Standing with my arm around Jess, we lift our faces as the first of the fireworks fill the sky.One after the other, I wait patiently.
She snuggles into my chest, and I take this one last moment, remembering all the years I’ve stood in this very yard wishing I could kiss her.
Now I’m about to make her my wife.
I loosen my arm, and she immediately reacts, glancing up.
I pull out the little box and lower to one knee.
“Oh, my god.Donald,” Her mom cries.
“Liam,” Mom croons, and I wish I had told her, but in this family, the fewer people who know, the better.
“I know,” her dad mutters.
Jessies gasps, glancing back and forth between me and her father.I see the moment she realizes I asked him.
Of course I would.
He’s been like a father to me.
“Holy shit,” Naomi gasps.
“Liam,” Jessie breathes my name, and I smile up at the woman I love.
“Jess.Squirt.”
“Don’t ruin it.”She frowns, and I grin.
It’s time.
“You’ve been mine from the moment I laid eyes on you.We’ve grown up in this yard, with these people, and been through a lot together.”
She sniffs, trying to smile.
“I should have acknowledged how much I was in love with you earlier.I promise not to be dumb anymore,”
We share an emotion filled smile.
“Jess, I will love you and cherish you until my dying breath.Every day.Every night and every moment in between.”
Her hands lift to her chest, clinging together.
But I need one of them.
I reach out and she gives me her hand, then I slide the three-carat glistening diamond onto her finger.
Mine.
I lift my face.“Marry me, Jess.Be my wife.”
Her head starts bobbling like those things stuck to a car dashboard, and I feel all the worry and tension fall away.
“Yes.Yes, I’ll marry you, Liam.”
“Shocking.Worst cliffhanger ever,” Jayden mutters, and his father smacks him around the ears.
Jessie laughs, not caring what anyone thinks.Neither do I.I’m done.I will never put another person before her again.
