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My internal voice had already screamed yes at him a fuck ton of times, but my tongue glued itself to the roof of my mouth. I swallowed sandpaper and choked on love, not even embarrassed that tears rained down my cheeks like the emotional mess of a man I was.

I coughed. “Yes. Fuck, yes. Holy shit, Maddox. Yes!”

Before he could stand, I crashed to my knees in front of him. I ignored the ring and pulled his face to mine, kissing his bloody lips with everything I possibly had. It was the worst kiss ever because I couldn’t stop crying, and that just made me want to hit him again. Or laugh. Or hug him or some shit. I had no idea. I just knew that he was everything to me.

“I love you,” I whimpered against his cheek, hanging onto him for dear life. “I hate that you made me beat the shit out of you first.”

“No you don’t,” he laughed. He ran his fingers through my hair and kissed me again. Pulling back, he met my eyes. “You’ll marry me?”

“I’d marry you right now if we had someone to do it,” I said, meaning it. “I just want you forever, Madd.”

His shyness turned to cockiness, and he smiled wider than I’d ever seen him smile. His bloody teeth reflected the moonlight, and his eyes glistened with tears he hadn’t let fall. “Give me your hand.”

I leaned back on my heels and held out my left hand. My knuckles were bloody, but luckily, I was a righty, so my left hand wasn’t too swollen. Maddox slid the ring on my finger, and I studied the words on it.

“Without light?”

He cringed a bit. “Lame, I know.” He held my hand in his. “I found a set that says, ‘without light, there is no darkness.’ They just fit or some shit, you know? You’re my light, Devon.”

More tears brimmed my eyes. Maddox sucked at romance sometimes, but holy hell, this lame bullshit did it for me. “I am?”

“I don’t need you to light up my world or anything like that. Just… sit with me in the dark and remind me that light exists.”

I coughed to cover a cry. Oh, sweet Jesus. “You’re the shadiest fucker I’ve ever met, Madd, but we light each other up, yeah?”

“Stop trying to out-lame me,” he scoffed.

“Fuck you! Where’s the other ring? I want to put it on you.” I shoved my hand into his pocket and pulled it out. I read the other half of the inscription, felt the honesty and the meaning behind the phrase, and didn’t give a single fuck if it was cheesy. It was us. We were allowed to be cheesy. Light and dark, that’s what our world consisted of sometimes. We took turns being the consuming dark and the hopeful light, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. “You’ll be mine forever?” I asked.

“I already proposed. You can’t out-propose me, too, you dumbass.”

I grinned, grabbing his left hand. “I own you, bud.” I slid the ring on. It got stuck on his swollen finger, but he didn’t want to take it off. “I love you, Madd.”

“Love you, Dev.” Our eyes locked.

I wrapped my arms around him and breathed him in. Bloody, sandy, sweaty, and sort of snotty, but he was perfect. My man. My fiancé. I didn’t know what sort of karma was at play, but I’d obviously done something right in another life to win this prick. I was going to marry the asshole of my dreams, and shit, this was the happiest night of my life.

“Wait.” I pulled back to look at him. “Did you plan this shit with the fight?”

“Mhm,” he hummed. “You’re so fucking predictable, I knew you’d want me on my knees,” he laughed.

Dick. “Don’t even try to use this as an excuse for you losing our fight, Madd. I beat your ass fair and square. What would you have done if I knocked you out?”

He smirked but said nothing in response. Such a Maddox reaction. I loved the bullshit that came from his mouth, but I loved his silence, too. Sometimes, when he said nothing, the message was louder.

“Okay, you got to be all lame and cheesy. Now it’s my turn.” I pulled my phone out. “We’re taking selfies.”

Maddox scoffed. “I won’t marry a guy who uses words like selfies.”

“Yes you will.” I leaned into him. Maddox wrapped his arms around my middle and kissed my cheek. I took a selfie of us, changed the angle, and took a hundred more. “Smile, you dumb fuck.”

He smiled. His teeth were bloody, my eye was swollen, I had blood on my cheek and he had it on his chin, but fuck me, we smiled. Best engagement photos ever.

I kept snapping photos and Maddox didn’t even complain about it. Then the camera screen switched to an incoming call screen.

My blood turned to ice, my smile dropped, and my body went taut. I’d memorized that number.

“Who is that?” Maddox asked.

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