of the mirror, admiring my dress as I held it up and the pearls around my neck Hayes’ mom had given me to wear as my something old and something borrowed. I had bought a new ice blue bra and panty set to wear underneath as my something blue. And my dress was new as well.
    “Mac,” Hayes said as he entered the room in a pair of black dress pants, a white shirt, black tie, and jacket. He looked sexy as hell all dressed up. He inhaled sharply when he saw me standing in front of the mirror in nothing but my bra and panties, then walked to stand behind me. “You look beautiful. Beyond beautiful,” he whispered, peppering my neck with kisses and wrapping an arm around my naked stomach, “but something is wrong. Tell me.”
    “You aren’t supposed to see me in the dress before the wedding.”
    “You aren’t dressed yet, and I don’t believe in that crap anyway. But you need to answer me. What is wrong?”
    I closed my