"I love it."
"So is that a yes?" I smile up at her, my whole body crawling out of my skin.
"There isn’t any other answer," she tells me as she comes to me and grabs my face in her hands. "By the way, this is the last time you propose to anyone." She laughs with her lips on mine.
"Well, considering I never proposed the first time, it seems fitting." I take the ring out of the box. She holds her hand out for me, and I slide the ring on her finger. "I love you." I grab her around her waist and turn her in a circle, and here, right where she promised to be the best day of my life, she fulfills her promise to me.
Chapter 30
Harlow
He wraps his arms around my waist and spins me in a circle as his lips fall to mine. "I love you," I vow between laughter and tears, my hand on his face. "I can’t even," I say when he puts me down. I look down at the ring that used to sit on my mother’s hand. I shake my head, not sure I’m actually awake, or maybe this is a dream. "I’m," I start to say and just come up speechless, my eyes never leaving the ring. "I can’t." I look up at Travis. "My mother gave you this ring?" I ask, not even able to comprehend, and he nods his head. "For as long as I can remember, my father would buy her jewelry, and the one thing she never ever took off was this ring."
"Well, she wanted you to have it, and I didn’t really want to take it, but then she said when she dies." And as soon as he says that, I groan out because of course my mother would threaten with death. "Yeah, well, it’s good to know that my mother isn’t the only one who uses that excuse."
"There is just." I shake my head. "There are so many questions I have."
"Of course, you do," he says, leaning down and kissing my neck. The phone buzzes in his pocket. "Ask away but know that my sisters found out I was doing this today, and well, if I don’t answer them or go see them, they will come here."
I laugh, and I have to say I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy in my whole life. Not when we were together, not when we got back together, not any other time. "Well, one, is this really the place where." I look around trying to find a spot that reminds me of that time.
"It is," he says, looking around also. "My parents own the land, and well, when we broke up."
"When you dumped me," I correct him, and he just glares at me. "Go on."
"I used to come and sit here by myself and then I just asked my mother if I could build a house here, so I did," he explains, looking around. "It was my escape from the world and the only place that was mine."
"But you were going to bring Jennifer here." I know I shouldn’t care. I know that it’s in the past, but well, I’m a girl and that’s the shit we do.
"I was never going to bring her here," he assures me, shaking his head, and I don’t know why but I feel suddenly happier knowing that this is just ours, which is stupid. "My sisters did all that. I booked us a room at the hotel."
"But," I start to say and his phone buzzes again. He takes out his phone, turning it and making me see it’s his mom. "Let’s go."
"Are you sure?" he says to me. "We didn’t." He motions with his head toward the bed and I gasp.
"You think I’m going to have sex with you knowing your sisters and mother are waiting for us?" I shake my head. "And then show up all rosy cheeks and then she knows for sure we had sex."
I walk into the house. "She knows we have sex," he tells me from behind me. "But we can come back here after, then.”
"Deal," I agree, looking around at all the decorations. "It’s so pretty, much prettier than it was the last time." I laugh.
"We were also drunk," he fills in and I slip my hand in his as we walk out of the house. "I can’t tell you how free I feel," he says to me. "That box was pretty fucking heavy in my pocket for the last month." I stop midstep
"You had this for the last month?" I gasp, shocked. "But," I start to say and he comes back over to me and grabs my face in his hands.
His eyes are so crystal green and light, his thumbs rub my cheeks. "It was the hardest secret I had to keep. Every single night I was like, just do it, ask her. But then I wanted to do it right. It had to be right."
I put my hands on his hips. "It was perfect," I whisper right before his lips fall on mine. I hear his phone beep again and I can’t help but laugh loud when he groans.