Page 79 of The One I Need
“You know when the day comes that you're ready, I’m going to be here. No matter whether or not I have a ring on my finger or if one of us is living in a different time zone, I’ll always be here for you.”
“I know,” I say, snuggling in a bit closer. “You’re too good to be true, you know that right?”
Oliver laughs a little. “I appreciate the compliment, but I know for a fact that’s false.”
“Why do you think that?”
Oliver doesn’t answer for a few seconds. The silence seems familiar. It reminds me of me when I’m broached with a topic I’d rather not talk about.
“You know how the guys joke, and even I joke, about the amount of proposals I’ve made?”
“Yes.”
“Have I ever told you the actual number?”
I go still in Oliver’s arms. It’s a question I’ve always wanted to ask, but dared not to. “You haven’t…”
I feel him take in, then let out a deep breath. “When I proposed to you at the wedding, that was my thirty-fourth proposal.”
I don’t know if Oliver can see me right now as my back is against his front, but I’ve stopped breathing. I’ve stopped blinking. I’ve ceased all movement.
“Wow,” I whisper. “That’s…a lot.”
“You could say that,” he says. “I know it’s a running joke, and I’m fine with that. I get why. Honestly, it is funny. But in the back of my head, I have to wonder, what’s wrong with me? Why, out of thirty-three women, did none of them want to marry me?”
There was a moment in theWizard of Ozwhen the Tin Man realized he had a heart. Right here is my Tin Man moment.
“You know it’s them, right?”
Oliver starts gently brushing his fingers on my arms. I don’t know if it’s for my benefit or his, but I don’t stop him. “So I’ve been told. Though I’m the common denominator in all of those relationships.”
I sit up so I can turn to look at him, and my newly-found heart breaks a little more when I see the utter defeat written all over his face. “Oliver Michael Price.”
He seems shocked by this response. “You remembered my middle name…”
“I did. Now focus. You are the best man I’ve ever met. I wish I could stay married to you. In another life, in another time, I’d marry you ten times over. Because you are the type of man who deserves all the love in the world. And there’s some woman out there watching some romantic comedy, eating Skittles, wondering where her happily ever after is, and it’s you.”
He nods, though I don’t know if he believes me. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”
I tip his head up with my fingers, wanting him to look at me for this. “I’m not just saying that. I don’t lie, Oliver. I told you that from day one. I might not be forthright with information, but honesty is a deal-breaker for me. There’s never a word that has come out of my mouth that I didn’t mean. You, my friend, are the biggest catch of all. Hell, I’d make you a part of a dating app campaign if you’d let me. Wait, will you let me? Nevermind, we can talk about that later. But in all of this rambling, please know this: There is not one single thing wrong with you. Not one, single, thing.”
My finger is still under his chin, and for some reason I have this sudden urge to kiss him. It would be so easy to do it. The moment is here. And so are his lips. Lips that I know taste like the best thing in the world. Lips that have the power to make me feel treasured and sexy all at the same time. Lips that don’t lie to me. Lips that have made me start to feel like there might be light in the darkness.
I quickly drop my finger, sense somehow smacking me upside the head. I can’t kiss Oliver. I’m already blurring lines. I’m already playing with fire.
But man, that fire would feel so good…
“I should go to bed,” I say, quickly moving off the couch.
“Yeah, sure.” Oliver stands up and points me down the hall. “You can grab a T-shirt from my drawer. Toothbrushes are in the medicine cabinet.”
“Thanks,” I say, quickly turning to head down the hall. Why am I nearly running? That would be because I feel a fucking tear threatening to leak, and I do not cry. Except when I realize I’m married, apparently.
“Hey, wife?”
I stop at Oliver’s words and quickly take a breath. Luckily, that’s enough to push back that fucking tear that was threatening to escape. “Yeah?”
“Whoever he was who hurt you, you know I want to kill him, right?”
