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“Ah. Ah. You’re coming with me.” He smiles.
“With you? Where are we going?” I cover my eyes from the sun to look up at him.
“Out on the boat for a bit.”
“Oh, okay. I might fall asleep while we’re out there though.” I lace my fingers with his as he leads me down to the dock.
“We won’t be gone long. Plus, I think you’ll be able to stay awake.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll see.”
“If this is like the other day when you tried to race that guy, I don’t think I can handle seasickness post lunch,” I warn him as we climb into the boat.
“No. It’s nothing like that. Just trust me.” He looks back at me and smiles as I slide into the seat, and he finishes prepping the boat.
I smile as I watch him bend and work, so grateful for how well he’s healed since the shooting. It’s a miracle he’s even still here. The sheer luck of timing on the part of the ambulance and his will to live are what’s kept him here. He always tells me it was me that kept him alive, that somehow he knew I was there the whole time, and he had to fight to stay for Lizzy and me. I just feel lucky that I have him at all, and I’ve turned just as sappy as Madison when I think about him.
He pulls away from the dock and takes us out onto the lake a little way before he kills the engine, and turns back to me.
“Everything okay?” I ask, surprised that we aren’t going farther out or taking a tour around the lake like he usually likes to.
“I’m about to find out.” He smirks, and he’s holding a hand out for me again. I take it, and he pulls me to my feet.
“What are we doing?” I laugh nervously because I can’t figure out what he’s up to.
“Remember I told you when we got together that it was us out on the boat that day, the sundress, and you just spending the day with me fishing that made me realize I wanted you?”
“Yes. I remember.” My brow furrows as I look up at him, still a little confused.
“I’d always thought you were gorgeous, but that day, I just realized how alike we were in so many ways, how much you made me laugh, and how smart you were. I told myself I needed to start finding things about you I didn’t like because you weren’t mine to have. But when I tried, honest to God, Trix, I couldn’t think of anything.” His eyes meet mine, and I feel like I might melt under the weight of his gaze. No matter how long we’re together, that part never changes. “I still can’t think of anything. I love every single thing about you, and this last year, when you’ve been so patient with me, even on the hard days during recovery, even when I was still trying to figure out this whole relationship thing, you stood by me.”
My heart twists with all the sweet things he’s saying, and I press my free hand to my chest.
“Well, you did take a bullet for me. Kind of hard not to be patient with a guy who will do that for you.”
“I’d take more of them. I’d do anything for you, Trix. I hope you know that. I hope I’ve shown you that over the last year. You might not have been mine to have, but you were mine to earn—mine to gain if I could do this right and show you how much you really deserve and how willing I am to be that guy every single day for you.”
“Coop, you know I love you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Well, that’s good to hear because I need to know something.”
My heart skips a beat in my chest. “What’s that?”
He spins me around, having me look back to the shore. Standing there holding a giant sign is Lizzy and the rest of his family, including Rob, Carly, and their kids.
Will You Marry Me? is painted in huge letters, and I’m shaking. I can’t believe this is real. I turn back to look at him, and there are tears in his eyes too. He’s holding out a small black box with a gorgeous ring. I start bawling like a baby the second I see it.
“I can’t imagine anyone else but you forever,” he says softly.
“Yes. Of course, yes.” I take the ring and slip it on before I wrap my arms around him; he crushes me in a hug and then leans down to kiss me. I can hear the hollers and chants from the shore as they realize I’ve said yes, and Coop holds up a thumbs-up and waves back at them.
“I love you so much, Coop. I don’t deserve you.”
“You deserve the world, Trix. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you get it.”
Cooper
