Page 140 of Hard Hitter

“You don’t even know what’s in here,” Quinn replied, though his heart was already bursting with joy and excitement and completefucking bliss that Rae had already said yes. “It could be a cock ring or a butt plug.”

“Okay, we’re going to completely gloss over those words when we retell this story,” said Rae, though the smile had not disappeared from her face.

Quinn shook his head, then finally flipped open the box to reveal a shining, bright white diamond ring. Tears rolled down Rae’s cheeks as she beamed down at him, and he felt the same emotional intensity building up inside himself but swallowed around it.

“Raelyn DeRose,” he began again, “You are my best friend, my favorite person, my soul mate. I’ve loved you my entire life, and I will spend every single day for the rest of it trying to prove that I deserve you. I know this might seem fast to you, but I feel like I’m running about ten years late. We don’t have to get married this month or this year or even next...all I’m asking is to spend forever with you.” Quinn paused, taking in this moment as she swiped another happy tear off her cheek. “Rae, will you marry me?”

Rae nodded vigorously and extended her hand out. “Quinn Casey, you know I will.”

His smile split across his whole face as he slid the diamond ring on her finger and stood up to pull her around him, covering her mouth with his, claiming her, kissing her deeply as he felt her tears wet his cheeks. He was smiling and laughing into their kiss because finally, fuckingfinallyhe knew she was his.

And he was hers.

And it was all he ever wanted.

Epilogue

Raelyn flopped back on their brand new bed panting and glistening with sweat as she brushed her hair back out of her face. Quinn’s weight fell into the spot next to her, also catching his breath with a hand on his chest.

They had just gotten Raelyn moved into Quinn’s house in California and were having a housewarming celebration of their own. There might have been a bit of an argument earlier about how Raelyn was absolutely not sleeping on the same bed Quinn had had so many meaningless one-nighters in. Nope. Not happening.

Quinn pointed out that she’d already slept on it before, but she was adamant. Hot head that he is, and a bit of a drama king, he decided to throw the old mattress off the balcony and into the pool before storming out to buy a new bed. Of course when he’d come back, he was more than happy to break in the new mattress and maybe challenge the durability of the new frame and headboard. It was still intact. So far.

“Fuck. We’re. Awesome,” Quinn declared between heavy, gasping breaths. He grabbed Raelyn’s hand and pressed her palm to his chest, “Feel that. Fuck, I hope this is how I go. You’re gonna make my heart explode. I’ll be coming and going at the same time.”

A burst of laughter escaped Raelyn’s lips. “That’s horrifying!” She rolled and slung one leg over his, kissing the line of his jaw down to his neck where his pulse was visible. Her diamond ring glimmered in the low light of her bedroom, her hand slid across his chest, feeling his strong muscles, slippery with the sweat they’d just worked up.

“It would traumatize you and you would never be with another man again,” Quinn said, and she could hear the curve of a grin on his lips as he spoke.

“You’re a little twisted, Quinn Casey Casey,” Raelyn purred into his skin. Her fingers traced down his long torso, feeling those familiar solid, hard, defined muscles. She felt the dips and lines of his abdomen, the sharp V-cut next to his hips, then down his dark happy trail. Already, she knew his body well, but her heart fluttered and a heat melted into her at the thought of having forever to completely learn him. With her hands, her mouth, her tongue.

“Should we pick a date?” Quinn asked after a few silent moments of letting their breath slow as they touched and felt each other skin-to-skin.

“Right now? Sure,” she laughed into him. “Just call Zoey up and ask her to relay your entire schedule for the next year and a half.”

“Spring? Summer?” His fingers massaged into her lower back where he held her with one arm around her, while the other brushed lightly up and down her arm.

“That’s baseball season. Aren’t we going to be a little busy?”

“I think summer,” Quinn said, ignoring her concerns, “on the beach. And it should be small and intimate.”

Raelyn bit her lip, smiling as she propped her head up to look at him. “You’ve given this some thought.”

The corner of his mouth tugged up enough to give the smallest flash of dimple and he linked their hands, eyes focused on her ring as he spoke. “The first time I imagined our wedding, it was on a nude beach in Jamaica or somewhere tropical.” Raelyn laughed again but urged him to continue. “I was fifteen, I think. Maybe sixteen. I had just gotten over the guilt I felt at picturing and fantasizing about you naked. It was a big deal. But once I gave in, I just went all out.”

Since Quinn’s confession a few months ago about how he’d been in love with her for so long, she’d done a lot of reflecting, revisiting past memories, trying to remember if there were signs. There were. Lots of them, in fact. And she wondered how she had been so oblivious.Especially junior and senior year when she’d started having similar feelings toward him.

“I didn’t feel guilty the first time I pictured you naked,” Raelyn confessed. “We were seventeen. Well, I was sixteen,youwere seventeen. It was glorious.”

She felt Quinn’s chest rumble with his silent laugh.

“The second time I pictured our wedding,” he said, “I added bathing suits. It was a sexy white bikini from aSports Illustratedmagazine. I figured if we were getting married, your parents would want to be there, so we’d better wear something. But it was still on the beach.”

“And the time after that?”

“The time after that I pictured you in a white dress. I remembered how much it took my breath away seeing you in your fancy homecoming dresses. I wanted you to dress up like that just for me.” Quinn pressed a kiss to the top of her head then added, “Although, I don’t know that awhitedress is the right choice here.”

Raelyn swatted his chest with a“Hey!”and he laughed playfully.

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