“She doesn’t know about this,” I said, glancing back down to it. “But she kinda beat me to it.”
“What?”
“Ayda asked me to marry her last night.”
“And she was serious?”
“Deadly.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. That kid never ceases to amaze me.”
“Or me,” I agreed through a huff of laughter. I ran the box through my thumb and finger, not wanting to open it myself. “Want to take a look at it again?” I asked him.
Harry shook his head and smiled flatly. “I remember it well. Sunshine yellow…”
“Just like her hair.”
“Bright and bold.”
“Just like her.”
“Expensive.” He smirked.
“Sounds like Ayda.” I sucked in a breath, blowing it out in one long stream. “I needed you to know, Harry. I needed you to be here to see this look on my face.”
“Oh, I see it.” He charged over to me with more enthusiasm than I’d seen in weeks, possibly even months, before he threw his arms around my shoulders and embraced me with all the love he possessed. I held onto him tightly, desperately swallowing down the harsh lump in my throat as I slapped him on the back over and over again. When he eventually pulled away, he had to wipe away his tears again, and then he stepped to the side and waved an arm in the direction of the door we’d just walked through. “With myblessing and encouragement, go get her, Tucker.”
I did just that, leaving Harry to lock up as I shoved the box inside the pocket of my cut and pulled down on the edges of it, rolling my shoulders in the heavy material and sauntering across that yard with all the determination I felt.
If anyone could see the smile on my face as I pushed through the door into that Hut, they’d have frozen in shock. It wasn’t meant to happen this way, but it was always sure as shit meant to happen. Ayda, in true Ayda style, had torn through my original plans like the tornado she was, and it was now time for me to pick up the pieces and make it special for her. She’d already made it special for me. Hearing those words fall from her lips in the throes of passion had been my final undoing.
I paused outside the door of my room, which had now become ours, closed my eyes and took a moment to drag in a breath. The hairs on the back stood to attention, and the small smile on my face was desperate to grow wider, bigger, and stronger.
“Here goes nothing,”I whispered to myself.
I pushed the door open, making sure to be quiet so I didn’t startle her by returning so soon. Closing it as carefully as I could, making sure to muffle the sound of the door clicking, I eventually turned around to see her exactly where I’d left her.
She was fucking perfect.
I dropped to my knees beside the bed, resting my hands on the mattress just in front of her arms before I let a finger trail over her knuckles.
“Wake up, darlin’,” I whispered.
She mumbled quietly, her hand turning to catch my fingers as her legs kicked out in a stretch below her. I saw thewince of pain and the push of her bottom lip in a playful pout. “I’m too sore for round four.”
My snort of laughter was quiet as I shook my head and watched her stretching out like a kitten. “I have something better in mind.”
Ayda cracked one eye and turned her head, her curiosity getting the better of her. Her grin went wide as soon as she saw me dressed. “Donuts?”
“Better,” I whispered, my brows rising high.
“The only thing better than donuts is you naked and wrapped around me.” She looked between us, her hand stretching out and her fingers resting on my bottom lip. “Which is clearly not the case.”
I reached up to grab her wrist, holding her finger in place before I moved it around my mouth, tracing the outline of my ridiculous smile.
“Wanna bet?”
With my other hand, I dug into the pocket of my cut, thumbing the lid of the box before I laid it on the white sheets of the bed, making sure it sat directly in the middle of us both.
