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“No,” I interrupt. “I don’t want you to hold back, I just need to take it slow for now.”
Understanding flashes over his face as pulls me closer. “I moved too fast.”
I want to shout that he shouldn’t have to be worried about moving too fast. We’re married, and to normal people this would have happened several times over, but I’m not normal, am I? I’m that person, the one who’s scared to show too much skin in case someone takes it the wrong way. I’m the person who lets her past cripple her. The person I never wanted to be.
Shaking my head, I purse my lips. “I don’t want to take it slow,” I say, contradicting myself and causing Luke’s brow to rise.
He watches me with his same assessing gaze that I’ve become used to, and I see the moment he understands what I’m saying because he pulls me toward him, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“I get it,” he says simply. “But you don’t need to worry about it right now.” He takes a breath. “All you need to do is hold my hand and walk over to Ty’s. That’s all you need to think about this second. Got it?”
My lips lift, my chest deflating, the nerves expelling from my body. “Got it.”
He waits another beat before pressing his lips against mine in a chaste kiss and pulling me out of the room and the house and across the compound.
My gaze wanders over to the gates, making sure no one is standing there, and when Luke sees me watching, he pulls me closer, putting his arm around my waist.
“He’s not there,” he whispers as we walk up the steps to Ty’s house.
I nod but still look back before Luke opens the door and waves me inside where I immediately halt. My eyes widen at what’s in front of me. A banner covers the entryway with “Congratulations, Lily & Luke,” balloons everywhere, and when I turn, I see a three-tier cake sitting in the middle of the dining table, food surrounding it.
“They’re here!” Eli shouts, but I can’t move my gaze from the table and the cake that looks suspiciously like a wedding cake.
“What’s going on?” I ask, my voice small as the door closes with a click causing me to turn around.
“I know we got married for reasons you’re not meant to,” Luke starts, stopping in front of me. “And I’ll be honest; when you said yes, I never thought I’d be here, standing in front of you and not wanting to let you go.”
I frown, not understanding what he’s doing as he pulls something out of his pocket. “Luke?”
“We never got the ceremony with our friends and family.” He kneels, holding out a box and my eyes start to water. “We never got the party afterward, the cutting the cake, the first dance.” I hold my hand over my mouth. “Lily…” He looks up at me. “We’re already married but I need you to know I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He opens the box, revealing a diamond ring. “Will you?”
“Will I what?” I ask through my tears.
“Spend the rest of your life with me… but not because you have to, because you want to.”
I look from him to the ring and back, my hand moving to my chest and rubbing. There’s not one doubt in my mind how I feel and what I want, but when his eyes flash with uncertainty, I realize he doesn’t know. He doesn’t get how I feel about him, and that’s my fault.
“That day,” I start, moving closer to him. “When you asked me, I knew why you were doing it, but I didn’t say yes because of that.” I take a deep breath as I place my hand on his face where it comes to my chest with him kneeling. “I said yes because I loved you even then. I loved the way you looked at me, the way you made me feel, but most of all, I loved how you let me be me, how you didn’t for one second doubt who I was or what I said.”
“You did?” he asks.
“I did.”
“And now?”
A tear slips down my cheek, rolling down my neck. “Now I love you more than I did that day. And tomorrow I’ll love you even more. So, the answer is yes.” I nod for good measure. “Yes, I’ll spend the rest of my life with you.”
The air stills as he stands up slowly and pulls the ring out of the box, but I don’t take my focus off him as he slips it on my finger, stopping when it meets my wedding band.
There’s a beat of silence before he grabs me, yanking me to him and slamming his lips down on mine. Everything fades away as he coaxes my mouth open with his tongue and a moan slips free. My hands work their way up the back of his t-shirt, my fingers spreading out on his tense muscles.
“I fuckin’ love you,” he grits out when he pulls back, and there he is, the straight-to-the-point, rough Luke I know.
“I love you, too.” The hoots and hollers behind us start to register and my face immediately heats. “Oh, God.” I push my face into Luke’s chest, trying to hide from them all. “I can’t believe you did that in front of everyone.”
Luke chuckles, his chest vibrating with the movement. “They’re family,” he says simply.
Taking a deep breath before I pull back and turn to look at everyone, my gaze roves over the whole team. Luke’s right, they are family, and when Kay steps forward and embraces me, Kitty and Lexi not far behind her, my whole body buzzes. This is where I was always meant to be, right here with them and Luke.
