Page 109 of Cuffed By Your Love
Chambers tried to look offended, but it cracked into a grin. “That’s cool. Y’all keep joking. Y’all ain’t gon’ get no slo-mo edits for the proposal video.”
Through it all, I leaned against the fence, arms crossed, watching the chaos with a calm I didn’t even recognize in myself.My people. My family. Loud, extra, ridiculous—and somehow exactly what this moment needed.
I shook my head, smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. For once, the mess didn’t feel messy. It felt like love rehearsing for forever.
EJ clutched a poster to his chest so tight it crinkled, his little Spider-Man cape poking out under his jacket like he was half-superhero, half-ring bearer. His eyes were big, bright, alive, like even he couldn’t believe he was part of a mission this serious. My boy looked like he’d been sworn in by the Avengers.
Jonell turned to me, brushing imaginary lint off my lapels, like a sister who’d waited her whole life to give me hell in my biggest moment. “Deep breaths, Elias. If you pass out, I’m not catching yo’ big ass, bro.”
I smirked, but my chest felt like it had been shrink-wrapped. “I ain’t passing out.”
Lie. Straight lie. My palms were sweating like I’d been running suicides in a sweltering gym, and my heart had the audacity to beat like it was trying to break out of my ribcage.
She gave me a side-eye sharper than any gavel. “You got the ring?”
I patted my pocket once, quick, as if it might leap out and vanish if I checked twice. “Stop playing, sis. You got it?”
Jonell tapped her clutch with two fingers, lips curling. “Like it’s parole paperwork. Safe and ready to go.”
Jason came over, grinning like he’d been waiting his whole life for this. He clapped my back so hard my spine popped. “You ready?”
“I been ready since the first time she called me Detective Fine Shyt,” I said, my grin slipping through even though my nerves buzzed like bees swarming my chest.
Jason barked out a laugh, shaking his head. “Bruh, you the only man I know who fell in love off a nickname.”
I chuckled, but the truth was, itwasthat nickname. That first moment she said it, like she was claiming me without even knowing it. That was the second I started building a life I couldn’t picture without her.
Before I could answer, Chambers raised his voice. “Gate swingin’!” He tapped his phone. “Jazz just texted. She’s parking.”
My heart leapt into my throat, climbing like it wanted front-row seats to this moment. My chest tightened, not with fear, but with the weight of knowing everything about my life—every choice, every scar, every loss—had been leading here.
Jason pressed play on the speaker, and “Before I Let Go” poured into the night. The bass slid smoothly through the schoolyard, wrapping us up like an old friend. It wasn’t just a song; it felt like a blessing, like somebody’s grandmother was humming along in my bones, covering me with prayer I hadn’t even asked for.
And then…
Jonay stepped through the gate.
The lights caught her first, washing her skin in gold. Then her gaze landed on the mural, the kids lined up crooked but proud, each holding signs bigger than their bodies.
Her lips parted. Her eyes widened. Her whole body stilled like the world had pressed pause just so she could catch up.
As for me, I damn near forgot how to breathe.
Because right there, in that second, I knew I wasn’t proposing just to a woman I loved. I was proposing to my peace, my fight, my forever. And if my heart had been buzzing before, now it was roaring, loud enough to drown out everything but her.
At the far end of the line, EJ bounced on his toes, clutching his poster sideways like gravity didn’t apply to him. The paper was wrinkled, edges chewed up like it had survived a storm,a scuffle, and a snack break. Across the front, in bold crooked marker, it read:MAMA NAY.
Jonay’s hands flew to her mouth. Her shoulders shook, her breath coming out sharp like the sound of a church shout catching in the back pew. Her eyes flooded instantly, tears spilling fast and fearless, rolling down brown cheeks that caught the string lights and turned them into jewels.
The kids flipped their signs one by one, clumsy and uneven but perfect all the same. I stepped forward.
WILL YOU GET CUFFED BY ME FOR LIFE?
Underneath, scribbled in smaller letters drawn by ambitious crayons, like God Himself had guided tiny hands:
(MARRY ME).
The air cracked. The whole yard got still, like even the night itself was bowing, holding its breath to let this moment echo.
