Page 95 of Force At Third

“Well, Annie and Theresa were also in the kitchen.”

I palm my face.

“Oh honey, I’m sure they didn’t hear any more than I did.”

“How are you sure?” I ask, trying not to act annoyed, but the truth is I am fucking annoyed … at myself for losing my shit.

This is why drugs are bad, kids.

“Well, because it didn’t come up in the, um?—”

“Um what, Mom?”

“The discussion following.”

“The discussion following?”

“Oh, Gwen, we are all so thrilled you two are getting married.”

“Oh my God, we haven’t even really discussed it.”

“Well, we have.” She laughs—yes, laughs—as she runs up the stairs ahead of me. “Come on; we’ll miss the sunset!”

“You mean sunrise?” I call after her.

When I catch up, she’s standing on the platform, which leads to another set of stairs that leads down to the beach.

“Oh my God, is that …?”

“It is.” Mom hugs me, steps back, and smiles. “You deserve to be loved by that boy, and he deserves all that love you have to give. Go.”

As if he couldn’t look more gorgeous, he’s standing in the center of several candles in the shape of a baseball diamond. He’s wearing track pants and a long-sleeved tee that clings to his incredible body, a bouquet of flowers in his hand, and a baseball cap on his head. He cocks his head to the side, probably wondering if I’m going to run when the reality is that I’m shocked he didn’t after last night, after my not-so-mini meltdown. When he exhales slowly, I know he’s probably anxious about all this, too.

I point to the top of my head and make a circle.

He bites his lower lip and turns it backward.

So hot.

I head down the stairs toward him, and I fight to keep the pace going because … I loved the way he loved me back when we were kids, and the man he is has done nothing but grow into a bigger, hotter, stronger, funnier, and more confident man.

“Gwendolyn York?—”

“Hold up. First, you’ve got to promise to break things off with your boyfriend because I’m not going to be the other woman, and I’m not ever going to be a thi?—”

He presses a finger to my lips. “I get to do this my way.”

I nod.

“I have known you were a life-changer since the moment I saw you objectifying me in tenth grade, and I popped wood over Danny Aiken’s head, spotting him on the weight bench.”

“Oh my God.” I laugh.

“Ten minutes later, when you walked out of that locker room, I knew I needed to kiss those pretty lips, and when I finally did, I knew I didn’t wanna kiss anyone besides you ever again. The first time your hand visited little Texas, my fucking eyes went liquid heat, my lids got heavy, and the first breath following that first touch, even to this day, I have to force myself to take my next breath because I could die a happy man knowing your hands, Gwendolyn York, are touching me.”

He sets the flowers on the ground then takes my hand. “I love you, and I want you to be my wife. I wanna Locke it down with you. I want to wake up and go to bed with you, watch reels and chill with you, cry with you, laugh with you, get naked and fuck with only you, and I wanna fight with you, for you, for us. I wanna raise a family with you, regardless of what that looks like, human or fur babies. His or mine, Gwen, it matters fuck not?—”

“Stop right there. If you think what may or may not be inside of me is not the product of you and I, let me clear it up.”

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