Hopelessly Imperfect (Imperfect #1)

by Gabriela Cabezut

  Talk about an awkward moment.

  I smiled as Dad laughed at something Nate said. Excitement and happiness ran through me as I glanced at the beautiful ring on my hand. It sparkled and changed colors in the light.

  “You look great,” Marie said softly as she walked to me and looked out the window as well. I grinned and was about to complement her too, when someone sauntered through the door.

  “What are you guys doing? The groom isn’t supposed to see the bride!” Farah cried from the door.

  We both turned her way. I hadn’t seen her since she’d moved to California to go to Berkley last year, and I missed her terribly. We skyped and talked over the phone all the time, but it wasn’t the same. She had lost the thick glasses and was now wearing contact lenses. Her blonde hair was long and wavy, and she’d pinned a small orchid in it. A short beige dress accentuated her curves. She looked great.

  “Farah!” I reached out for her. “When did you arrive?”

  “Just now!” she chirped.

  She kissed Marie on the cheek before turning my way. Her blue eyes shone with excitement as she grabbed my arm “Did I hear all right? Are you tying the knot?”

  I giggled like a little girl and showed her my engagement ring. She beamed at me as she held my hand. “Wow. That is one big rock!”

  I smiled at her as a gray-haired woman peeked through the door. “It’s time for the bride to come downstairs!”

  Marie took a deep breath. She held my hand for a moment and gave me a teary smile before walking out the door. We followed close behind her. I was, after all, her maid of honor.

  The country house was filled with bouquets of white roses. It was a dream location to have a wedding. The ceremony was going to be held outside, and the reception would be held later on another part of the property.

  “Is Chris here?” Farah asked me softly as she looked around. My lips twitched, suppressing a smile.

  Farah broke up with him after prom. She thought that since they were going to be living in different parts of the country, it wouldn’t work out. Chris was crushed, though. He had gone through a hard time. She had shut him out completely, but I always felt that she still had feelings for him.

  Especially since she hadn’t really moved on. She’d met someone in California. She’d gushed about him for a week, which made me look him up on Facebook out of curiosity. He wasn’t that handsome, though. She still pinned after Chris. They were always such a cute couple that I secretly hoped that they would get back together.

  “No, he told us that he probably couldn’t make it.” I think he wanted to avoid Farah. Which was a shame, she looked great.

  She nodded, softly. Since their breakup, we avoided talking about him. But I knew they still cared about each other. She took a deep breath out before shaking her head. Then, she looked at me, while suppressing a smile. “Should I start calling you Mrs. Rivers now?”

  “Sounds great, huh?” I murmured breathlessly, glancing at Nathan for a second.

  “Well—” she rolled her eyes, “—it’s just a formality, anyway. You’ve been living together for the last year.” She leaned on me. “I got a question, though. Are you guys still having sex every day?” My eyes widened as I looked to the sides, expecting that everyone had heard her. “Because, I mean, doesn’t it ever get boring? You’re, like, stuck with the same guy over and over and over again.”

  “Farah, would you shut the hell up?” I hissed as she smiled smugly.

  “You so are!” She snickered. “You’re blushing like crazy!” The wedding music started as I glared at her. “You are sharing the details on how he proposed, okay?” She raised an eyebrow.

  I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath before murmuring, “Jesus.”

  She winked, a smirk playing on her lips. “You missed me!”

  Ignoring her, I started to walk down the aisle with a shy smile on my face. Nate was suppressing a laugh. I guess he’d seen me all flushed and had a pretty good idea what Farah had been on to.

  The music continued and I came closer to him. His gray eyes darkened and stared piercingly through me. My lips parted as I reached him. My heart was racing like crazy as he held my hand. There was so much intensity in his eyes; so much love. I stared at him in awe for a moment before the justice of the peace started to talk.

  I glanced at Dad. His lips were tightly pressed together as he listened intently to the judge while holding Marie’s hand. As if he sensed me looking at him, he turned to me, and a small smile played on his face. With teary eyes, I grinned back at him.

