By the time he reaches the final piece, the one of two figures holding on to each other, he’s quiet for a long moment.
“Kendall,” he says, his voice rough.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t get it.”
I tilt my head at him and make a face.
“I’m kidding. Fuck,” he says, pulling me into his arms and kissing me. “I love it.”
“Sometimes, I hate you,” I say, laughing. “I was thinking,Dear God, he’s not a dumb athlete, is he?”
He scoffs. “I take offense to that! Take it back.”
“I take it back,” I tell him. “I could never hate you.”
He turns back to the largest piece in the collection, the final one. It’s on a five-foot canvas. It took me two weeks to position the two figures perfectly around one another, like they’re holding on and falling together.
“Wow,” he says, getting choked up.
“Are you getting soft on me, Pattycakes?” I say, tears welling in my eyes.
He pulls me into his arms. “You know what I see when I look at these?” he asks.
“Tell me.”
“You.” He turns to face me. “Your heart.”
“Patterson—”
He grabs my cheeks and studies my face as he speaks low. “I had a speech planned.” Then he kisses me. “I practiced in the mirror this morning after that thing we did in the shower. I even asked Jameson if it was too long. He said yes. Then I asked if it was too short, and he told me to stop being annoying.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask with a laugh, feeling like I’ve been dropped in the middle of a random conversation.
He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a small velvet box.
“But I’m standing here, looking at you, and none of it feels right, so I’m going off script.” He squeezes my hands. “Because all of it was about the past. How long I’ve wanted you. What we went through to get here. The years we lost.”
I stop breathing as he sinks onto one knee, in the middle of the gallery, surrounded by canvases of us.
The tears start coming, and I can’t stop them this time.
“But all I can think about is how you’re the first person I want to tell when something good happens. I look for you in every room I walk into, and when I find you, the entire world melts away.” His voice is raw. “I didn’t know it could be like this. I can’t remember what life was like before you.”
“Patterson,” I whisper as he grabs my hand.
“You’re extraordinary, Kendall. You take my breath away every single time I look at you.” He takes a shaky breath. “I have never imagined my future with anyone else. Not once. When I think about growing old, you’re there. When I think about what my life looks like in ten years, twenty years, fifty years, you’re in every single version of it. You’re the love of my life, and I knew it the first time our eyes met.”
He holds the ring up toward me, the diamond catching the light.
“I want everything with you, Kendall. Every ordinary, extraordinary day for the rest of my life. What do you say, Ken Doll? Will you marry me? And let me spend forever with you?” His voice breaks on the last words.
I can’t speak as I pull him up by his jacket and crash my lips against his becauseyesis the only word in my head.
“Yes. A million times yes.”
“Thank you,” he says against my mouth, laughing. “I love you.”
