Page 152 of Fall Into Me

“My name is on that sign.” She looked like she might pass out, so I walked up to her and stopped just a foot away.

“Can I ask you something?” I murmured.

She nodded, eyes glued to mine.

“I’m obsessed with you,” I said, giving her a bright smile to which she just rolled her eyes, both her hands landing on my chest.

“You’re the first thing I think of when I wake up, and the last thing I think of before we go to sleep.”

“Fane.” She gave me a knowing look that said she definitely thought this was still a sex thing.

I brought the back of her hand up to my lips, brushing a kiss over her knuckles. “I want to give you everything you’ve ever wanted, Cali. I want to make you laugh, give you things that make you hum when you remember them. I want to cook you food and watch your face change when you eat it. I want to run behind you every single day, even though you run too fast, because I get to look at your ass.”

Cali snorted a snotty laugh, wiping her face on her shoulder.

“I want to give you a peaceful life. Where you can be steady, or soft, or both, or neither.”

“I love you,” she said softly, and in those three words, she gave me everything I’d ever wanted.

“The thing is, when I picture life now, it feelsalmostpeaceful.” I continued. “But when I picture lifehere, it feelsperfect. I picture you on the porch, our blankets laid out right here, Jerry between us. Maybe, when we’re ready, a couple extra heartbeats.”

She nodded, eyes glassy, hands gripping mine tightly.

“This house is not a shit box,” she croaked, shaking her head.

“No.” I laughed. “It’s not.”

“Fane, did you buy us a ranch?” Her voice cracked as she clutched the sides of my coat.

“This was where I was when you were flying back to Artington. I was meeting with Sammy and a lawyer here so that we could flesh out all the details of a change in ownership.”

“I was coming to find you,” she whispered, and it made my chest tighten—the realization that I had this person, who was made up of all the best things, willing to always run straight for me. Even when she thought I was heading the other way.

“I know.” I nodded, leaning in to drop a kiss to her jaw.

“Fane?”

“Mmm?”

“You haven’t asked me anything yet.”

My face nearly split in two with my smile, and it stayed that way as I sank to one knee and pulled a ring from my pocket.

“Holy fuck,” she muttered, her voice pitching higher with each word. “Holyfuckingfuck.”

“Cali…”

“Sweetfuck!” she yelled and started bouncing from foot to foot, pointing right at the ring I held. “Is that a ring?”

“Yes—”

“Oh my god, that’s a—he has a ring. He has aring!” She started shaking her hands, glancing around like she needed someone to scream at about it.

“Fane, that’s a diamond. That’s abig fucking diamond!”

“Baby—”

“That’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen,” she cried, covering her mouth while still pointing at the ring.

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