“Well, then what took you so long?”
“Needed my caffeine, duh.”
“Nice to know I come in second after coffee.”
“Sorry, babe, but you come in fourth, after Kitty and Wilson.”
“You’re so mean.”
“Aww, I’ll make it up to you tonight. I’ll even bottom, how about that?”
Jett smirks and pulls me tighter against him. “Gee, I feelsohonored.”
“As well as you should. I’m a catch.”
He leans in and kisses me. “That you are.”
Jett eases me back, bends down, and grabs the plant. It’s really pretty with large green and pink leaves. “This is Jeff,” he says.
I take the plant from him and cradle it with one arm. “Hey, Jeff. Wilson’s gonna love you.”
“And this is for you, too.”
I set the plant back on the ground and take the proffered bag. Digging past the rainbow tissue paper, I pull out a T-shirt. I hold it up and read, ‘Dudes Just Taste Better.’ I snort a laugh and put it back into the bag. I’ve been collecting these corny T-shirts, and Jett has no problem adding to my growing collection. “Love it!”
Before I can thank him properly, Jett drops to one knee, a little black box in his hand. My heart skips a beat, and I inhale a gasp.Oh shit. I wasnotexpecting a proposal at all.
“Now, let me get this out, then you can… yap away,” he says.
I roll my eyes as my heart continues to pound. “Such a romantic.” He huffs at me, and I rush out an apology and mime zipping my mouth.
“Wes, you came into my life when I needed you the most. I didn’t know it then, but I wish I had. I wish I’d seen the sunshine behind those gorgeous blue eyes. I wish I’d seen how quickly you turned around my life and gave me hope for the first time in years. My blindness made me nearly lose you. You never gave up on me. You continued to support me even when I felt like I didn’t deserve it.”
My racing heart melts at his words. I want to say something so badly. I want to tell him he was fine. We worked it all out. It didn’t matter. That our break helped make us realize we belonged together. That he had things to deal with that he could only do on his own. But I keep my ‘yap shut’ as he so eloquently put it.
“When I feel like I’m falling again, slipping to a place I don’t want to go to, you’re there to ground me every single time. I never dreamed I could have a love like this, and you remind me of that every day, and how much you love me. You never let me doubt it or second-guess myself.” He looks down and holds out the box, and my stomach dips. I suck in my trembling bottom lip. “This is my way of showing how much I love you. No more fears about our future. No more doubts. This is me committing a lifetime to you. To let you know that I’ll always stick by you in return. That I’ll always love you.”
I hold my breath, waiting to see if he’s finished or if I can speak yet. Jett opens the box, and I find a gorgeous ring. “Will you marry me, Wes?”
A few tears spill, and I swipe them away. “Hell, yeah, I will. God, yes.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, dumbass.” I point at my face. “You see what you’ve done to me? I’m all emotional.”
Jett stands and holds out the ring. I take it and inspect it. “It’s hammered titanium, and the inlay is from an old whiskey barrel,” he says.
I slide it onto my ring finger. “It’s perfect, babe. Beautiful. I love it. God, and here I was thinking about making reservations for a lame dinner. This iswaybetter.”
He smiles and tugs me against him before he presses his lips to mine. “I can’t wait for our future,” he says. “And all the lame dinners.”
“Me, too. But next time, we should get a girl plant. Name her Shirley.”
Jett chuckles and bites my chin. “Dork.”
“How much did you have to pay to get the track and field to clear out?” I ask.
“Nothing. The students and coaches gave us an hour. I mean, I needed the time so I could break down, in case you said no.” His pretty chocolatey eyes gleam with humor.
