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The longing in her voice made me nod without hesitation. “Consider it a done deal.”
“I have a feeling you know all the right things to say and do to keep my son on a tight leash. And I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. He’s a good boy, but someone needs to keep his ass in line.”
I laughed. Little did she know, I never had walked very straight myself. I’d do my best not to burst her bubble, though. “Speaking of him being a good boy, I’d love to see some baby photos.” I thought it over. “Or blackmail-worthy stories and photos of teenage Thatch.”
“Oh, sweetheart. All you have to do is say the word.”
“Yeah, I think it’s time I steal Cassie before you bust out the scrapbooks, Mom.” Thatch walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around my waist. “I know your game, and this is me effectively blocking it before you get started.”
Sally held up her middle finger in response, and I died laughing.
Thatch feigned offense. “I swear, the two most important women in my life are the ones who flip me the bird more than anyone else. I’m feeling seriously short on the love right now.”
His mom grinned at me and retorted, “Your head is already big enough, Thatcher. If we showered you in love all the time, you wouldn’t be able to walk upright.”
“Sally! Come sit on the couch and give me some sugar, honey!” Ken called from his cozy spot on the sofa in the living room.
“I’m too busy cleaning up after you to toss out affection!” she shouted back, but she still managed to meander his way.
“Are you ready for your surprise?” Thatch whispered into my ear once we were alone in the kitchen.
I looked up at him with curious eyes. “What surprise?”
He kissed the tip of my nose and took my hand, leading me out the terrace doors and through the backyard. He urged me to sit down on a bench that rested beneath the shade of a big oak tree before taking a deep breath, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out a small black box.
Flies, small birds…waterfowl—any or all of them could have flown right into my mouth for as wide as it opened. “What are you doing?”
He smiled and got down on one knee in front of me. The tiny hinges squeaked lightly as he popped open the box, and my eyes met the sparkly, gorgeous, overwhelmingly beautiful sight of a pink diamond nestled in the center of a platinum band.
It was the one and only ring I had ever pictured as my perfect engagement ring.
Definitely, definitely not joking, my brain whispered in awe.
Was he fucking serious right now?
I slapped him clear across the face.
“Ow, fuck, Cass,” he said, but he kept grinning like a lunatic.
I pointed an accusing finger in his direction. “How did you know about this ring?”
“Because I know you.” I narrowed my eyes. He wasn’t that good. “And maybe you mentioned this ring to me several months ago when we were searching for a missing cat.”
I shoved his shoulder hard enough that he nearly fell back on his ass, but somehow, he stood his ground and just kept smiling like this crazy proposal made any sense. Like I wasn’t completely losing my shit. Like it was normal to propose to someone. Twice.
“That was forever ago. How did you even remember that? Are you on drugs?”
“There are certain things I’ll never forget. In my lifetime, so far, most of those memories include you.”
I stared down at him in shock, and my heart continued to pound inside my chest. I felt like it was trying to escape my body.
His eyes softened to caramel. “Be my wife, Cassie Phillips.”
I stood up and paced in front of him. “Jesus H Christ,” I muttered to myself.
He grabbed my hips and stopped my momentum. “Marry me, honey. Spend the rest of your life making outrageous, wild, insane kinds of trouble with me.”
I smacked him in the dick so hard that he fell onto his side and held his balls.
“Ow! Holy fucking shit!”
I snatched the box out of his hand and stared down at the ring while he lay fetal and struggled to catch his breath. “This isn’t really going as planned,” he wheezed.
I took in the gorgeous ring, and my heart grew three sizes.
This was my ring. The ring.
God, he was such an idiot. A perfect idiot. My idiot. But a fucking idiot for sure.
And for some reason, I didn’t ask any of the questions a sane human being would ask in that moment. What this meant for us or if he was sure or if he thought it was fucking crazy that it had all started as a prank.
Love had taken over. And I was finding, when it came to that stupid four-letter word, all rational thought fled the building. Love made you senseless—me, more so—and it made you follow your heart even if your brain was shouting, What in the fuck is happening right now?
