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“Fuck, Maci,” I growled against the kiss and had to fight the urge to fall into the kiss and her. “Come on.” I pushed away after another quick kiss and forced myself off the bed. “I want my time with you before everyone else wakes up.”
She pouted as she followed me off the bed, but the excitement in her eyes was unmistakable. It wasn’t just today—her favorite day of the year—it was this. The time we carved out every morning to just be together, even if it was just a few minutes before I rushed to work.
Everything had changed since our trip to Mammoth last year. We’d finished relocating the rest of Maci’s things into my apartment almost as soon as we returned and had been looking at houses for months now. She’d started coming with me to Amy’s on Saturday mornings—something I’d unnecessarily worried over, considering the way they always fell into laughter and conversations as if they’d been friends for years. And Dakota, Dylan, and I had eventually worked things out.
I’d known they were just worried for their sister, just as I’d known they never had great ways of showing or expressing it. But watching Maci slip off that tough, uncaring exterior she’d always worn around them, seeing her happy and safe with me, had them coming around and apologizing for everything they’d said.
And Maci?
Fuck, she was addicting.
Every day, I fell more in love with her. Every day, I wondered why it’d taken me so long to realize the girl I needed was the girl who’d always been right in front of me.
“Merry Christmas, Connor,” she whispered once we were upstairs, settled on the big chair near the fireplace.
“Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
She finished covering us with a blanket and rested her head on my chest to watch the snow fall outside. All while I kept one arm locked tight around where she was curled onto my lap, and the other hand shoved into the side of the chair, gripping the box I’d stashed between the cushion and frame.
Swallowing a few times when the words locked in my throat, I tried to keep the tremor out of my voice when I spoke but was sure I failed. “I was thinking we could start packing right after we get home. Either take things over slowly or choose a day and do it all at once.”
“Wait, what?” She twisted on my lap to face me, her eyebrows drawing close in confusion.
“I’m fine with whichever you choose,” I said indifferently, “but we’ll only have two weeks to get out of the apartment.”
“Out of the apart—what?” She blinked quickly, her head subtly shaking as she straightened. “What are you talking about?”
Leaving the box where I’d originally stashed it, I reached for the chain around my neck and slowly worked it out from under my sweatshirt.
“Connor, what is that?” she asked breathlessly when she saw the key hanging from the end of the chain. “Where does that key go to?”
“You said you wanted that house...”
Her gasp filled the room as she turned to straddle me. “This is to the house on—oh my God, but...” A sharp, disbelieving breath left her as her gaze bounced between the key and me. “I don’t understand. They said it’d already been bought.”
“By me.”
Disbelief, joy, and love swirled in her eyes as she studied me before crushing her mouth to mine. Repeatedly muttering Thank yous against the kiss as I slipped the chain over her head and reached for the box again.
“Besides,” I began as I worked the lid of the box open, “didn’t you say it had a perfect backyard for a wedding?”
I looked at her wide, gray eyes when she straightened and watched as tears formed when she saw what was in my hand. “Swear to God, if you’re pranking me...”
The corners of my mouth twitched in amusement. “No pranks today, Maci.” Grabbing her left hand once I had hold of the ring, I slowly slid it onto her finger. “But I do want to know if you’ll marry me.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks as she stared at the diamond for long seconds before she secured her hands in my hair and brought her mouth to mine in a kiss that could’ve stopped time.
It was raw and passionate and full of every emotion I’d just witnessed in her eyes.
“Is that a yes?” I asked when she dropped her head with a soggy laugh, and smiled against her forehead when she just nodded. “Need to hear you say it.”
When she looked at me again, her eyes were bright, and the most beautiful smile was lighting up her face. “Yes, Connor, I’ll marry you,” she said softly, her voice shaking with all those same emotions. “Yes to everything. I want it—the house and the wedding in the backyard—all of it.”
Cupping her face, I pulled her in close and vowed, “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Does this mean we can start planning the wedding?” a harsh whisper came from behind me, and I rolled my eyes as Maci’s head jerked back.
