Page 94 of Fighting for You
If Margot wasn’t so busy, I’d wonder how she hasn’t noticed. Since Julian got arrested, she’s been living life more freely, spending time with friends, visiting RED more often, even hanging out with Hayes more. She and Thea have become annoyingly close. I swear the two are attached at the fucking hip.
I never thought I could love her more, but seeing her blossom into herself now that she isn’t looking over her shoulder constantly has done just that. She laughs more, smiles more, she’s more alive. She even gives me more shit, I fucking love it.
I look over at the clock on the stove, she should be here any minute. She got off at five, and the drive here takes her about thirty minutes. When I told her to meet me here, she got suspicious. I’m pretty sure she’s convinced I’m going to propose to her or some shit. I may be in love, but marriage seems a ways off still.
The thought reminds me of the rings I have stashed in the safe in the closet. My parents’ rings. Cary had taken the engagement ring, and I’d taken their wedding bands. I didn’t know why at the time, it just felt right in the moment, so I shoved them in my pocket and offered Cary the other one.
One day.
The creak of the front door brings me out of my thoughts. “Brooks?” Margot calls from the front of the house.
“In the kitchen, babe.” This is it. This is the moment.
Fuck, I hope she likes it.
As she walks around the corner, she’s already talking, “What’s going on? Why did you have me—” Her words are cut off by a gasp. “Oh my God!” she exclaims.
My face heats with anxiety. I didn’t realize just how much her loving this meant to me until she walked into the room. “What do you think?” I ask as I shift on my feet, my voice sounding smaller than usual as the nerves seep out.
“Baby, this is beautiful!” Her face lights up, exactly how I envisioned it. Her smile only grows as she looks around. “This is… oh my God, Brooks…”
“Your kitchen,” I finish for her. “When you first described it, I assumed it was because you had something similar growing up. But then I saw your childhood home and realized it was literally a dream kitchen for you. And I want to make all your dreams come true, Margot. This is just the start of it, I promise there’s—” An ‘oof’ noise escapes me as Margot throws herself into my arms. I barely catch her, having to lean forward before rebalancing myself.
“I even left a spot over there,” I say as I turn us to the opposite wall, “for the art you’ve collected and any you’d like to add. Plus… my own contribution.” Her eyes land on the first sketch of her I drew. The one I kept with me in the times I needed her close but couldn’t have her. The one that brought back my love for drawing.
“I love it. All of it. Especially your drawing. It’ll be my most cherished piece of art.” She pauses for a moment, staring into my eyes before continuing, “I love you, Brooks. So much. You are my dream. I don’t need anything else. But I love you for giving it to me anyway.” Her eyes are already glassy.
“Hey, no crying, we’ve seen enough of it this month.”
“These are happy tears!” she whines.
“Don’t care, it breaks my heart every time,” I say as I nip at her nose with my teeth. “Can I continue my speech? I practiced it for hours while you were at work.”
She doesn’t say a word, just nods her head as she bites down on her bottom lip. Distracting as fuck.
“As I was saying, I promise there’s more. I want to redo the whole house. You tell me what you want, and I’ll make it happen.” I pause, looking around at the kitchen and thinking back on how long it took me to do just one room. “It might take… the rest of the year, but I’ll make this the home you’ve always wanted.”
I know she’s itching to say something, so I sit her down on the counter, caging her in with my arms. “What do you think?” I ask as I scan her face, trying to decipher how she’s feeling.
“My home is wherever you are. I don’t need any grand gestures, I just need you. But,” she says with the biggest smile, “seeing this kitchen does make me giddy and so excited for the rest.”
Huffing a laugh, I place a small kiss on her lips before running my hand up her arm and turning it over to see the small clam shell with a pearl inside inked on her skin. She was my first real “client,” and Hayes fought us both on it. Margot stood her ground though and told Hayes she wanted her first tattoo to be from me, even if I fucked it up. It’d made me laugh at the time, though I was shitting my pants internally.
I’ll never forget the night she asked me to tattoo her. She’d been so nervous, it was fucking adorable.
“It’s healing well,” I say, changing the subject but loving the fact my art is living on her skin. “When can we give you your next one?”
She pushes me away with her other arm, laughing as she does. “Not so fast, Killer. I told you, I might be a one and donekind of girl.” I can’t help the smirk plastered on my face, and she rolls her eyes at the sight. “It hurt!” she whines.
“You’re such a baby, but I love it. We could do numbing cream next time?” I say with a waggle of my brows.
“Or… this cute little clam could be my one and only,” she suggests with a shimmy of her shoulders.
I lean down and press a kiss right above the covered area of the tattoo in the crook of her elbow. “Whatever you say, Freckles. You’ll come running back to me eventually.” Before she can tell me I’m wrong, I push my hands under her ass and lift her off the counter and into my arms. There’s one more thing I need to show her.
“Where are you taking me now?” she asks as she wraps her arms around my neck, peppering kisses to my cheek.
“I have another surprise,” I say with a smirk. I’m a little nervous to see how she’ll react but I have a feeling she’ll love it as much as I will.
