Page 16 of Love Me

Her face pales, her mouth dropping open a bit and forming an “O” before closing and opening again like a fish. My lungs seize up, and my palms get sweaty as I watch her take it all in, bracing myself for her reaction when it hits.

“HOLY SHIT! That lying motherfucker! Holy fucking shit! Whelp, our last conversation makes so much more fucking sense. That cheating asshole! Holy fuck!” Hannah stands abruptly, pacing back and forth in front of me. Her hair is dancing around her face, the violet color reflecting the light and making it almost shimmer. “You know, I can’t even say that I don’t believe it because it makes so much fucking sense. Ugh! I goddamn hate him, bear!” She stomps around for a moment before the information seems to settle in before the crash.

“This ends it completely between us. What about Charlotte? Bean Haven? Oh my god, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Aaaand there it is. Panic. Fuck. Hard part over. Now the final blow.

“I do. But you need to sit back down first.” I pass the tequila bottle back to her. “And drink more.”

She looks at me, her eyebrows arching in confusion. Mixed with the anger, it would be pretty cute if her world wasn’t crashing down around her. She takes a seat across from me, pulling her knees up to her chest and grabbing the bottle roughly from my hand.

“You’re going to marry me.”

“Ha. You’re smoking crack,” she says, brushing me off as she takes another long pull and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Beauty, listen to me. You’re out of options, and that fucker will never be an option again. We’re going to start dating, right now,” I tell her firmly, pointing to the ground. “We’ll make it a whirlwind romance and then we’ll get married. Everyone in this town thought we would end up together anyway, so that’s just making it that much more believable. This is how you get your parents off your back so you can keep Bean Haven. You never loved him, Hannah.”

“Holy shit balls, you’re actually serious right now. We can’t do this. We’re best friends, you idiot, what about Charlie?”

“Even better, because it’ll make it easier for everyone to fall for it. The three of us are together all the time, we just need to date a bit first. Beauty, if you think about it, it’s not that farfetched.” I try to keep the desperation from leaking through my words. Am I doing this for Hannah or because I’m so desperate for this woman to be mine that I’m willing to do anything to make that happen? Probably equal parts of both.

“Bear . . . this is a bad idea.”

“Is it? You get to keep Bean Haven, your parents will fuck off with their bullshit, and Levi will finally realize that you’re off the market to be continuously fucked with. It’ll allow you to really stick it to all of them. And nothing has to even change much.”

“What do you get out of this, freak? You trying to get in my pants after all these years?”

If she only fucking knew. God, the things I would do to her if I could.

“I’m not going to say no if it’s in my face, Hannah, have you seen yourself?”

As if I was only attracted to her sexy, tattooed body. It’s that personality of hers that brings me to my knees.

“Listen to me, I fucking hate that they’re hurting you. That Levi continues to fuck with you. You deserve so much more than that piece of shit. So does Charlie. I’m pissed at your parents for their archaic beliefs and that they can’t see what a hard worker you are and how deserving you are of running Bean Haven. You can handle anything on your own. But if it makes things easier for me to be behind you while you give everyone the finger, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Her face softens as she listens to my words, and my heart melts right there.

“I love you. You’re an idiot, though. This will blow up in our faces.” Her rage has melted away, and I’m not sure if it’s the tequila she continues to sip or if she is actually leaning into this idea.

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t. Trust me, beauty?”

She really looks at me now, her eyes filled with uncertainty before resignation slowly sets in, and a bolt shoots through my entire body. Holy shit, she’s going to do this. My heart nearly beats out of my chest. Dropping down to my knees in front of her, I take her left hand in mine. Her head drops back as she nervously laughs, the soft sound floating through the air and easing some of the tension I’m carrying. I try to swallow hard, my mouth suddenly devoid of any moisture, and work to steady my voice when I speak.

“Hannah Jade Haven, I promise that someday you will get the proposal of your dreams, but for right now, will you fake marry me?”

Because I will make all your dreams come true.

Because I’ll show you what it means to really be loved.

Because I’m so in love with you that I can’t bear another moment that you aren’t mine.

“You’re absolutely crazy. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. Yes, bear, I’ll marry you.”

CHAPTER 6

hannah

Three little wordsring through my head, and I have to close my eyes briefly to center myself.

I’ll marry you.

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