Page 93 of Say it Ain’t So

“Yeah, well.” He shook his head before dipping his chin. He didn’t look at me when he responded. “Ma didn’t want to stick around. Think she made it about twenty minutes after you took off before she did the same.”

“What?” My heart clenched and I reached for him, grabbing hold of his T-shirt. “Rylan, that’s⁠—”

“It’s fine.” He shook his head. “No. No, it’s not fine. But it’s…That’s not what I came here to say.”

“What do you⁠—”

“Joss, baby.” He took my face again, pressing his forehead to mine. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m such an insufferable ass. I don’t mean to be. I honestly hate that I am. I’m just… hurt. I’m frustrated that I’m stuck and in pain and all I want to do is be happy again. I want to get up and move, go out with you and see the world, and I’m just so damn stuck in my head that I keep taking it out on the one person in this world I love more than anything else.”

“Rylan—”

“Joss.” He pressed his lips to mine, his kiss too brief. He let go of me, grabbing both my hands in his. His fingers grasped my own, two of them pinching the ring I still held in my hand. “I don’t have it in me to get down on my knee right now, and it makes me feel like shit that I can’t. But I came here to apologize for how I’ve been acting. Pops made me realize just how much of an ass I’ve been, because no matter how much pain I’m in, you deserve more than I’ve given you. You deserve the world, gorgeous, because you are my world. You bring me happiness when nothing else does, and I don’t want to live a single day without you by my side.”

“You don’t have too—” I started, but he cut me off with a kiss.

“I love you, Joslyn Monroe. Will you marry me? Again?”

“Rylan.” My bottom lip trembled, and I pressed myself to him, pressed my lips against his. “I love you.”

“Marry me, baby. Let me make up for being such an ass by taking care of you for the rest of your life.”

“But what about…”

“What about what, gorgeous?”

“What about… I don’t want to be a secret anymore, Rylan. I can’t keep hiding what I feel for you. And if that’s what this is going to be, then I can’t. I love you too much for that.”

“Then don’t.”

“What?”

“Don’t hide it. Let’s tell everyone, okay? Let’s let the world know that you and I are together, and our love is too big to hide away. I want to go public. I want a wedding with all our friends so I can dance with you like we did at Vinny and Jen’s wedding. I want to dance with you every single day and have that damn cake⁠—”

“Oh my God, the cake!”

“Right?” Rylan laughed. “Might be fuckin’ expensive, but it’ll be worth it.” He pressed a less-than-chaste kiss to my lips. “Mmm. Wanna take a slice and smear it all over your body and lick every last inch of you clean.”

“Oh my God, Rylan.” My cheeks burned so hot it felt like they were on fire.

“I’m gonna get better, gorgeous. I promise. I’m going to get my ass out of bed and get back to work. I’m going to get back in shape, and then”—he grabbed me by the hips and pulled me close—“I’m going to make love to you until you’re screaming my name and begging me for more.”

“Rylan.” My lips crashed into his, and I didn’t make him wait to slip his tongue into my mouth. I wanted to taste him, wanted to feel the way he loved me with all of himself, from his head to his toes.

“Marry me, gorgeous. Make me the happiest man on earth.”

“Yes.” I grabbed the back of his head and yanked him down to me, snaking my fingers behind his neck as I held his lips to mine. Rylan pulled me closer as he leaned backward over the hood of the car, and I nearly climbed over him, trying to feel every inch of his body pressed to mine.

That is, until a voice called out and I was jumping five feet in the air.

“She say yes?”

“Fuck! Pops! Do you mind?”

“I kinda do mind, actually,” Rylan’s dad called from the front seat of the car we’d been groping each other on. “Worried you might scratch the car and then we’ll be in a heap of trouble when we turn it back in.”

“It’ll be fine,” Rylan said, adjusting himself in his sweats before he turned his gaze on Ray. “I can buy you fifty cars. A little scratch in the paint is nothing.”

“I just don’t want to get into any trouble.”