  I was happy for him. He deserved to be happy.

  Still, I felt a pang in my chest as I looked at the judge again. I still missed Mom. And even though I was fine with Dad and Marie being together, I still felt as if there was an empty place in my heart. Nate intertwined our hands and brushed his thumb across my ring. I love you, his eyes said as he looked at me. I stared at him, completely mesmerized, remembering how he’d proposed that morning.

  He’d woken me up caressing my arm with something cold. My eyes had fluttered open as my lips tugged up.

  “Wake up, sleepyhead,” he murmured before trailing kisses on my arm. He smiled as goose bumps formed on my skin.

  “Five more minutes—” I shifted, pulling the blanket over me with a smug grin on my face, “muffin top.” He hated that nickname, and I teased him with it all the time.

  I was pretty sure he narrowed his eyes as he pulled the blanket away from me as I started to laugh. “That’s it!” He straddled me and grabbed my wrists in one hand, then moved them over my head as I wriggled under him, chuckling. His gray eyes bored into me for a moment, stopping my laugh altogether. Deliberately slow, he placed his fingers on my abdomen, where my tank top had rolled up. He brushed them over my bellybutton and started to move them up as my lips parted. He leaned closer and brushed his lips on mine while moving his hand up. My breath caught in my chest as he kissed me softly before pulling away. A mischievous glint played in his eyes before he started tickling me like crazy.

  “Stop it!” I managed to say between giggles.

  “That’s what you get for calling me that!” When my stomach started to hurt from laughing so much, Nate finally loosened his grip on my wrists. I pulled my tank top down while still laughing. Smiling, he got up. “Close your eyes, baby, I have a surprise for you.”

  “Did you make breakfast?” I raised an eyebrow skeptically as he glared at me.

  “Close your eyes if you don’t want a repeat of that.” He raised an eyebrow too.

  I playfully rolled my eyes, then closed them. The truth was that Nate was awful in the kitchen. Every time he’d tried to cook, something got burned. After he set the toaster on fire, he was banned from the kitchen.

  I felt a tray slide into my lap. “I know that today is going to be a day filled with mixed emotions, Cass.” I opened my eyes and stared at him as his eyes bored into me. “But I just want to tell you that you are the most amazing and brave person I’ve ever met.” I swallowed hard. “I love you, and you’ve shown me what true love is like. I was lost before I met you, and you made me find myself. It’s because of you that I talk to my mother and, it’s because of you that I’ve come to terms with Leah’s death.” His eyes shone as he grabbed my hand. “You’ve given my life meaning, and I want to be a better person because of you.” My own eyes brimmed with tears as he looked at me for a long moment. “I know we’re young and that we have all the time in the world, but I also know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” My lips parted once again as my heart raced. He looked down at the tray, and I followed his gaze.

  He’d spelled ‘marry me’ with Cheerios on the tray, and on the bottom of the white bowl he’d placed a diamond ring.

  My heart skipped a beat as I clasped a hand over my mouth. The tray shifted. “Don’t move, baby. It took me forever to arrange the Cheerios that way.” He rearranged the few that had moved with a smile on his face.

  With teary eyes and a trembling h
and, I grabbed the ring. “I love you, Nathan Rivers.”

  His smile was wide as he slid the ring on my finger. “I love you too, Cassie.”

  The sound of a deep voice announcing, “You may kiss the bride,” brought me back to my father’s wedding. Dad kissed Marie, and they turned around to the guests as we all applauded them. He glanced at me briefly before they strolled down the aisle, and my eyes brimmed with tears as they walked off.

  “How are you?” Nate whispered by my ear.

  I looked at him, taking in his chiseled features and beautiful gray eyes. “Never been better.”

  I meant it.

  Life had made a complete turnaround. I was no longer the hopeless girl I used to be. I was now proud of who I was and was no longer shy about my art.

  I wished Mom was there with me, but I knew that in a way she was.

  Great things had been happening in my life, and I felt like she was behind them. She was taking care of me.

