Page 34 of The Grinch and His Curvy Christmas Miracle

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She stares for a beat too long. Then turns, storms out, and slams the door behind her.

The silence after feels thick enough to drown in.

Ryder exhales hard and walks toward me.

I haven’t moved. I’m still standing where I was, heart thudding, skin flushed.

"You okay?" he asks.

I shrug. "She’s... beautiful. Polished. And I don’t know. For a second, it felt like maybe you two made sense."

He frowns. "Nikki. Look at me."

I do.

"That woman crushed something in me. You brought it back to life."

I open my mouth, unsure what to say, but he lifts a hand and turns toward the tree. Plucks a bit of tinsel from the branch, twisting it between his fingers.

Then he drops to one knee.

"This is our first Christmas together. The first of many. And yeah, this ring is crap, but it’s yours. Just like I am. Marry me."

My breath catches. "You’re serious?"

"Dead serious."

I let out a shaky laugh. "Yes."

He lifts me off the floor like I weigh nothing, spins me once, and kisses me like it’s the start of forever. And maybe it is.

Chapter 8

Ryder

Nikkisaidyes.

She actually said yes.

I’m still trying to process the fact that she’s here, in my cabin, looking at me like I hung the damn stars.

And then she went and agreed to marry me—with a tinsel ring on her finger—like I’m not half-feral and terrible at emotions.

Like this is normal. Like we’re normal.

She’s curled up in one of the recliners, legs tucked under her, hair spilling over her shoulder as she watches the firelight flicker across the ornaments we hung.

There’s this softness in her eyes I can’t stop looking at.

Hell.

I’m smiling.

Me.

Grumpy, quiet, keep-the-world-at-arm’s-length Ryder.

And all it took was one woman to walk into my life and turn it upside down.

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