Avery
“Marry me, Avery.”
I lie in Tyler’s arms, my index fingers tracing the curly letters of his Avery tattoo. We exhausted and spent, but for some reason, we’re not tired. We’re happy just being together. After all this time.
I couldn’t be happier.
“Shouldn’t you be on your knee asking that?” I say, smiling ear to ear.Marry me.Being Tyler’s wife is my dream come true.
“You want me on my knee?”
I lift my head and meet his soft green eyes. “I think it’s fitting that you grovel a little before I say yes.”
“You want me togrovel?” He laughs. “I see how it is,” he adds, tickling me until I’m laughing so hard I try to roll away. He pins me to the bed beneath him and looks at me intently. “I love you, Avery. And I want you to be my wife and the mother of my children. I won’t grovel, but I also won’t take no for an answer because I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving to you that we were worth the wait.”
“You don’t have to prove that,” I whisper, my eyes misting up. “Because I already know. I would have waited a lifetime for you, Tyler. You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted.”
“Is that a yes?” he asks, lightly nipping at my mouth, teasing me with a kiss.
“Yes, Tyler. I’ll marry you,” I say, smiling through happy tears as he releases my hands and kisses me thoroughly while I wrap myself around him.
When Tyler came back to town, I was intent on keeping my heart hard against him after years of feeling cast aside. But he quickly knocked down my walls and showed me that I was never far from his heart—just like he was never really far from mine. Sure, I was hurt. But in the end, refusing the move past that would only cause us more suffering. Tyler is my one. We were born to be together. And learning that he saved himself for me, just the way I saved myself for him, well, that was the unpopped cherry on the cake. Now that he’s returned and we’re together, I know there’s only joy and happiness in our future. Our issues are in the past, and now we have the rest of our lives to look forward to as husband and wife. Happily ever after…
