“What about an ATV?” Owen asks.
“You cannot trade me your sister,” Rebel roars as Rogue walks in with two bodyguards on his tail.
Rogue takes in everyone crawling around on the floor. Then Rebel’s and my body language. “Aw, hell. What did you do, bro?”
“He made it abundantly clear he doesn’t want to marry me.” And I’m not sure where I’m supposed to go from here. My heart hurts. He loves me. I know he does. But this is important to me.
Rebel catches up to me before I can run from the room. He captures my hand. There’s a thud and a slight tug on my arm. “Red, turn around.”
My breath hitches.
“Summer, please.”
I slowly spin around and look down at the man I love, who is crouched on one knee.
I catch a sob with my free hand. That sting from earlier has turned into full-fledged tears.
He runs his thumb back and forth over my knuckles. “You think I don’t want to marry you?”
Everyone in the room is quiet. My brothers are speechless for once.
“That’s what you just said.”
“That’s not...” He clears his throat. “You’re the one who needs to say yes to me, Summer. Your brothers don’t get a vote on our relationship. That’s why I haven’t asked their permission.”
“That’s not how we do it around here,” Owen mutters.
“Well, it should be,” I tell him.
“I wouldn’t accept anything they offered, because I don’t need an incentive to love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t need a bribe to want to make you my wife.” Rebel squeezes my hand when I let out a nervous giggle. “The reason I was waiting to ask you...” He rubs his lips together. “The thing I was waiting for... was the perfect moment.”
“And I ruined that.” I sniffle.
“No.” He smiles up at me. “I did. Life gets in the way when you cling to perfect moments. Something will always get in the way when you plan like that. I don’t know why I brought the ring with me this weekend. I wasn’t going to propose to you when this week is supposed to be about Rogue and Ivy.”
“This feels pretty damn perfect to me, bro.” Rogue gives us two thumbs up around Ivy snuggled against his chest. She has her phone up and directed at us. She moves it to the side and smiles at us encouragingly.
“Seeing my ring on your finger, it hit me.” He rubs a hand over his heart. “So hard. I want to marry you. I want to call you my wife. I want you to call me your husband.”
“It does have a nice ring to it,” Rogue says quietly to Ivy.
“I want to be a part of your family, and your brothers to be a part of mine. I want all of them to be our future. And I want you to be my future too. I want to walk through the rest of this life with you by my side. And I really want to show every man who looks at you that you’re taken. Especially the ones I work with who stare at you.”
I shake my head. “That’s not true.”
“Trust me, Summer. It is,” he says with so much sincerity I cannot doubt him. “I’m so serious about marrying you, I would do it tomorrow.”
“Hang on now,” Rogue grumbles.
Rebel grins at his brother’s discomfort before he turns his serious gaze all on me. “I wish I’d done it yesterday. I want to marry you, but I can be patient. At least a little. We can wait until after the twins are born if you want. Or have a summer wedding. Whatever you want.”
“She hasn’t said yes yet,” Owen reminds him.
Rebel stares up at me, searching my face with such love and hope. “You changed my world, Red. Let me build it around you. Will you be my wife? Will you marry me and spend the rest of your life letting me love you with all that I am?”
Wiping at my eyes, I nod. “Yes. Yes, of course, I’ll marry you.”
Owen bows his head and pinches the bridge of his nose as he sniffles. He’s such a softie sometimes.
