Luke’s arms eagerly went underneath my legs and he carried me all the way back to his house. I giggled the entire way.
“When I’m through with you,” he stated, walking towards his bedroom, “You’ll be begging to be my wife.”
And there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he was right.
Epilogue
The lights in Las Vegas were literally breathtaking. They sparkled and shined and glowed like a million fireflies. I think they got even brighter with each hour that ticked by. Coming to Las Vegas for JoJo’s bachelorette party was the best idea I had ever had, in my entire life. Besides being with Luke.
We decided a few months ago—actually, let me rephrase that, Ryan and Luke decided a few months ago when they’d caught wind of our mini-vacation that they were coming with us. It wasn’t so much a bachelorette party anymore as a pre-wedding celebration between the four of us, which was fine. It was better that way. The guys were the ones who had to deal with JoJo and me being drunken, annoying (yet still hilarious and adorable) idiots, anyway.
The first night we spent over five hundred dollars each at the casino. I won three dollars, which I put towards buying JoJo a bride-to-be drink. She won a thousand dollars, which she said was good luck for her and Ryan’s marriage.
I wasn’t worried. They would be just fine. They’d been in love for ages and it only got stronger with each passing year.
Luke and I still hadn’t talked much about getting married. He’d mentioned it a few times in passing but every time, I only laughed. He wasn’t giving up on that. Not yet, anyway. I mean, we basically lived with one another but we were still arguing over which house we wanted to live in permanently. I liked my house too much, and he was just plain stubborn, so we were still technically paying for both of our houses—although we definitely spent more time at mine.
We were trying to con Ms. Deacon out of her house because it was much bigger, but she wouldn’t give it up. She said, and I quote, “I’m not giving up my house so you two kids can have sex in every room…”
I mean, she wasn’t wrong, but it was hilarious to hear it come from an 80-year-old woman while she held two cats who looked like they belonged on a throne in Egypt.
“What do you say, Doc?” Luke came up behind me and wrapped his strong arms around my tight, shimmery dress.
The street was glowing and bustling with people. JoJo and Ryan went inside a very erotic-looking store to buy each other a sex toy. Don’t ask; they had this ridiculously long list of things they wanted to do on this trip and buying each other a sex toy was one of them.
“What do you mean?” I asked, leaning my head back into Luke’s chest, smelling his cologne.
He chuckled, “Stop sniffing me.”
I laughed and shook my head no.
“I mean,” Luke spun me around so I was looking up into his eyes. Then he nodded to something across the street. “What do you say? Are you ready yet?”
When my eyes caught the giant, blinking, white and blue sign that read “Little Vegas Chapel—Where your dreams come true,” my heart went soaring.
“Wait…what?” I turned my head back around and Luke was grinning from ear to ear.
“Are you ready to marry me yet?”
I knew my answer right away. Each month with him was better than the last. I fell more in love with him every single day, but…was it too soon? What would our parents think?
Before I could overthink it, I said, “Yes.”
His eyes snapped to mine. “Really?”
I nodded vigorously. But then I eyed him, suspiciously. “Do you have a ring?”
A smile overtook his face. My eyes almost fell out of my head when he reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny, black velvet box.
I gasped. “Luke! I was kidding!”
He flipped the box open and my mouth parted, leaving me completely speechless. The ring was simple but breathtaking: it was a thin, silver band with a beautiful, sparkling, oval-shaped diamond placed in the center.
I grabbed the box, feeling the velvet along my fingers. My heart beat wildly in my chest. I swallowed before bringing my tear-glistened eyes up to his. “When did you get this?”
He looked down at the box in my hand. “About a month after you’d agreed to be my girlfriend.”
I laughed and looked down at the diamond again. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.