I rewound it and watched it again.
And again.
And one more time because I couldn’t help it.
Each time I watched, something shifted a little more inside me. A stark realization about what my life had become in thewake of all the things that had been taken from me. A realization of what had been waiting for me at the end of it. Of what I’d worked my ass off to build for myself.
My life was the little girl who loved me with everything she had and the man who chose me. It was a home filled with laughter and chaos.
It was everything I had ever wanted.
Closure had never been what I thought it would be. It wasn’t a conversation or an apology or some final understanding about the things that made me this way.
Instead, it’d been right in front of me the whole time.
It was this.
It was the life I’d built despite it all.
It was realizing I didn’t need anything more than this.
CHAPTER 119
harley
The house was dark by the time I pulled in behind Maverick’s truck. The only light on came from the kitchen, where I found Maverick wiping down the counters. The dishwasher hummed quietly as it ran, and a plate wrapped in foil sat on the counter.
“Hey.” His face lit up when I joined him. He dried off his hands after he finished what he was doing. “I saved you some dinner—”
Crossing the distance between us, I took his face in my hands and kissed him. He pulled in a sharp breath as I caught him by surprise. It took a moment for him to lean into it, one hand settling on my hip. My mouth moved against his with a kind of urgency that I didn’t bother to hide. I poured into it all the words I didn’t quite know how to say out loud. I wanted him to feel it so deep inside that it branded him—a permanent reminder that would linger with him.
Breaking away, I rested my forehead against his. I breathed him in, letting the earthy scent of him fill my lungs.
“Marry me,” I whispered. His fingers tangled in my hair as he leaned back, those stormy eyes searching mine. A little louder, I repeated, “Will you marry me?”
“Harley,” Maverick began. My name came out carefully and calculated, like he was biding his time as he figured out what to say. Like he expected me to change my mind. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew the timing was suspicious, considering my mother had just died—like maybe this was some weird, grief–induced question.
But this wasn’t about that.Not really.
“I’ve spent eighteen years doing this back and forth with you, and I don’t want to spend another minute like that,” I said without an ounce of hesitation. “I don’t want a life that doesn’t have you in it. I never did. I want the good, the bad, and everything in between—whatever life throws at us. I want forever and a day with you, Maverick, and I’m tired of waiting for it. So, marry me.”
He swallowed hard, a million little emotions dancing across his handsome face.
“I’m not saying it’ll be easy,” I continued. “And I know we have a lot to figure out, but I also know us. I know we can do it. I know we can handle anything that life throws at us because we already have, and we’re still here, Mav.”
I let out a shaky breath, the words falling out of me as I said more than I meant to.
“I don’t want to wonder what we could be if we got it right. I want to build that life with you. I want all of it… busy days full of laughter and chaos, and the quiet nights with us passing out on the couch together because we’re tired,” I told him. “I choose you, Maverick, and I’m going to keep on choosing you for the rest of my life.”
He didn’t answer right away. For a second, he stared at me like I was crazy—like I couldn’t possibly know what I was asking.
“You’re serious,” he breathed out with a disbelieving laugh. I could see the way he tracked my expressions as if trying to work out how real this was. He repeated, “You’re serious.”
“I am,” I whispered.Though from his reaction, I wasn’t sure if he was going to say yes.
A slow smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“Do you really think I’m going to say no to that, princess?” Maverick murmured.
