Page 91 of Do It With Me

Pulling her closer again, I lowered my mouth to hers and kissed her, slow and easy this time. It still amazed me every day how natural life felt with her. How something as seemingly simple as a Sunday afternoon kiss in the park could seem so normal. Easy.

After years of thinking Sundays would forever be reserved for hangovers, escaping hookups, and recovering, I fucking loved that they were now about lazy mornings spent together, the market, and community.

She smiled as I pulled away. “Don’t worry. I’ve got your back. I’ll just keep pricking a pin into your ego so it deflates a little when it starts getting too big.”

“What pin?” I asked laughingly. “There is no pin.”

She bumped her shoulder into mine. “You wanted to turn this place into stuffy condos where no one knew each other’s names and where people felt like they couldn’t be out on the street, living their lives with their neighbors as friends. That’s a pretty sharp pin that you thought it was such a great idea.”

I sighed. “Fine. You’ve got me there, but I really am glad you changed my mind. This is much better. Seriously. I’m not just saying it because it’s your neighborhood. I genuinely am happy that it turned out this way.”

“And so the student becomes the teacher,” she joked. “It looks like you wound up learning a thing or two from me too.”

I chuckled. “More than a thing or two. Some important life lessons, I’d say. And that thing you do with your tongue…”

As she settled into my side again, I let my eyes wander across the crowd and felt a swell of pride like I hadn’t experienced in years. Josie stepped onto the makeshift stage. The music cut out and the singer handed the microphone over to her. The pride faded into nerves.

I hadn’t just come here today for the return of Second Story Sunday. There was something else I wanted to do and Josie being on that stage meant that the time had come. My throat tried tightening, but I cleared it and swallowed away the surge of tension that thrummed through me.

The first time I’d done this, it hadn’t ended very well, but it was different with Ellora. It had been since the very beginning. I felt things when I was with her that I’d never felt before, the kinds of things I’d previously thought belonged to myths and fairy tales.

What I was about to do was right. I knew it all the way to my bones, but shit, I couldn’t deny that I was suddenly second-guessing my decision to do it here. In front of all these people. I wasn’t about to back out, though.

Josie thanked everyone for coming and said none of it would have been possible without Ellora. Josie called her up and Ellora gave a heartfelt welcome to everyone gathered. She spoke passionately about her love for their community and her hopes for Second Story Sundays to come. When she was done, the crowd cheered like she’d just saved the world. Honestly, in a way, she had.

She’d saved their world for sure. And mine.

Which was why I stepped onto the stage just as she and Josie turned to leave. Josie gave me a conspiratorial smile, winked, and patted my back as she passed me, but she was the only person here aside from me who knew why I’d come up.

Ellora frowned when I caught her wrist, keeping her on stage with me as I took the microphone. Curiosity sparked to life in her eyes, but thankfully, there was no suspicion there anymore. No distrust. She might not know what I was up to, but she didn’t think it would be anything bad.

As I turned to face her, focusing directly on her eyes, I brought the microphone to my lips. My heart was pounding. “I think many of you would agree that this woman right here, Ms. Ellora Kinney, is an absolute miracle.”

Whoops and hollers rang out. Some people cheered her name while others whistled and clapped. I waited for it to die down before I reached for her hand, smiling. She flushed and widened her eyes at me like she was silently demanding to know just what the fuck I was doing.

“Just bear with me for a minute,” I murmured before moving the microphone back to my mouth. “What she’s managed to accomplish here will forever stump me, not only bringing people together in a way that’s not very common these days, especially not in cities like ours, but also for the way she never gave up. She might’ve lost hope at times, but she kept fighting, no matter how high the odds were stacked against her.”

Those green eyes lowered, like she was embarrassed about the praise, but people were clapping and shouting again, and frankly, she deserved it. She deserved to know how incredible she was, even if she would probably never fully believe it.

“I am utterly in awe of you, Ella,” I said when she slowly lifted her gaze back to mine. “I’m even more in awe of the fact that you choose to spend time with me on a daily basis.”

Laughter bubbled up from the crowd and I sent them a quick grin, but then turned back to her, tightening my grip on her hand. “I love you and I would like nothing more than to spend the rest of my life listening to your ideas, knowing they’ll always be better than mine, learning from you how to be a better human being, and soaking up some of that love and compassion you always seem to radiate so freely.”

I dropped to one knee. “Will you marry me?”

The crowd erupted, but all I saw was her as I set the microphone down and reached into my pocket, pulling out the ring that had been burning a hole through the fabric all damn day. Her eyes shimmered as she nodded, laughing through tears that started streaming down her cheeks.

“Yes!”

Cheers, claps, and ear-piercing whistles filled the air. People hugged and kids danced around the stage. Ellora pulled me up, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me close.

We kissed right there in the sunshine, the community celebrating with us, music blaring, and too many people to count lining up to hug her and congratulate us when we finally left the stage. Our journey had been messy and painful at times, our story fraught with heartbreak and immense loss, but we’d come through it together, stronger than ever.

And holy hell, it was ours, and that made it absolutely fucking perfect. I honestly couldn’t wait to start building instead of breaking with her right by my side—and I definitely didn’t want to wait long before I officially made her mine.

***

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