But Gideon?
He didn’t let me off the hook that easily.
“Why not go for it?” he asked, leaning casually against his SUV, but there was something knowing in his gaze.
I hesitated. “Best thing you ever did was marry Fiona, huh?”
He nodded. “Without a doubt.”
I exhaled, rubbing a hand down my face. “Were you terrified?”
“Yeah.” His smirk was too amused. “Fiona was flaky as hell.”
“Michelle could give her a run for her money.”
He laughed, nodding. “They are similar. Definitely get why they’re friends.”
I could feel the weight of the question pressing down on me, the same question I had been dodging for weeks. I wanted to be her husband. Wanted to show her what marriage could be like when it wasn’t built on chaos and pain. But I also didn’t want to give her a reason to bolt.
“Give me pointers,” I muttered, half-joking, half-serious.
Gideon shrugged. “Be honest. Don’t push. I knew I wanted to marry Fiona months before she was even willing to think about it. But what made me ask was how damn happy she was to see me. That’s not fake, and I’ve seen you two together. She looks at you the same way.”
A lump formed in my throat.
“What if she says no?”
“What if she doesn’t?” Gideon clapped my shoulder before hopping into his car, lifting a finger in a wave as he backed out. “You’ll do it when it feels right. You’ll know.”
I wasn’t so sure about that.
I slid into my car, gripping the steering wheel as I let out a slow breath.
I had the ring. It was simple, classic—perfect for her.
I had the speech. The vision. The goddamn honeymoon planned. But I hadn’t asked.
Because this was the first real relationship of her life.
Because Michelle needed time, just like I had given her time to say she loved me.
It had taken two months after her father had been arrested for her to say it out loud. But when she finally had? It had been worth the wait.
It had taken her a lifetime of surviving before she finally let herself live.
It had taken me too long to understand that love meant waiting.
And if I had to wait a little longer to make her my wife?
Then that was fine.
Because she was already mine. I reminded myself of that fact as I pulled into the bar parking lot, Gideon arriving just behind me.
Baxter’s wasn’t fancy. It was comfortable. A place where we had all made memories, where we had built something outside of baseball. And tonight, as I pushed open the door, it already felt like home.
The first thing I saw was her.
Michelle sat at a high-top table, laughing so hard she smacked the wood surface, her eyes bright, her head tipping back. Fiona said something else that made her cackle louder, and I felt it in my chest.
