I turn my attention to the store in front of me, my fingers flexing around the door handle as I push back my nerves and yank it open.
Nate is stood in the middle of the deserted store, his feet shifting as he holds something in his hands. A little bell chimes above my head, and he swings his head up to meet my eyes, a smile spreading across his face.
My own smile grows, my anxiety melting away at seeing him. “What’s going on?”
If there’s a touch of suspicion in my tone, he can’t exactly blame me. Nate has a habit of elaborate surprises. “If this is about the wardrobe—,”
He coughs. “It’s not.”
Then he drops down to his knees.
My eyes widen as I step towards him, but he holds up a hand, his face pleading. “Wait, kitten. Let me say what I need to say.”
My foot slowly moves back, my hands twisting around themselves. “Okay,” I say quietly.
He takes a deep breath, his eyes not moving from mine.
“I didn’t expect you. When you walked into Il Piacere that night. I was an ass, and I didn’t see what was right in front of me. But I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and now I know why.”
I swallow. “Nate…,”
“I’m yours, kitten. And I know I can be too much. Maybe the wardrobe was overboard. But I’ll work on that. All I know is that I want to watch you experience every beautiful thing life has to offer. I want to give you cupcakes and watch your eyes light up. I want to argue with you over gifts because you think it’s too much and I think it will never be enough.”
“Nothing on this earth is good enough for you, certainly not me. But I want to spend my life with you, trying to be what you deserve. Because you deserve everything.”
He looks down. “I guess I’m trying to say… please, don’t leave us. We can work through everything else. But the only thing I can’t cope with is being apart from you. And I understand that you need to find your own way. But I think we can do that together.”
I’m crying now, my chest tight as he holds out a small box to me, rose gold with dark blue ribbon.
“It’s not what you think,” he says with a nervous smile.
Taking it, I undo the ribbon, expecting a cake inside. But there’s a small, velvet blue box. When I open it, all the breath leaves my body. “Nate.”
The small ring glitters in the light, silver with pretty stones set into the banding.
“I didn’t buy it,” he rushes out. “This was my mom’s. She gave me that when we formed the pack, and she told me that one day, I would find a girl worth giving it to. And that’s you, Gabrielle.”
Carefully, I lift it free of the box, and Nate scrambles to his feet.
“If you…,” he swallows. “If you choose us, will you wear it?”
I take a step closer, holding it out. “Will you put it on for me?”
It takes a second, but the smile that spreads across his face lights up the whole damn room. “You’re staying?”
I laugh wetly, scrubbing my cheeks with the back of my hands. “I was coming home to tell you, but you beat me to it.”
His fingers tremble as he slides the ring onto my index finger.
“It’s a perfect fit,” I whisper. He whoops, lifting me up and spinning me around as I clutch his neck. “Nate!”
“Sorry, sorry.” He slides me down his body and I wrap my arms around him.
“I choose you, Nathaniel Reyne.” I whisper the words against his heartbeat. “I don’t need expensive gifts. I just need you.”
His arms wrap around me tightly. “I can’t promise that you won’t have both.”
I laugh, breathing him in. When we break apart, I admire the ring. “This was your mom’s? It’s beautiful.”
