Page 94 of His Bittersweet Regret

“The thing is, I know we were supposed to be taking things slowly, and I blew that out of the water by basically forcing your hand. One might say I nearly kidnapped you, and made you move into the house with me,” I teased.

She chuckled. “No, you definitely didn’t force me.”

“Stop interrupting,” I continued to pester her in the middle of my stupid proposal because I became socially inept when I was worried she might tell me, ‘No’. “I’m trying to put my heart out on the line, here.”

Her hand drifted to mid chest, as if to stop her heart from beating away from her, and then she winked at me. “Please, continue before it this scene becomes gruesome.”

“I’m not even going to rethink this, even though you’re all smartass and sass today,” I teased, much to my little brother’s amusement. And since he laughed, so did my son, as if on cue. Opal and I both looked back at him and grinned.

“The thing is, I should have done this long before Austin came along because you, Opal, have always been the love of my life. Yes, even during that brief time when I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. You are the one person on this planet that I love, respect, and want to spend the rest of my life cherishing.” I mumbled the end of that sentence. “Now that I’ve pulled my head out of my ass.”

“Is this going somewhere?” Opal asked as she attempted to stifle a fake yawn.

I rolled my eyes and pulled the ring out from where I still had it hidden behind my back. “Would you please, do me the great honor of becoming Opal Jane Kennedy?”

“Oh!” She hopped up and down excitedly. “A name change ceremony, so that we all match! I love it!” I could see the hint of amusement in her eyes as she continued to give me shit during what was meant to be a romantic proposal.

I clutched the ring box to my chest, fell over backwards onto the lawn, and laid there as if her words had just stolen my last breath. They hadn’t, but she was damn close to stealing my patience. I waited until she leaned down to mock check my pulse and then I grabbed her and whisper-yelled into her ear, “Just say yes, that you’ll marry me, already!”

Honestly, I was ecstatic that we were to a point where laughing together had become the norm again instead of the overwhelming sadness, guilt, and regret that had swamped our relationship in the beginning – the second beginning.

“I love you, babe. With all my heart, I swear it to you.”

“That’s good, because I love you too. Now, get up off the ground and put that ring on my finger already.”

There was zero hesitation in doing just as my girlfriend – now fiancé – ordered. I stood, helped the love of my life to her feet too, and then slipped the ring on her finger while thanking my lucky stars that she was willing to give me a second chance.

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