Page 115 of Now or Never

And the Leafs jersey.

Honestly, he always looked good.

“But others are harder to decipher,” he said, drawing her eyes back up to his. “Like there was that time I dropped off lunch for you and Jae and Vincent, which doesn’t seem like a date, but I did stay and eat with you. I counted that. Does that count?”

Her mind spun as his knee bounced violently under the table and beads of sweat formed on his brow.

“I don’t know,” she said.

“Or that day we met up for coffee at Brin’s. Or when we went to the rink to teach Ben to skate. Do those count?”

Chelsea shook her head a little, trying to make it all make sense. “Why are you counting our dates, Adam?”

He let out a deep exhale. “I figured twenty dates was a good amount of time to wait before proposing.”

Propo—

Chelsea’s heart literally stopped, and the room started spinning. It was as if someone had changed her life to slo-mo. She stared at him as her jaw slowly dropped toward the table.

Did he sayproposing?

“Good evening!”

She slowly blinked as an overbright voice accompanied by a dark shadow moved into her peripheral vision. Adam’s mouth moved, presumably ordering drinks, but Chelsea couldn’t hear anything. Finally, the waiter retreated, and she was left with Adam staring at her with a blank expression.

Her mouth opened to fill the silence, but nothing came out.

All she could think was how long it had taken them just to go on the first date. She’d figured she had at least a year before he’d wrap his mind around proposing.

She was certain there was no one, and never would be anyone, except Adam. Marrying him was a done deal. But they’d only been officially dating for a couple months.

Not even.

“If those dates don’t count,” he said, taking her silence as a rejection, “I can wait a few more. Maybe we could take Ben to the movies again. Or the arcade. Or that indoor water park we were thinking about going to.”

Her eyes slowly filled, and her love for him overflowed as he suggested dates that included her son. She had never felt more loved and cared for. In the time since their first date, he’d always put her and Ben first. It was more than she’d even hoped for.

She’d marry him this instant, if she could.

“They count,” she said, finally making her mouth and brain work in tandem. “Twenty sounds right.”

Adam’s smile took over his handsome face. He stood, took a step toward her, then dropped to his knee.

“I love you, Chelsea. And I love being a family with you and Ben. I don’t know how long I’ll be on this earth, but I can guarantee not a day will go by without you being loved.”

He pulled a box out of his pocket and opened it as the tears in her eyes broke through and started streaming down her face.

“Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” Chelsea said without hesitation, nodding frantically. “Yes, I will marry you. Of course.”

“Thank God.” He pulled the enormous ring from the box and slipped it onto her ring finger. She looked down at the huge diamond resting there, taking up almost all the space between her two knuckles.

“Holy crap.”

“Do you like it?”

“I love it. I love you.”

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