“Are you ready for your surprise?” Thatch whispered into my ear once we were alone in the kitchen.
I looked up at him with curious eyes. “What surprise?”
He kissed the tip of my nose and took my hand, leading me out the terrace doors and through the backyard. He urged me to sit down on a bench that rested beneath the shade of a big oak tree before taking a deep breath, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out a small black box.
Flies, small birds…waterfowl—any or all of them could have flown right into my mouth for as wide as it opened. “What are you doing?”
He smiled and got down on one knee in front of me. The tiny hinges squeaked lightly as he popped open the box, and my eyes met the sparkly, gorgeous, overwhelmingly beautiful sight of a pink diamond nestled in the center of a platinum band.
It was the one and only ring I had ever pictured as my perfect engagement ring.
Definitely, definitely not joking, my brain whispered in awe.
Was he fucking serious right now?
I slapped him clear across the face.
“Ow, fuck, Cass,” he said, but he kept grinning like a lunatic.
I pointed an accusing finger in his direction. “How did you know about this ring?”
“Because I know you.” I narrowed my eyes. He wasn’t that good. “And maybe you mentioned this ring to me several months ago when we were searching for a missing cat.”
I shoved his shoulder hard enough that he nearly fell back on his ass, but somehow, he stood his ground and just kept smiling like this crazy proposal made any sense. Like I wasn’t completely losing my shit. Like it was normal to propose to someone. Twice.
“That was forever ago. How did you even remember that? Are you on drugs?”
“There are certain things I’ll never forget. In my lifetime, so far, most of those memories include you.”
I stared down at him in shock, and my heart continued to pound inside my chest. I felt like it was trying to escape my body.
His eyes softened to caramel. “Be my wife, Cassie Phillips.”
I stood up and paced in front of him. “Jesus H Christ,” I muttered to myself.
He grabbed my hips and stopped my momentum. “Marry me, honey. Spend the rest of your life making outrageous, wild, insane kinds of trouble with me.”
I smacked him in the dick so hard that he fell onto his side and held his balls.
“Ow! Holy fucking shit!”
I snatched the box out of his hand and stared down at the ring while he lay fetal and struggled to catch his breath. “This isn’t really going as planned,” he wheezed.
I took in the gorgeous ring, and my heart grew three sizes.
This was my ring. The ring.
God, he was such an idiot. A perfect idiot. My idiot. But a fucking idiot for sure.
And for some reason, I didn’t ask any of the questions a sane human being would ask in that moment. What this meant for us or if he was sure or if he thought it was fucking crazy that it had all started as a prank.
Love had taken over. And I was finding, when it came to that stupid four-letter word, all rational thought fled the building. Love made you senseless—me, more so—and it made you follow your heart even if your brain was shouting, What in the fuck is happening right now?
We had never once exchanged the sentiment, but as I stared into the eyes of this man, who looked like he might want to strangle me or possibly needed to ice his balls, I knew it didn’t matter. My heart had taken control and was driving this crazy train of spontaneity.
Eventually, Thatch got himself to standing and made his way over to the bench and sat down.
I stomped my way over to him and held the box in front of his face. He covered his crotch and stared up at me with confusion.
“Yes.” I shook the box in his face.
His brows rose to his forehead. “Yes?”
“Yes, you crazy asshole,” I said and held out my left hand. “Put that gorgeous fucking ring on my finger before I slap you in the dick again.”
Thatch sat there for a few moments just gazing back me, his eyes searching mine.
And then, the motherfucker grinned.
He took the box from my persistent hand and slid the ring down my finger. His lips kissed it softly once it was in place. “Come here,” he said as he stood and lifted me into his arms. “Kiss the hell out of me with that perfect, crazy mouth of yours.”
He didn’t have to ask twice.
I wrapped my legs around his waist and crushed my lips to his.
I’d come to his parents’ as his fiancée, but I’d be leaving as a woman planning to get married. There wasn’t normally a difference, but the change for me was staggering.
Cassie was wrapped around me like second skin as we sat together beneath the old tree in my parents’ backyard. Crickets chirped and fireflies glowed in the distance.