Page 52 of Always Red (Chasing Red 2)

Speechless, overwhelmed, I stared at him. I saw him swallow. Suddenly, his eyes filled with alarm.

“I was going to wait for the perfect time after you graduated, but…I just needed to… I need…” He shut his eyes. He looked like he was in pain. “Red, will you marry me? Will you spend the rest of your life with me? Have kids with me? I’ll build you a house, buy you a dog…anything you want. Just say—”

I fell into his arms, clasping his neck. He caught me easily, wrapping his strong arms around me.

“Yes! Yes, Caleb. I’ll be your wife.”

His hold tightened around me, and when he spoke again, his voice was gruff. “I love you, Red. You’re the only girl, the only one, who took my heart. Please don’t give it back.”

“I won’t. I won’t,” I sobbed. “It’s mine.”

“It’s yours. It’s always been yours.”

Chapter Eighteen

Veronica

“Red, come home with me tonight?” Caleb asked. “I miss waking up with you close to me.”

I was no match against the power of his adorable dimples and insistent green eyes.

So I told Caleb to wait for me in his car while I packed a change of clothes and some books for my class tomorrow. I moved as fast as I could, taking care to be quiet so as not to wake Kara.

I was just placing a note for her on the fridge when my eyes landed on the engagement ring on my finger.

God. I’m engaged to Caleb Lockhart.

I pressed my hand to my stomach, feeling a flutter there.

We hadn’t known each other long, but it felt like we had been through so much already. It felt like I had known him for a long time.

It felt…so right.

I grabbed my bag and stepped outside.

“Hi,” he whispered.

The sight of Caleb leaning against the car caught my breath. The light from the lamppost illuminated him: the way his eyes flickered with pleasure at the sight of me, the way his lips stretched into a gorgeous smile, and the way his long and lean body moved as he grabbed me by the waist and kissed me long and hard.

It didn’t matter if everyone was against us. Caleb mattered. He was all that mattered.

“Hi, yourself,” I said breathlessly, my lips tingling from his kiss.

“Ready?” He released me, opening the car door for me like the gentleman that he was.

I watched as he walked around the car, admiring the confident way he moved, the way his eyes flicked to me through the windshield. He opened the door and slid into the car, a huge grin on his face as he turned to face me.

“Hi again, my Red.”

We just sat there for a moment, looking at each other with goofy smiles on our faces.

“Finally,” he murmured.

I knew what he meant. We were together—finally. We had just gotten back together, and everything around us seemed to be trying to pull us apart. But when Caleb was beside me and his eyes looked at me like I was his everything, nothing else mattered. It was overwhelming to feel this way about someone. But it felt really good.

He reached for my hand and intertwined our fingers before he stepped on the gas. The roads were empty as we drove to Caleb’s apartment. I pushed the button to open the window, closing my eyes as the air teased my hair and skin. It felt good.

“Red, about this dinner with my mom…”

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