Page 224 of River & Crown
"Four—"
"No, it's okay. I know we've got work to do, and I?—"
"Four, listen to me," Crown commanded, grabbing my throat gently. His touch grounded me.
"I'm done with the chasing. I did it enough for both of us. We've been running toward each other since the day your ex shot me. We just didn't know it. But now? We caught what we were meant to find. No more searching. No more waiting. We've always been each other's home. It was written from the beginning."
And then he kissed me, hard, like the kind of kiss that rewrites the ending to every past heartbreak. Our lips moved like a vow, our breath exhaled like a prayer.
Crown pulled back and then pressed his forehead to mine. For a moment, his eyes searched mine.
"Come on," he instructed.
"Come on, where?" I questioned, brushing my fingers across his chest as he stepped back.
He didn't answer. Just took my hand. We stepped out of the small room into what looked like a chapel. Crown's grip tightened as we moved forward. Kysre, Killian, Grim, and Ghost stood near the doors.
"What the hell are y'all doing here? Where are we?" I asked.
Crown smirked. "Killian agreed to give me the sedative that knocked you out if I got him and Kysre in the same room."
"Wow," Kysre muttered, rolling her eyes.
Killian didn't say a word. He just looked at her like she was fire behind glass, as if the world stilled so he could memorize her.
"Okay, but why are we in a chapel? Are we really getting married?" I asked, nervous to hear his answer.
"This is practice for the real thing," Crown replied, walking me toward the altar. At the altar, Crown nodded to the chapel guy. "We don't need the extras. Just the vows."
The man nodded, and Crown cleared his throat.
"Four... the only two things in this life that I fear are God and losing you. These past two months without you felt like a decade. You're me and I am you. We weren't ready back then, maybe not even now, but with you, I know there's nothing I can't conquer. I'm so outta my body 'bout you, I might fuck around and takeyourname as long as you're my wife. River 'Four' Ashland, do me the honor. Give a nigga the privilege of being your husband."
Laughter broke through my tears.
"Whew!" I fanned my face. "How am I supposed to top that?"
"You don't," Crown responded, raising his hand before dropping to one knee. At that cue, Brian McKnight's "The Only One for Me"started playing.
"What are you doing?" I asked, voice trembling.
"Doing what I should've done the first night I met you."
Crown pulled out a ring even more gorgeous than the one on my finger.
"I told you from the day we met that you were my wife. I put the first ring on your finger to prove I meant it. But if I'm honest... I used it to hold us in place. That ring was my way of controlling what I was too afraid to lose. But now..." His voice caught, eyes searching mine like they were begging for belief. "Now, I want to give you this one... not as a chain, but a choice. I want you to choose me, Four, because no matter what, you'll always be the real Mrs. Gravehart."
"Yes!" I blurted, moving the original ring to my other hand so he could slip on the new one.
"I fucking love you, River."
Tears spilled down my cheeks. "And I'm so fucking in love with you, Cortez."
We were finally ready.
To love without fear.
To live without running.