  She was part of who I was, and every day I wanted to honor her and make her feel proud of me. I knew she wanted me to be happy.

  I learned it was never too late to be sorry if you have the courage to admit you’d made a mistake. And sometimes, it’s okay to be sad. It meant you cared.

  I’ll always love you, Mom.

  BEFORE YOU GO…

  DON’T MISS OUT!

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  Playlist

  A few tunes that inspired me while writing this story.

  “I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLachlan

  “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele

  “Not in That Way” by Sam Smith

  “Mad World” (acoustic version) by Hardwell, featuring Jack Reese

  “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri

  “Read All About It” by Emeli Sandé

  “Stay by Rhianna” by Mikky Ekko

  “A Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay

  “Everglow” by Coldplay

  “The Scientist” by Coldplay

  “Fix You” by Coldplay

  “If I Ain’t Got You” (unplugged) by Alicia Keys

  “Fields of Gold” by Sting

  “How Long Will I Love You” by Ellie Goulding

  “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Jem

  “Heroes (We Could Be)” by Alesso

  “A Drop in the Ocean” by Ron Pope

  “Back at One” by Brian McKnight

  Acknowledgments

  First of all, thank you for reading my book. I bared my soul writing it. This was a story close to my heart. I started to write it in a time I needed to let out how I was feeling. It was overwhelming to write, but it helped me so much. So thank you, for reading this.

  To all my lovely Wattpad followers, I want to thank you for putting up with my ups and downs. For sharing this journey with me and for all the encouraging words I received from you guys. Be proud of yourselves. You have changed my life in more than one way. I queried this story because of you. Thank you.

  I can’t express enough how grateful I am toward the most amazing individuals in my life: my family. Especially to my two kiddos and amazing husband. I love you guys. I appreciate all the support you give me each day. I couldn’t have done it without it.

  To my sisters, my father, and Angeles, thank you for expressing how proud you feel and for being there for me. I can’t end a book without mentioning my all-time friends, I’m so grateful to have you in my life: Moises, Martha, Marian, Luis, Mariella, Marian, Gaby, Sandra, and Carmen. You guys rock.

  A special thanks to my fellow writers, who despite the fact that we haven’t met in person, have shown me undeniable support. I love you like real friends: Debbie Goelz, Amanda Lyons, Tammy Oja, Keri-Lee Kroeger, Michelle Jo Quinn and Darly Jamison. Thank you. I really hope we can meet some day!

  Everyone at Limitless Publishing, thank you for all your work and patience. Especially Lori and Jo. Thanks!

  About the Author

  Since I was a child, I loved reading. Books let you travel to faraway lands and pretend to be a princess or a strong heroine or a smart babysitter. I love that feeling. When you connect with a character or when you feel butterflies when a kiss is described…reading it’s like living a thousand lives in one.

  For some bizarre reason, I’ve always loved to read in English. So when I thought about writing a story, I started out to do it in English and now it’s the only language I feel capable to write on! It’s so funny since I’m Mexican and my first language is Spanish, yet I don’t think I’ll write in Spanish. Not in the nearest future.

  I’m a hopeless romantic. You’ll always find a more than healthy amount of romance in all my stories. Because who doesn’t like to fall in love over and over again?

  My imagination usually runs wild as I’m really creative. If I’m not writing, you may find me cake decorating. That’s my day-job. Next to being a wife and a doting mother to two incredible boys.

  Writing is my passion. It’s like a necessity, like the air you breathe. I’ve found out that I can’t live without books in my life. And let me tell you, it’s an amazing experience. I’m loving every minute of it.

  I’m an active writer on Wattpad, a web platform where writer’s post different stories. Being part of their Stars Program has completely changed my life. I love reaching out to other writers and readers, so don’t hesitate to message me!

  Facebook:

  www.facebook.com/shygabs/

  Twitter:

  https://twitter.com/gabycabezut

  Mailing List:

  http://eepurl.com/bQFanz

  Website:

  www.gabrielacabezut.com

  Goodreads:

  https://www.goodreads.com/gabrielacabezut