Page 123 of First Comes Forever

“What about your dad? I thought you couldn’t leave?”

“Alex has the arduous job of teaching my dad to use FaceTime.” He blows out a breath, chuckling. “I’ll visit and call. But my dad has a lot of love and support, and I shouldn’t have used him as an excuse because I was scared.”

He’s come so far. I’m proud of Adam. And I’m proud of myself, too. You should be with the person who loves the best version of you and cheers on the worst. We hurt together. Now, it’s time to heal together.

Adam reaches over my shoulder and pulls a folded note from the bag. “Now I said I was here for business. See, I think I know why our first contract didn’t work.”

The note where Adam asked me to have a baby with him is indeed still in my keepsake box. But this one is slightly different. There are still two checkboxes, labeledyesandno. But instead of “will you have a baby with me,” there’s a different question.

I read the note in my hand. “Will you be my forever?”

“Definitely, but don’t steal my line,” Adam says with a mischievous grin. “That note is askingyou.”

“I was just reading it, smart-ass,” I reply playfully. “Are you sure, though?”

He wraps his arms around me. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t just blink and make my problems go away. I don’t know if social media caused it or just exacerbated it, but I’m going to have ups and downs for the rest of my life. Are you going to push me away when I’m sad?”

He shakes his head somberly. “I’ll be sad when you’re sad. And it’ll frustrate me that I can’t fix it. But I won’t push you away.”

I twist my lips, nervous to ask the most important question on my mind. “What about a baby? I can’t give that to you. After all we’ve been through, don’t you want a family?”

“Of course I do. That’s why I’m here.” Grabbing the note from my hand, he sets it on the counter and pulls a pen out of the bag, wiggling it between his thumb and forefinger. “If you want a baby, Amani, there are other ways. And if you don’t, that’s okay too.You’re my family.You’re my forever.I am signing up for whatever version of our lives keeps us together.”

Playing along, I check the box for yes, and sign my name. “There. You really think this is enough?”

“Damn straight I do,” Adam says, pulling out a girlie looking rubber stamp and a pink ink pad out of the bag. “Just to be safe, we’re going to notarize it this time.”

“Oh no,” I whine. “It was almost perfect, you big cheeseball. But this is a ladybug, not a butterfly stamp.”

Adam scowls. “This was all the office supply store had, and I was in a hurry to get here. Quit poking holes in my big romantic gesture.”

I laugh as I push the rubber stamp into the ink pad. A perfectly pressed ladybug outline stares back at me from the left corner of the note. “Well, that does it. I’m your problem forever now.”

Adam grins, his smile taking over his entire face as his sweet dimples deepen. “Thank God.”

I pop him with an open palm square on his forehead. It was barely a tap, but the smack sounds dramatic. Adam didn’t even flinch. He just stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. Eventually, he clears his throat and says, “I’m definitely open to a little light spanking, but not on the forehead.”

I cackle, feeling full of joy, energy, and a lot of new hope. “Boomerang, baby. You let me go, and I came right back. Smacked you right in the face.”

He laughs and kisses my forehead. “A mistake I’ll only make once. Never again, Amani. This deal is for forever.”

I wrap my arms around his neck and burrow into his hard chest, breathing in the fancy cologne he still claims he doesn’t wear. “I love you, summer guy.”

“I love you too, forever girl.” He pats my butt. “Now, there’s one more item in that bag.”

Stepping out of his embrace, I peek into the brown paper bag and see a jewelry box.Oh God. Seriously?I pick up the small blue box, refusing to open it. I try to hand it to him, but he doesn’t take it.

“Adam,” I protest, “I missed you, and I’m so happy you’re here. But wejustreconciled. I haven’t seen you in almost two months. I’m wearing pajama shorts, for crying out loud. From the bottom of my heart, I want to be your wife one day. But this isn’t the right time to ask. I just—”

“What do you think that is, Amani?”

“An engagement ring?” I ask.

He grimaces. “Oh, boy. Okay, yep, I get it. Square box. I can see why…Damn.” He rubs the back of his neck as he clears his throat. “Um… It’s not a ring. It’s an intimate piercing.”

With my cheeks flushing from embarrassment, I pop open the box lid. There lies a small, albeit beautiful, little piercing with an emerald gem.

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