Chapter 86 Unstoppable love.
"I just want you to see me. Really see me. I’m just a guy who’s as lost and scared as you are. Just a guy who loves a girl, and is hoping she’ll meet him halfway."
I watched him closely. I wanted to read his eyes, but he could barely look at me.
"Last night, I talked to Cole. He stops by before and after work." Ryan stiffened at Cole’s name. He sighed and looked away. "I told him you asked me to marry you. I told him I’d said no before, and I was going to say no again. But then he told me something… last year, you bought a ring. You were going to propose then, too. He talked you out of it. If you’d asked me last year, I probably would have said yes."
He was still turned away, his brows drawn together like he was in pain.
"So I asked Cole to get something for me. Because right then, I finally knew what my answer was."
My lips curled into a smile and I took a small step toward him.
"My brain keeps telling me to say no. But…"
I took another step.
"Who am I trying to fool?" I laughed and opened the brown bag in my hand. I pulled out a milkshake and held it out to him.
He didn’t move. He just stared at me, confused.
"It’s my answer," I said.
Ryan
I stared at the cup in her hand. What the hell does that mean? Her eyes urged me to take it, so I did. There was a yellow note stuck to the side. I peeled it off.
One word.
Yes.
For a second, my heart just stopped. One simple word. Three letters. I read it again and again before it finally sank in. My hands were shaking. My knees were shaking. I couldn’t speak.
"I could have just said it… but I know you. I wanted it to be special," she said with a grin.
There were a thousand things I wanted to do, but my mind went completely empty. I just stood there, staring at her like an idiot.
She knew. She took the last step toward me, closing the space between us. She put her arms around my neck, rose up on her toes, and kissed me softly. When she leaned back, her eyes were glowing.
That broke me.
I grabbed her waist and lifted her up, my mouth finding hers. Everything we were holding fell to the ground. I heard the milkshake spill, but I didn’t care about anything else.
The girl I love said yes.
I held her head and her back, pulling her against me. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, her fingers clutching my shirt. I brought her even closer, though there was no space left between us.
We were hungry for each other. It felt like coming home after forever apart. It felt like touching for the very first time.
Her mouth was sweet, like vanilla. Her tongue touched my lower lip and I moaned. I kissed her deeper, tasting her, and I felt her tremble against me.
I could try to explain how this felt, but there are no words.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathless. She was smiling, and a single tear rolled down her face. A happy tear. I kissed her cheek where it fell, and she blushed.
I took her hand in mine. With the other, I pulled the ring from my pocket. My fingers were unsteady as I slid it onto hers. My chest was rising and falling fast. I couldn’t believe this was real.
"Ry, are you okay?" she asked.
God, she probably thinks I’m having a breakdown. Get it together.
"No, yes. I’m just… really happy. This doesn’t feel real." I couldn’t stop smiling. I held her face and leaned my forehead against hers.
"I am one lucky bastard."
Saraphina
The ring sat perfectly on my finger. It meant so much to him, and it meant everything to me. He said he was lucky, but I was luckier.
"I love you," I told him, because there was nothing else to say. If there were better words, I would have used them.
"I love you," he answered.
He closed his eyes for a long moment, thinking. When he opened them, they were full of tears.
"I really thought you were going to say no," he whispered, trying not to cry.
How could I ever say no to him?
"Ryan, I’ve been saying yes to you since that summer four years ago. Even when every part of me said not to, I said yes. I said yes when you asked me to run away with you last year. Today, I’m saying yes. Tomorrow, or ten years from now, I’ll still say yes. Because no matter what, no matter when, no matter how… in a hundred lives, in a hundred worlds, it would always be you. And it would always be yes."
I pulled him to me with both hands and we came together again, like two stars finally meeting. I held him with everything in me, letting all the rules and the doubts and the fear fall down around us.
The only thing ever standing between us was us. He thought leaving was right. I thought running was right. Even though we ran in opposite directions, we found our way back here.
Right where we’re supposed to be.
When we parted, I rested my hand on his face, my thumb brushing his cheek. Ryan didn’t speak. He just looked at me like I was something wonderful, and I had to look down, my face warm.
"Sorry it took me so long. I know I’m slow, but I’m here. I’m at the halfway point," I said quietly.
His hand came up quickly, tucking my hair behind my ear. He lifted my face to his, and his blue eyes were brighter than I’d ever seen.
"I fucking love you, Saraphina Livingston."
As we moved together again, we smiled, not just with our mouths, but with our eyes and our hearts and our souls.
It wasn’t something you could describe. It was only something you could feel. All I know is this: it was completely, absolutely real.
"I fucking love you too, Ryan Jake Williams."
Because this is love. Messy and wild and unstoppable love.