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hat a magical word. “It sounds like you’re suggesting a long-term test drive with an option to buy. Am I right?”
“Yes. Exactly that. I know we’re moving at light speed, but when I sat down and thought about how I felt, the quick timeline didn’t matter.” He exhaled. “I’ve been falling for you for more than ten years. It just took me this past week to finally figure it out.”
She stared up at him, sure she’d imagined this whole scenario. She’d probably face-planted in her mousse during the reception and dreamed this whole thing. “I…uh, I don’t know what to say.”
“I knew it.” He turned around and would’ve walked away if she hadn’t snatched his arm and tugged him back. “No, see, this is why I didn’t bring this up in front of everyone. I didn’t want to put you on the spot. I knew the chances weren’t good you’d agree—who would, after all of this—and I didn’t want you to feel embarrassed in front of everyone when you had to turn me down.”
She leaned up on her tiptoes and caught his cheeks in her hands. “Yes. Let’s make promises to each other.”
“You want to?” He sounded stunned. Or drugged. Maybe both.
“I want to. And if you actually say the rest without cutting yourself off, I’ll make your night in ways you can’t even contemplate while standing outside your sister’s wedding reception,” she teased, shocked by how calm she felt. The more nervous he became, the more her own nerves ebbed away.
This was Bryan, the boy she’d loved forever. Saying the words and making them into a promise reaffirmed how true they’d always been.
“Okay. Okay.” He gazed at her as if he was dumbfounded, then fell silent.
She smiled and wondered how her heart simply didn’t burst through her chest. “Want me to do it?”
“No, I got this.” He swallowed so hard she heard it. “Will you be mine?”
Such a profoundly simple and wonderful question. “Yes,” she whispered, sliding her hands around to the back of his neck to drag him even closer.
Another swallow. “You, ah, you’re sure?”
Her smile grew. “So fucking sure.”
“I don’t have a promise ring for you.”
“Don’t care.”
“I’ll get you one, whatever you want. Do you still like the same pink stones you did as a kid?”
She hadn’t thought she could be any more touched. She’d been wrong. “Pink tourmaline? Like my mom’s high-school class ring?”
“Yeah, that’s it.” He locked his arms around her waist, so tight he snatched her next breath. “Whatever you want,” he repeated. “Oh, and I’m not playing football anymore. I’m sticking around here.”
“Say what?”
He grinned and lifted her into his arms, spinning her in a slow circle. “Guess I’m going to build houses and be a husband. I mean, eventually. Assuming we keep heading the way we’re heading—okay, I’m shutting up now.”
Laughing, she pushed at his chest to make him set her down. It was only then that she realized she hadn’t even thought of what effect the distance between them would have on their relationship. It hadn’t mattered.
Loving him—and being loved in return—mattered so much more.
She had so many questions. So much she wanted to say. Instead, she laced her fingers tighter behind his neck and turned her cheek to his. There would be time to talk about all of that later. “You okay? Without football, I mean.”
“I’ve never been more okay.” He crushed his mouth to hers and stole her next sentence and the breath she still hadn’t gotten back. “I’m going to make you so glad you agreed to be mine, Jilly Bean.”
“That’s a freebie,” she warned, grinning up at him. “And I already am. But you forgot one important thing.”
“What’s that?”
“This means you’re mine, too.”
“Absolutely.” He brushed his fingers over her cheek. “So am I going to score tonight?”
“Darlin’,” she murmured, “I thought you’d never ask.”
