“Tell me what you’re scared of. Let me help you slay your dragons.”
Kyrie curls into Ashton’s chest, a lock of her dark hair between her dimpled fingers as her eyes close and her mouth stretches with a big yawn. Ashton focuses on the baby in her arms.
“Not all dragons need to be slayed, Jamie, and not all problems can be solved.” She doesn’t look away from Kyrie, finding a way to hide her eyes from me as her voice cracks. “I don’t have the kind of family you have. The friends you have.The big life you have. What if I’m not enough? What if we’re not enough? What then?”
“Don’t you see? There is nowhat thenbecause we’re already enough. We always have been.”
“But—”
“Evan was right,” I admit, wishing he was here so I could tell him. “We weren’t ready back then. I was a kid. We both were. We would have gotten together, but we probably would have hurt each other as we grew up and grew into the people we were supposed to be. I’m not the same person I was then. I’m better. I’m not a kid anymore, Ashton. I’m a man who knows what he wants out of life. And it’s all right here in my arms. You, Kyrie, and the baby we’re going to have to start thinking of names for. You’re everything I ever wanted, Ashton. I’m not going to tell you not to be scared. If that’s how you feel and that’s what you need, I can respect it. But I’m here, and I will protect you, your heart, and my kids with the last breath that leaves my body, baby. I will love you every single day of my life, and then I’ll find you in the next and love you again. Marry me.”
She turns her head to me, tears filling her eyes. “Evan was right. If we had gotten together back then, I’d have never gone to Chicago. I might never have danced my dreams. But my dreams have changed. And I think my brother would love this.” She covers my hand resting on her stomach with her own. “He would have loved us together now. And not just because he would have said I told you so. He would have loved it—loved us—because I do. Because I love you. And because you make me happy. He would have loved us getting married.”
“You can’t marry me for Evan, Ashton,” I warn her. “You?—”
“I’m not marrying you for Evan, Jamie. I’m marrying you because you are the love of my life. The kind that only comes once in a lifetime. And when it does, you grab hold and don’t let go. Not even if it happens faster than they say is normal.”
“I don’t know whotheyare, Ace, but they can fuck right off. They don’t know us. They don’t know our history. And they don’t know how much I love you. Are you saying you’ll marry me?”
She nods and shifts herself and Kyrie, wrapping an arm around my neck and pressing her lips to mine. “Yes, Jamie. I’ll marry you.”
Murphy Family Text Thread
Aiden
Did I just really find out you two are engaged from Ryker’s dad?
Sabrina
Congratulations! I’m so excited for you two. We need to celebrate.
Jamie
Ryker has a big mouth.
Ashton
I’m so sorry.
Finn
Ignore Dad. He’s a drama queen.
Sabrina
Oh, honey, it’s drama king. Get it right.
Aiden
Princess . . .
Sabrina
You can’t possibly tell me I’m wrong, Aiden.
Aiden
. . .
