Page 104 of Together

“Ashley, you know I’ve done this a few times. Thank goodness the last one didn’t stick, huh?” I tease and we share a smile. “There are a lot of things in my life that I would do differently. I wish I’d have saved it for you — that I would have followed my gut and trusted that you were out there for me. I just had to be patient. I hate that this isn’t the first time for both of us, but the feelings I have for you are a first for me. I’ve never connected with someone the way I have connected with you. I fell in love with you when I wasn’t even trying. It just happened. Because that’s the way it’s supposed to be, you know? Nothing forced or pressured. It’s just us. And him.” I lean over and kiss her stomach. “The three of us… together. I love you, Ashley.”

Her hand trembles in mine. Tears glisten in her eyes. “Oh my gosh. I love you, too.”

“This is probably sudden to you because we only just now told each other how we truly feel, but for me, this has been building for months. Eight and a half months, to be exact.” I pause and she wipes a tear from her cheek, a watery smile firmly in place as she gazes down at me.

I take a deep breath before saying my next words because this will be the last time I ever say them. Well, unless she says no, then I’ll keep saying them until she says yes. And now I’m nervous. Holy crap. I’m the worst proposer in the entire world! The first time I just asked my friend because I thought that’s what I was supposed to do. The second time I asked someone who didn’t even love me. Now I ask the woman I want to be bound to the rest of my life, and know this without a doubt, but I only told her this five minutes ago. I told myself I wanted to hit the fast forward button but this is extreme, even for me.

The look on Ashley’s face is one of confusion now whereas moments ago it was full of love and excitement. “Nik? What’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything now?”

“I want you to be my wife,” I blurt out. “But I’m rushing things. I’m rushing us. I don’t know why I can’t get this right, but this time will be forever so the proposal needs to be perfect. I shouldn’t have just dropped to my knee because I was eager to keep moving forward. I need to give you time. Give us this time. For me to woo you and for us to go on dates. Find out more about each other.”

“You arenottaking back your proposal. For real?”

“No. I’m not. But… I need to do better. I needed to wait. This isn’t…”

She holds up a hand to stop me from continuing to speak. That’s fair. I’m not doing this right. “Tell me… am I going to find out that you have an aversion to watching Netflix at night? Or not watching an entire season of whatever show I’m obsessed with at the time in one weekend?”

I scoff. That’s the definition of a perfect weekend with her. “No.”

“Am I going to discover that you actually don’t like cheese, which, as you know, is a definite deal breaker?”

My lips twitch. “No.”

“Are you addicted to cocaine or chewing tobacco and spitting it into the bed or that you were previously a porn star?”

“Absolutely not. That’s disgusting. And hell no.”

“Are you going to tell me I can’t drink ice water out of a coffee mug anymore?”

“Clearly not if I haven’t said anything about it yet.”

“Okay, final question. Are you going to be an asshole about me losing the baby weight or will you still love me — all of me — even if I have a little bit of extra to love?”

“Baby. I don’t care about that as long as you’re happy and healthy.”

She shrugs and wipes away another tear that’s rolling down her cheek. “I don’t need time, Nik.”

“We deserve more...”

“Stop using the word time or I’ll flick your earlobe,” she warns, glaring at me. “We don’t need more time. We know each other. Maybe you didn’t realize it, but you’ve been wooing me since you found out I was pregnant. Every day you’ve showed me the kind of man you are. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else, either. I don’t care that you were a dumbass and asked Stacia to marry you.” We both chuckle. “I don’t care that you married your friend because you thought that’s what you both wanted. What I care about is that we survived those past messy relationships and came out stronger because of it. And now we’re here together, against all odds. We made it through the junk, Nik. It doesn’t matter if the entire time we’ve known each other has been unorthodox or that our dates haven’t really qualified as traditional dates, so much as just spending time together. If life has taught me anything lately it’s that nothing is guaranteed. I could have died in that accident and we wouldn’t have had the chance to tell each other how we feel.”

The reminder of how close I came to losing her and the baby makes me sick to my stomach. “Don’t even talk about it.”

“It’s true, though. And if you hadn’t been there for me, not only helping me to heal but making sure I was taken care of, I wouldn’t have discovered the truth about you.”

“Truth?”

“That you’rethatguy.”

The corner of my mouth twitches. “Thatguy?”

She stares straight into my eyes, licks her lips, places a hand on my cheek, and proceeds to wreck me in the best possible way. “The guy everyone else is jealous isn’t theirs.”

I don’t think she knows how much those words mean to me. No more hesitating, for lack of a better term, it’s time. “What do ya say, Ashley? Will you marry me?”

“Tomorrow works for me,” she responds with the best words she could have.

“That a yes?”

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