Page 137 of Loving Wild
“But you’re going to. I’m a catch. Who the fuck wouldn’t want all this?” She points a finger at herself and moves her hand up and down her body, making me laugh out loud.
“Ask the question, Gabe.”
“Woman . . .”
“Don’t call me woman.”
“Are we actually gonna blue in the middle of my proposal?”
“Start as you mean to go on, I say.”
“You gonna shut up and let me ask my question?”
“Go for it.”
“Marry me.”
“No.”
“No?”
“Not till I’m divorced.”
“Fuck me. So, is that a yes to when wecanlegally do it?”
“I said yes five minutes ago. Stand up and kiss me, Wild.”
“Say yes.”
She stops smiling, her blues dance over my face as her hand comes to my jaw, her thumb brushes my cheek, and her nails scrub at my stubble.
“Yes. Today, tomorrow, any day you want to ask me, the answer will always be yes.”
I stand.
“We have an audience,” Lauren says, looking around.
There are now four paddleboarders out on the water watching us. A couple walking their dog on the beach have dropped down to their knees, made their dog sit, and are watching. A couple pushing a pram along the footpath have stopped and are watching, and so have the elderly couple ahead of them.
I lace my fingers through hers and hold up our hands.
“She said yes!” I shout. We get cheers, claps and whistles from every direction. A driver of a passing car, as well as one who must’ve noticed what I was doing and parked, beep continuously.
“I love you,” I pull her in and tell her before kissing her hard and wet on the mouth. That starts the applause up all over again, making us both smile.
An hour later, we’re standing on the deck of the house I grew up in, staring over the pool to the views of the bay, right across to the skyscrapers of Melbourne.
“What you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that we can make this beautiful again. But are we taking on too much?”
I’ve just asked Lauren her thoughts on us buying out my brothers and sister and making my old family home ours.
“I’ve already spoken to Zac and Coop. They’re happy for us to get the work done before we give them any money to buy the place. That way, we can stay living at the old place while we get this one fixed up.”
She nods.
“We have the contacts, the means, and the know-how to do all of this ourselves, and to get it done before the babies arrive.”
