She shakes her head, smile widening.
The diner noise fades as the song wraps around us.
She looks at me and laughs quietly.
“Who would have thought we’d end up back in a diner together, after everything we survived?”
That is when it hits me.
The certainty.
I have never been so sure of anything in my life. Not a shot. Not a kill. Not survival.
Her.
I think about New Year’s Eve, exactly a year ago. The hotel, the rose gold ring that never made it to her finger. The interruption. The chaos. I remember the nerves that night, the way my hands shook, the doubt that crept in even though I love her more than anything in this world.
I don’t feel that now.
Not even a trace.
I keep my eyes on hers. I don’t blink.
“I knew from the moment I saw you.”
Brooke’s smile stalls, caught between wanting to tease me and wanting to cry. She just watches me like she is trying to understand what I am about to do.
I reach into my pocket and pull out the ring box.
Brooke’s gaze drops to it, then lifts to my face.
“I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you, Brooke. Even when you didn’t know I was there yet. Before you looked at me. Before you even said my name.”
Her eyes gloss. She tries to blink it away.
I reach for her hand and lace our fingers together. My thumb rubs over her knuckles.
“We’ve been through hell together, Brooke. We’ve bled together. We’ve killed together.” A faint grin tugs at my mouth. “I’ve stacked a lot of bodies for you.”
She lets out a quiet laugh while she wipes at the corner of her eye, and my chest eases at the sound.
“I’ve taken a bullet or two for you,” I add.
I shake my head once, staring down at our joined hands for a second before looking back at her.
“I kept waiting for the right time to ask you this. Every time I thought I had it, something went to shit.”
I let out a breath through my nose.
“And then it hit me. The perfect moment is whenever I’m with you.”
I hold her gaze, not looking away.
“I don’t need everything to fall into place first.”
My grip tightens slightly around hers.
“I just need you.”