We had never once exchanged the sentiment, but as I stared into the eyes of this man, who looked like he might want to strangle me or possibly needed to ice his balls, I knew it didn’t matter. My heart had taken control and was driving this crazy train of spontaneity.
Eventually, Thatch got himself to standing and made his way over to the bench and sat down.
I stomped my way over to him and held the box in front of his face. He covered his crotch and stared up at me with confusion.
“Yes.” I shook the box in his face.
His brows rose to his forehead. “Yes?”
“Yes, you crazy asshole,” I said and held out my left hand. “Put that gorgeous fucking ring on my finger before I slap you in the dick again.”
Thatch sat there for a few moments just gazing back me, his eyes searching mine.
And then, the motherfucker grinned.
He took the box from my persistent hand and slid the ring down my finger. His lips kissed it softly once it was in place. “Come here,” he said as he stood and lifted me into his arms. “Kiss the hell out of me with that perfect, crazy mouth of yours.”
He didn’t have to ask twice.
I wrapped my legs around his waist and crushed my lips to his.
I’d come to his parents’ as his fiancée, but I’d be leaving as a woman planning to get married. There wasn’t normally a difference, but the change for me was staggering.
Cassie was wrapped around me like second skin as we sat together beneath the old tree in my parents’ backyard. Crickets chirped and fireflies glowed in the distance.
I didn’t want to be anywhere but here, with my soon-to-be wife, breathing her air, smelling her sweet skin, and just holding on to her, savoring this quiet sliver of time where nothing else mattered but us.
I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to have kids in the future after the number of times she’d slapped me in the dick, but no doubt, I didn’t want to be anywhere else but here, with her—my fucking lunatic of a woman.
Twice, she’d said yes. And the second time she wasn’t high off of an adrenaline rush and taunted by a challenge. When she had said yes—well, yes, you crazy asshole—I’d seen her wild, untamed heart inside the depths of her blue eyes, and I’d known instantly she wasn’t saying yes because she didn’t want to fold. She’d said yes because she wanted this as much as I did.
Same fucking page.
Yeah, I know. Same unspoken page.
No offense, but fuck you guys.
We’ll talk about it when we’re good and ready.
“Come on, Thatcher. Take me somewhere good,” Cassie whispered in my ear. My lips curved into a grin at the feel of her mouth skimming lightly across the skin.
“Somewhere good, huh? What’d you have in mind?”
“Nope. No way. That’s not the way this works. You just have to surprise me.”
I spanned the whole of her knee with my hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Okay, honey. I think I can manage that.”
Up and off the bench, I did the same for her, lifting her to standing with ease.
Her breath caught, and my cock jerked awake. “I swear, I never get used to your size.”
I waggled my eyebrows. “I’ve heard it’s the kind of thing that takes a while to acclimate to.”
Mischief sparkled in her eyes, right next to the moonlight. “Put your boner away, Thatcher.”
I smiled and pulled her farther into my arms. My mouth met the skin of her neck, and I inhaled as I spoke. “Not a goddamn chance.”
“At least wait until we’re not in your parents’ backyard,” she said through a laugh.
“We better move fast, then, huh?” I teased, pulling away from the allure of her skin and leading her down and toward the garage at a jog.
“Slow down, you giant!”
I just laughed and pulled her harder, making her legs move at twice the speed.
“What is it with you? Always making me run and shit,” she grumbled, and I shot her a cocky wink.
“Uh oh,” she huffed with a smile. “Not the wink too. I’m gonna be in fucking trouble tonight, aren’t I?”
“God, I hope so.” Grabbing her hips, I lifted her up, and over my shoulder she went. I ran across the lawn, and she squealed the whole way. I’d had dreams about this—this girl, my Nova, this kind of evening—even if I’d never known it.
The door to the garage slammed behind me, and I put her on her feet so I could get the car ready to go.
She flipped on the light switch for me as I pulled the cover off the Nova and pulled the chain to manually raise the larger garage door.
