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“Luckily, I was prepared for this.”
I’ve never been more confused. “You were?”
“Mhmm,” he hums, head bobbing with a nod. “You wouldn’t be you, the woman I love, if you didn’t make my proposal so fucking difficult with your hard-headedness.”
Avery pulls me off the chair and into his lap. His fingers dance over my face, twisting a loose wave before he tucks it behind my ear. When his arms encircle me, wrapping me up, all I feel is his warmth, his love, his utter devotion, to me, to our family, and I swear I could drown in it.
“Claire, from the moment I met you, you’ve made my life anything but easy. You’re stubborn, infuriating, and extremely hotheaded at times. In fact, sometimes I piss you off just so I can bend you over my knee and slap your ass so hard, get you more riled up before I fuck you sideways.”
I fall forward with a bubble of laughter, and he beams, tipping my chin up, his lips meeting mine for a soft, sweeping kiss.
“You’ve fought me every damn step of the way, but I’m a better man because of it. You taught me the value of being relentless in going after the things I want, and what I want, what I’ve always wanted…it’s you, Claire. Your love. To share the space you’re in. To share your time, your life. You’re my best friend, my favorite sparring partner, and my family. The only place I want to spend the rest of my life is right next to you, wherever you are.”
I’m grateful for the suburbs, for our oasis smackdab in the middle of a concrete jungle. Because here in our little bubble, I can hear the quiet, quick pitter-patter of my heart as it restarts, looking into the eyes of the man who showed me what true love is, what it looks like, how it feels.
Avery looks down between our chests and I follow his gaze to find him turning the box in his hands. He licks his lips, looking back up at me. “Can I finish what I was doing before you interrupted me?”
A giggle puffs past my lips. “Please.”
“I love you, Claire. I think I knew that it would be you from the moment we met. I saw you, and something inside me just clicked, like I’d known you before. You strolled into my life and took over without even trying. I can’t even…” He trails off, eyes falling shut as he shakes his head. I drop a tender kiss to his lips.
“I can’t even remember what it was like before you came along. All I know is that my life was lonely and empty. It wasn’t living. You brought me to life, Claire. You gave me a family I never knew I wanted. My heart exploded when I met you.”
He looks back down at the box in his trembling hands. With careful fingers, he flips the lid, revealing the most breathtaking ring I’ve ever seen. The teardrop emerald shines up at me, the tiny diamonds wrapping around it, decorating the delicate gold band, catching the twinkle from the lights above, the moon in the sky.
Avery takes my hand in his, bringing it to his lips, kissing each finger. “You’re the love of my life, Claire. Spend forever with me. Dive in with me. Please…marry me.”
I meet his timid gaze, feel the gentle quiver of his hand as it holds mine, as if he’s really not sure that my answer will be anything but—
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, Avery.” A grin absolutely shatters my face as I throw myself at him, tackling him backwards to the ground as I shower him with kisses. “Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes!”
Avery’s arms come around me, crushing me to him. He rolls us onto the grass, settling himself between my legs as he looms over me. “Mine,” is all he growls, before he shoves the ring onto my finger.
“You and me, Claire. It’s you and me, forever.”
It’s the only forever I want, and the one I never expected, the one I never saw coming.
I never wanted to love him. I found excuse after excuse to deny what was right there in my heart, drawing me toward him like a magnet.
I drafted lies in my mind, placed another man’s mistakes on his shoulders, replaced the love in my heart with a fear so deep I couldn’t see straight.
But the truth is, and has always been, that Avery is the very thing that keeps me grounded. He evens me out, the calm to my storm, the rain to my fire, bringing me down to that perfect simmer where everything is just right. He’s my comfort and my support system, my challenger and my biggest fan. My very best friend and the love of my life.
Avery is mine. That’s all he’d ever been, and all I’d ever need him to be.
Letting him brush the hair from my eyes, tucking it behind my ear. I melt into his touch. With my face in his strong, capable hands, he pulls me into him for a tender kiss that soothes the aches that linger inside me and brews a love so strong and deep that shakes me right down to my core.
“I love you, Avery,” I whisper against his soft, full lips.
“I love you wild, Claire. Always have, always will.”
The End
