Page 105 of Tripped By Love
My throat constricted a little because I missed Maliyah more these days than ever before. As if, in allowing my emotions for Cassidy to break through to the surface, it had allowed a whole host of other emotions to come tumbling out behind them.
“She’s already called him half a dozen times today,” I said quietly.
As if finally aware that we were watching him, Jonas’s eyes landed on the two of us twined together on the steps.
“Don’t forget that thing you were going to do,” Jonas said with a sly smile.
My eyes narrowed. I didn’t need the reminder. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it on the heels of the conversation with Petty Officer Warren. I’d wanted to put some distance between that call and my future. But then I realized, it was the perfect time. What better way to honor Petty Officer Warren’s request that we both move on than to solidify the next part of my life.
Once I’d found out that Cassidy was gathering her family to help us celebrate Jonas’s birthday, I’d asked him if it would be okay to steal a little bit of his thunder. He’d just shoved a fist into my shoulder and told me he was surprised I hadn’t already asked. After all, I’d bought the ring when we were still in Austin weeks ago. Maliyah had helped me pick it out. It was a platinum band with a glittering yellow diamond in the middle not only because it was Cassidy’s favorite color, but because she was the sunshine to my rain. The beautiful rays that encompassed my world.
I’d intended to ask her to marry me as soon as Jonas and I had come back to Grand Orchard. I’d wanted to do it that first night, but then, I’d held off because of Hardy and his threats to use me and Jonas against Cassidy.
When he’d found out that his wife was divorcing him, Hardy had shown up at the café, furious. As if we’d somehow had something to do with his marriage falling apart. He’d ranted and raved and broken a cup. Willow had filmed the whole thing, and we’d submitted that to the judge with all the other evidence against him. In the end, we hadn’t had to worry about it because he’d withdrawn his claim for parental rights. In fact, he’d signed them away and left Grand Orchard with his tail between his legs and a note from the dean of Wilson-Jacobs saying he wouldn’t be welcomed back.
I’d never seen Cassidy as light as she’d been that day.
The lightness stuck around and had become part of our daily lives. One of my favorite times of day now was our family dinners. The four of us sitting around the table in Cassidy’s kitchen with Jonas chattering away about high school or music, and Chevelle driving his trucks through his food or begging for Petri’s puppy to spend the night in his room. We’d somehow found a routine. Her cooking and me cleaning up while she settled Chevelle down for the night. After dinner, Jonas would return to the apartment over the garage to do homework and play the drum kit he’d bought and was still figuring out how to play while Cassidy and I moved into the gym. We continued our old nightly workout routines, but we’d added a new layer to them, moving from the mats to the mattress with ease. With a fire that seemed to consume us both and had no sign of easing.
Jonas pounded his drumsticks on the picnic table, drawing everyone’s eyes to him and bringing me from my thoughts back to the woman tucked up against me.
“Hey, everyone, Marco needs to make an announcement,” he said with a wink.
Even the kids stopped their spinning to sit down on the grass and watch me. I swallowed, uncomfortable with the limelight. I was better in the shadows, standing behind someone. I’d gladly be Cassidy’s shadow for the rest of her days.
Cassidy’s brow furrowed as I pulled away and knelt down in front of her. Her eyes grew wide with a small smile tugging at her lips. She looked so beautifully Cassidy today with her hair swinging about her shoulders and her legs hidden in swaths of skirt. I loved that I knew every inch of what lay beneath it. Knew exactly how they’d wrap around me when we found our way to her room tonight.
As the fading sunlight bounced off the roof of her house, I swore a halo lit her up, making her glow even more than she normally did. My angel.
“I’m pretty sure the first time I did this, I did it wrong. You didn’t think I was serious. You thought I was saying it as a way of keeping that weasel of a human from you,” I said as my voice grew gravelly.
“I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a first time, Marco,” Cassidy teased. Her smile grew, and her eyes sparkled. “You made a statement as if it were true.”
I flushed a little. Even though I’d told Hardy she was marrying me to get him off her back, I’d also assumed that the words were correct. I’d imagined her saying yes because, in my heart of hearts, I’d known she would.
I pulled the ring from my pocket and opened my palm so she could see it.
“Angel…you may think you’re the only one who does the falling around here, but it isn’t true. I fell hard and fast the first time I ever saw you. And I fell even harder while watching you build your business, strengthen your body, and raise a child with charm and humility. You showed me a grace I hadn’t thought I deserved, and you taught me to forgive myself for being human?”
“Wait, you’re human?” Trevor scoffed, and Brady laughed.
Cassidy smiled, put her hand on my cheek, and said, “Ignore them.”
I smiled as joy filled me. “I love you, Angel. With every single fiber and vein in my body. And I’m hoping you’ll keep the promise you made to forever be mine by becoming my wife.”
I took a breath, waiting for an answer as her smile grew, and the group of people gathered behind us became silent. She smiled, stroking my face with her long fingers.
“Yes, Marco. Yes, a thousand times over, yes.”
I turned my head to kiss her palm and then pulled her hand from my face in order to slide the ring on. The family in our yard burst into applause. I picked her up, swung her around, and planted a new kiss on her lips. One that should have been light and soft because of everyone watching us, but instead became heated and deep because I didn’t know how to kiss her without it consuming us as fire burned through our souls. We’d somehow found our way together through a sea of loss and heartache, and now we were bound together by love and family.
She was mine, and I was hers, and nothing else mattered.
