Page 126 of Loved

"But you're happy when he's here. So in that way, he's the best possible influence." She looked down at the ground for a second and then back up at me. "Are you sure you want to move? Rob just got here and I don't want to make you leave if..."

"Penny. I was just thinking that I can't wait to move." I smiled at her. And odds were that Rob would follow us back to New York. That was his city too. I held her hand as we stepped off the elevator and led her toward the side exit of the parking garage. "And actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. The reason I went to New York was to talk to the dean at NYCU."

"About what?"

I rubbed my thumb along her palm again. "About you, of course."

"But I didn't even apply yet."

"I know. But I told her all about what happened. She seemed sympathetic. And impressed with your transcript. If you still want to go, you're in."

"Really?"

"Really. So, what do you say?"

She was quiet for a moment. I looked down at our intertwined fingers. And I realized that this was the first timewe’d ever walked hand in hand on Main Street. There was no one around. It was the weekend before Halloween and it wasn't even 8 a.m. on a Sunday. No one would be up for hours. This is what I wanted. I wanted for us to be able to be us. That was only going to happen super early on the weekends if we stayed here. But New York was different. In New York we could be whatever we wanted to be. It was our fresh start. And I wanted that with her.

"Did you bribe her with lots of money?" she asked with a smile.

I laughed. "I didn't need to."

"So you didn't donate any money to the school?"

Well…"I didn't say that either." I gave her an innocent smile. The donation was trivial. Penny really did have good grades. And I could be very persuasive.

"You're infuriating."

"No, that's you." I squeezed her hand. "So, what do you say?"

"I say we should start packing."

"I was hoping that would be your answer. Maybe we can go back up in the next few days to look at apartments? Something cozy of course." I’d already lined up a real estate agent too.

"That sounds perfect."

"I guess there's just one last thing I need to do here." I stopped outside the coffee shop where we had first met.

"What, get a cup of coffee?"

Not exactly.I smiled at her and walked into the coffee shop, holding the door open for her.

Penny walked in and immediately froze. There were rose petals all over the floor and there had to be at least a hundred candles. The whole shop was empty except for us. The owners had set it up exactly as I requested.

"Penny." I grabbed her hand again and dropped to one knee.

She turned and the smile on her face made any nerves that were left go away.

"This wasn't just where I first met you. This is where I fell in love with you.” I stared at the flush crossing her cheeks. “You took my breath away when you bumped into me. It was something that I've never experienced before. I've never been so attracted to someone in my life. It's very distracting when you blush."

My words made her blush even more.

Fuck, I was forgetting what I was going to say. I looked down for a second, took a deep breath, and then looked back up at her. "You made me realize that I hadn't been living. Really living. Because life without this feeling, the feeling that you give me, isn't a life that I'm interested in at all. You chose me even though I told you I wasn't good for you. You've always seen the good in me, which was something that I couldn't see in myself. You made me realize that it doesn't matter who I was before. It's about who I've become. Because of you."

"Yes."

I smiled up at her. "I have more to say."

"If you're asking me to marry you, the answer is yes."

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