Too soon?
Fuck it.
I already ripped off the band-aid, might as well bleed out.
“I don’t want to move into the barracks, Brook. I want to come home to you. I want to eat Oreos with you in the middle of the night after fucking you for hours upon hours and making you come a dozen different ways. I want to have kids, lots and lots of kids. If we start now, we’ll be young grandparents. We’ll see them graduate, get married, and if we’re lucky, we’ll even see our great-grandchildren. It won’t always be easy, but we’ll make it work.”
“Eric—”
“I know, I know…I’m not proposing over the phone.”
Not really.
“I’ll get you a ring and I’ll get down on one knee. I’m just giving you a heads-up.”
Bullshit.
Say yes.
“You can get a marriage license and be married the same day in Georgia.”
Whoa.
Maybe I’m not crazy after all.
I swallow.
“You’ve looked into it?” I ask, holding my breath.
“I’ve looked into everything, Eric.”
Exhaling, I swipe a hand over my face. I don’t want to wait.
“Say yes and we can reenact everything after my graduation,” I say hoarsely.
“I’ll say yes when you get down on one knee and not because I need a ring, but because you need something to look forward to. It’s you and me, Soldier Boy. Forever is only two months away. Get to the finish line and I’ll be there with my arms wide open to watch you cross it. Then you can ask me to marry you and spoiler alert, I’ll say yes.”
Here’s another spoiler for you—I accept the challenge.
And another one…we live happily ever after.