He dipped his chin toward the roses. My fingers fumbled around the stems until I found the little white envelope tied there. My heart thudded as I slid the card out and read it.
Be my girl. For real this time. Best of both worlds.
Say yes.
—Hash
My vision blurred again. This man was everything.
“Well?” he asked quietly. “You gonna answer me, or leave me on read in real life?”
“I hate you,” I whispered, even as my free hand grabbed his hoodie and pulled him closer. “I hate you so much.”
He smirked. “You love me.”
“I do. I choose you. Hasheem . . . My little bad decision.”
“Best bad decision you ever made,” he said, then he kissed me before lifting me into the air.
“Put me down.” I laughed against his mouth, my legs wrapping around his waist naturally.
“Nope.” He adjusted his grip, carrying me like I weighed nothing. “You had me out here on the street reading romances for five days. You owe me at least three weeks of this.” He slapped my ass as he carried me up the porch. I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck, burying my face against him as he pushed the door open with his foot and stepped inside. I’d made a lot of questionable choices in my life, but loving Hasheem Hart wasn’t one of them and fuck whoever had something negative to say about it.
One YearLater
I used to say I didn’t do Valentine’s Day, and I still didn’t, but Harlowe did. So here I was, putting in a twenty-four hour shift at the firehouse so I could fly my girl out to Jamaica tomorrow and celebrate our anniversary. I’d already sent her for a day at the spa and had her flowers delivered this morning in place of me having to work. She thought that was the whole surprise. She ain’t know I had our bags packed already, and we were flying out first thing in the morning.
“Yo, Hart!” Rell approached me, making me pause 2K and put the controller down. “Chief wants you in the supply room,” he said, and I frowned.
“For what? I already did inventory.”
“I dunno, man.” He grinned, trying too hard to look innocent. “He just said bring your big ass now.”
I glanced at the other guys all staring at me, looking suspicious as hell, and stood up from the sofa.
“Y’all niggas definitely on bullshit,” I said, giving them all a look. The way they were all trying not to laugh told me it was probably some stupid ass prank, but I went anyway. I headed down the corridor, and the guys followed me halfway. When I reached the supply closet, I pushed the door open, and a smirk instantly appeared on my face. The supply closet was cleared out, and somebody had strung little lights across the ceiling. There were battery candles flickering on a table with takeout from my favorite seafood spot, two wineglasses, a heart shaped red velvet cake, and two sneaker boxes. I shook my head as my eyes looked around for her.
“Hey, best friend,” she said smiling, clearly proud of herself. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” She was sitting in the middle of the room, sitting on the edge of the desk in a little red dress and heels. For a second, all I could do was stare.
“What you doing here?” I finally managed to ask, pushing the door shut behind me. “I thought you had your big book thing tonight.”
“I do,” she said, sliding off the desk and walking into my arms like it was the most natural thing in the world. She smelled like vanilla and something floral. “I just decided to do it here.”
I wrapped her up, pressing my face into her neck for a second longer than I meant to. We’d spent a whole year together, and what a year it had been.
“You know you ain’t supposed to be making me look soft at work,” I muttered into her neck.
“Please. You drug the whole station to my front lawn, remember? I think that ship has sailed.”
I shrugged. I couldn’t argue there. The fellas still hadn’t let me live my five-day camp out for Harlowe’s heart down, but I didn’t give a damn. It was nothing wrong with being in love. The last twelve months had been good as hell. Me and Harlowe weren’t technically living together, but she had a toothbrush in my bathroom, I had a drawer at her place, and we rotated weeks between our places and the firehouse like it was nothing. My mama was officially calling her daughter, and we’d been up to visit her parents a few times. Marcus was retired from the “ex” position and fully locked into his new role as annoying brother-in-law.
I’d already sat down with her pops, looked that man in his eye, and told him I was going to marry his daughter. I already had the half carat ring from her Pinterest board sitting in my top drawer back home, waiting on the right moment. Some days, I still couldn’t believe I got all this. My peace and my problem in one woman. My best friend and my girl in the same body. I was the luckiest man on the planet.
“You know I had more planned for you right?” I pulled back enough to see her face.
“What kind of plan?”
“The kind where I finish this shift,” I said, thumb brushing her jaw, “then we hit the airport.”
