Page 103 of Hold Him Like Gravity

By the time she came back around, I already had the box out of my pocket and in my hand.

“What…” she started, then her gaze went to the ring nestled in the blue velvet.

“Marry me,” I said, watching as her eyes went glassy. “And I promise I’ll build you your very own library.”

“With a ladder for gliding on?” she asked, sniffling.

“And room on top for plants,” I agreed.

“Yes,” she said, reaching to grab my face and pull it to hers, sealing her lips to mine before I could even get the ring on her finger.

“Well, now we both have projects to work on,” she said when we finally broke apart and I slid the diamond on her finger, feeling the weight of what I was offering her.

My future.

Forever.

I couldn’t imagine either without her.

“You build our home,” she said, pressing another quick kiss to my lips. “And I will plan the wedding.”

Kick - 2 years

“You’re sure it’s straight?” I asked Saff who was sitting on the counter in the shop.

Not the meat shop.

My shop.

A plant shop.

Right next to the meat shop, sure, since Rico was overprotective and wanted me close to him and his soldiers, but my venture.

“Stop touching it,” Saff demanded, shaking her head at me as my hands dropped away from the sign on the wall.

It was a small shop.

Heavily featuring plants that I’d actually propagated from my own collection at home.

But I had it set up in a way that I hadn’t seen in any of the other plant shops I’d visited in the boroughs. I had the plants separated by how easy or finicky they were.

There was the ‘You Can’t Kill These’ section featuring things like pothos, heart leaf philodendrons, snake, and ZZ plants and a ‘Will Probably Break Your Heart’ section featuring the much more finicky ferns, alocasias, fiddles, and strings of pearls.

I had planters made by local artisans, a ‘soil bar’ where you could stock up on my special chunky house blend, fertilizers, and some merchandise.

“I know,” I said at her head shake when I touched the sign again. “I’m just nervous,” I admitted. “I really want this to work.”

“Didn’t you hear?” Saff asked. “They used to say that dogs are the new children, but now, plants are the new dogs. Everyone wants to live in a jungle these days. It’s gonna be a huge hit.”

It wasn’t like I was filling a void. There were a bunch of plant shops in Brooklyn. But there weren’t any in this particular neighborhood. And I really put a lot of thought into the look of the place, wanting to appeal to that younger generation that was as plant-obsessed as I had become once I got my first gateway plant.

“Okay. Open up already,” she demanded as she hopped off of the counter.

It was half an hour early, but I was too excited to care as I unlocked the door and flipped the sign.

Some part of me was worried sick that I would just stand there all day, heart breaking, with no one walking in.

But within fifteen minutes of flipping the sign, two young women passing with their coffees came rushing in, all excited to see I had one of their ‘dream’ plants for sale.

---