Page 144 of Paid In Full

I took his hand, stuffing the photo in my pocket. “Let’s talk about this later, okay?”

“Yeah.” He blew out a breath. “Wait, that other kid looked just like you. Who was that? Benito? Enzo?”

I scratched my cheek. “Something like that. Now, come on. You're driving me crazy.”

Ash gave up and let me drag him through the house. We stepped outside. The sun hit my skin, warming me all over as it started its descent. I led Ash over to a picnic blanket. A basket and a bottle of champagne were sitting beside it.

“What’s this?” Ash asked.

“Sit down.”

He sat, holding my hand until the very last second. Ash opened the basket and started taking out the food I’d packed. Chelsea had helped me with it, telling me what to add because I’d never done anything this fucking ridiculous before. A picnic. Who would have thought?

Ash glanced up at me, the sun lighting up his brown eyes until they were liquid pools of chocolate I could swim in. He smiled, and my heart nearly popped out of my chest.

“Why are you still standing up?” he asked. “Come on. I want to try some of this. Can you open the champagne? I hate the pop.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “One minute.”

Ash continued to lay everything out on the blanket while I dug into my pocket and retrieved what I was looking for. The box felt huge in my hand, some massive thing when it was only a little one. Slowly, I slipped it out and sank to one knee. Ash continued to push through the basket, talking happily about what he was grabbing before he glanced up at me. He froze, his eyes widening to the size of saucers.

“What? What are you...”

“Marry me,” I blurted out. “I don’t want to spend my time with anyone else ever again. I know without a doubt that you’re mine.” My teeth sank into my bottom lip. “And I’m yours.” I cleared my throat as Ash’s eyes clouded. “Okay, yeah, you still got shit you need to work through, I get that too. I can wait if that’s what you need me to do, but I want to marry you someday. Soon.” I groaned.I probably sound crazy.“I’ve already got a place picked out where we could do it. You like the beach, so I was thinking California, get married while the waves are crashing or something. I don’t know,” I muttered, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “You know what—”

Ash grabbed my wrist. “Show me the ring.”

I opened the box. The band was all gold, with diamonds wrapping around the entire center of the thing. I’d picked it out, knowing it was a little too flashy for Ash’s liking, but I wanted him to know how important he was to me. That he was the only man, no, the only person, period, I would ever love this way.

Ash held out his hand. “Put it on me,” he whispered.

“You haven’t said yes yet,” I pointed out.

He grinned. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Of course, I will. Did you even doubt that for a second?”

My stomach was still pitching and rolling, but I grinned all the same. “Nah, not at all,” I said, lying as I slid the ring onto his finger. “After all, I’ve got the best ass you’ve ever been in.”

“Theonlyass I’ve ever been in,” he said, rolling his eyes. “But saying yes has nothing to do with that.”

Ash hopped to his feet and yanked me down by my tie once I stood. His lips crashed into mine, sending shocks of electricity tingling through my body. My hands went to his back, pressing him against me more tightly as I kissed him so hard my lips started to ache. Our tongues danced together, our pants growing louder. I couldn’t fucking take it anymore.

“Screw the dinner and champagne. We’ll come back to it.”

I picked Ash up, tossing him over my shoulder. He yelled. “Hey! There’s going to be ants all over everything.”

“I don’t give a fuck!”

Ash laughed as I carried him into the house. I never wanted the sound of his laughter to fade. No matter how much longer I had to grovel, I would forever work toward being the kind of man who deserved his love. Even after he said I do.

---