Page 100 of Pulled Away

“About what?”

“This,” I say, gesturing to the empty land in front of us. “Tell me what you see.”

“Umm, lots of grass. Lots of weeds. Some trees in the distance.”

She tips her head up, giving me a confused look.

“Is that all?” I grin down at her, knowing her patience will soon run out, and I’m right when she frowns at me.

“Why don’t you rather tell me what I’m supposed to see?”

“What I see is a new beginning. Over there,” Her eyes follow to where I’m pointing at a small copse of trees, “a house. Double story with a wrap-around porch and at least four bedrooms on the second story. And over there,” I point to the opposite corner, “a barn. For your horse and the ponies, we’ll have to buy once we have kids.”

She sucks in a breath and tries to turn to me, but I keep her firmly in place.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I bought this. For us. I’m saying these last two years have been tough.”

And it has. Although tough is an understatement.

It started with that call we got from Rose and just got worse from there. It was a dark time for us all. After my fuck up with Hadley, I vowed never to keep secrets again, but this secret, the secret that binds our friend group together, is a secret I’ll gladly take to my grave.

And I know they feel the same. They say secrets have a way to either make you or break you. Lucky for us, it didn’t break us. It brought us closer, close enough that we’re beyond being mere friends. We’re family, our bonds forged in the fires of hell.

“Our lives were put on pause,” I continue. “But it’s been long enough, and I don’t want to wait any longer.”

With my arm wrapped around her chest, I feel her heartbeat picking up. Taking a deep breath, I turn her around and drop to a knee, taking her hands in mine.

“I want to marry you, Aspen, and I know this is not exactly romantic, but I can’t wait any longer. I want to start our life together. One where I go from ‘When can I see you again,’ to ‘See you at home.’ I’m tired of separate houses where I live with Mom and Dad, and you rent from Kallan. I want us to be a mom and dad. In our home. Here. A home we build brick by brick, together, the same way we rebuilt our relationship.”

My heart is a thunderous beat in my chest while I search her face. I feel pretty confident, but you never know. If I’ve learned anything these last two years, it’s that life can throw you curve balls that you never see coming.

Tears fill her eyes, and she drops to her knees in front of me.

“It’s been one hell of a journey,” she says, swallowing heavily.

“It has. One that proves we can overcome anything as long as we’re together.”

Pulling her hands from mine, she clasps my cheeks. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“So…is that a yes?” I ask with my heart in my mouth. Please say it’s a yes.

She nods with a breathy yes, flinging her arms around my neck, and my whole body sags when I wrap my arms around her waist.

Thank you, universe. No curve ball.

She’s so warm and soft in my arms, her scent filling my lungs with every breath, that my need for her that’s always simmering flares to life. Damn, I want to lay her back on the grass and make love to her under the open sky. Instead, I reluctantly let her go when she pulls back.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

I look at her blankly because all the blood in my body is currently throbbing in my dick.

“Something important.” She looks down at her hand, and I want to slap my hand to my forehead. Idiot.

“Shit, yes.” Smiling sheepishly, I pull the ring box out of my pocket. It’s been burning a hole in my pocket for months, while I waited for the right moment to propose. We were cleaning up after dinner at Mom and Dad’s place when it hit me. There will never be a right moment because every moment I spend with her is the right moment. “I had a whole big thing planned. I was going to pick Robbie up and tie a ribbon with the ring around his neck. But he’s a runner, and I was scared he’d vanish into the surrounding forest with my ring, never to be seen again.”

She laughs, watching me slide my ring on her finger. I blow out a shaky breath. My fucking ring. It will always be my ring because she belongs to me, just as I belong to her.

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