Fighting Shadows (On the Ropes #2)(81)

Fall in love with Ash Mabie.

Make Ash Mabie fall in love with me.

Treat her like an *.

Regret it more than anything in my entire life.

Learn to walk again. (Not in a strawberry field.)

Buy a house with hopes that she will come home.

Tear up the grass to make a patch of weeds.

Chase her to the ends of the Earth.

Make Ash Mabie fall in love with me. Again.

Get a dog.

Propose to Ash Mabie.

Make Ash Mabie Ash Page.

Spend the rest of my life making sure she never stops laughing.

My heart stilled and the breath was stolen from my chest. A large lump formed in my throat, but my lips split into an impossibly wide smile.

“Propose to Ash Mabie” was crossed off.

Oh my God.

“Don’t say a single word until you hear me out,” he growled when I finally tore my eyes from the paper in my hands.

Flint was kneeling in front of me, using one of his crutches to balance. I awkwardly laughed, forcing tears I hadn’t known I had produced to spill from my eyes.

“Ash . . .” He cleared his throat then started again. “Ash, you’re twenty years old, and we’ve only been back together for a few months. It would be ridiculous to rush into something as big as marriage when we barely even know each other.”

I opened my mouth to object, but he got there first.

“Not a word.”

“Fine,” I huffed.

“As I was saying, it would be ridiculous to rush into something when we are still getting to know each other. But the other night, after you fell asleep in my arms, I realized I knew enough. I know you’re crazy and messy and you take great pleasure in screwing with me.”

I nodded at his assessment.

“I also know you’re one of the kindest and most generous people on this planet. I mean, let’s be serious here. I took you to get a puppy today and you picked the ugliest, most pitiful animal in there.” He swayed his head from side to side. “Which explains a lot about why you’re with me, but it also speaks wonders about who you are as a person.

“Ash, I know the way you make me feel and I know I will never in a million years be able to find anyone who could even come close to filling your neon-green Converse.”

I giggled.

“And more than that, I don’t want to. So yeah, this is probably ridiculous and rash and reckless, but I also know it’s exactly right.” He lifted a square solitaire engagement ring I immediately recognized. “Ash, I love you. Marry me.”

I’d always tried to be careful when it came to Flint’s mobility. He could walk with his crutches, but I knew that his balance was still sometimes an issue.

He had just proposed though. Careful was not in my vocabulary.

After racing forward, I launched myself into his arms, knocking him down as I fell on top of him. Julio barked from the other corner of the yard, and Flint immediately started cussing.

“Damn it. I dropped your ring.”

“I don’t care,” I replied, sealing my mouth over his.

He turned and patted the ground above his head. “Ash, stop. I can’t find it.”

“I don’t care,” I repeated, forcing his mouth back to mine.

He rolled me over. “You better care. That’s your engagement ring, and it wasn’t cheap.”

I groaned as he pulled his cell phone out to use as a flashlight. “You know, I can still say no.”

“Got it!” he exclaimed, looping an arm around my waist to drag me back on top of him. With a huge smile, he pecked my lips. “What do you say? You want to spend forever with me?” He lifted the ring between us.

“I’ll check my schedule,” I smarted, taking the ring from his hands and sliding it on my finger.

“Your schedule?”

“Yep,” I answered, admiring the diamond.

“Ash, stop messing around and say yes,” he growled, causing my smile to once again spread.

“I’m sorry, Flint, but now that we are getting married, you really should start getting used to me messing around with you.”

“Well, Ash, you need to either say yes or get used to me not messing around with you.” He tipped his hips against mine.

“Oh my God. You’re already threatening to withhold sex.” I laughed as he began tickling me. “Sex is not a weapon!”

“Say yes,” he demanded as I shifted to flip so I was on top. His eyes warmed as he swept my hair off my shoulder. “Marry me, Ash.”

Bending down, I rested my hands on his chest. Despite his playful exterior, his heart was racing. Brushing my lips across his, I proved once and for all that I was not clairvoyant. Not even my dreams had been bold enough to conjure that moment.

“Yes,” I whispered.

Flint’s breath hissed from his lips as his hand gripped the back of my neck and he took my mouth in a languid kiss. It didn’t turn frantic or desperate like it usually did with us.

We didn’t need the rush anymore.

There was plenty of time in forever.





Three years later . . .

“FLINT! WE NEED TO GO. Eliza just called and she needs a ride to that press conference thingy. Till has to be there early to set up the gym,” Ash yelled up the stairs.