Page 85 of All's Fair

“I love you too,” she beams.

She climbs off me and walks to the dresser, putting on one of my shirts and a loose pair of shorts. The summer heat is finally upon us, the AC working overtime to cut through the humidity plaguing us outside. I follow her up and slip my shorts on, mentally planning what to make for breakfast. We finally have a rare day off together, and the butterflies fill my stomach at the thought. I eye the bedside drawer and flick my gaze back up to her, tracing the lines of her neck with my eyes.

I steel my spine and walk over to the nightstand drawer next to me, where I’ve kept the box I have had stashed since we broke up months ago, knowing I couldn’t go a single second longer without asking her.

I pull the box out and close the drawer. I turn and face her as she walks out of the bathroom and pauses in front of me. She gasps as her hands fly to cover her mouth.

“Kane…” she says, shaky.

I clear my throat a couple times, hoping I don’t fuck up what I need to do.

“Avery…” I start, and see tears shining in her eyes, those crystal-clear blues holding so much love as they stare at me. I get down on one knee in front of her, my hands trembling, hoping the box doesn’t slip out of my unsteady grip. “Avery, when I met you five years ago, I knew my life would never be the same. There was a before you, but I knew there would never be an after you. You are it for me,” I choke out, my own tears swimming in my eyes, the emotions clogging my throat.

“My soulmate, my best friend, my home. You areeverything in the world to me, and I can’t wait a single second longer for you to be my wife. I want my ring on your finger. I want our house full of all the dogs you bring home. I want our kids someday, running around, all of them some perfect mix of you and me. My life started on August nineteenth, that autumn afternoon in the Tennessee fall, and now I want to start our forever together,” I profess as I reach up and clear the tears streaming down her face. With my own tears dripping down mine, I choke out, “Avery, will you marry me?”

She nods her head feverishly, a barely audiblehell yescoming out before she launches herself at me, her hands wrapping around my neck as she captures my lips with hers.

I laugh into her mouth as I get lost in her.

I pull back. “Wait, wait, put it on,” I say as I open the box to show a solitaire emerald-cut diamond, three carats on a gold band, shining back at her. I saw it and immediately knew it was meant for her. It was the most stunning ring in the shop, the perfect mix of elegant and radiant as it shone underneath the glass, and all I could see was it on Avery’s finger for the rest of our lives.

“Oh my god,” she breathes out as I slide the ring on her finger. She covers her mouth to bite back a sob.

“I can’t believe you asked right now, before I could even get properly dressed for today,” she jabs playfully.

She slaps my chest, then stares at her ring like she can’t believe it happened, like it could disappear at any moment.

“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t wait anymore. I had this whole elaborate thing planned out, but being here in our home just felt more right than anything else could be. Did I do the right thing?” I ask hesitantly, wondering if maybe I should have waited.

“Yes, it was perfect,” she says, taking my face in her hands and kissing me.

The door bursts open, Roo finally hitting the handle just right. Angry that he was left outside by himself that long, he lunges onto the bed and starts trying to get to us where we’re standing beside it, until we collapse on top of the mattress with him, laughing. Unable to contain his excitement that both of us are awake, he can’t decide who he wants more attention from.

I couldn’t dream up a more perfect life: the one girl who has always had my heart, my ring finally on her finger, and our dog snuggled up between us as we soak each other in.

Life’s a gamble. You win some and you lose some, but I’ll never regret the decision to take a gamble on love.

Onus.

THE END