The four of us froze and then slowly turned to look at her.
Realizing what she’d just said, Sadie turned bright red and started spluttering. “I d-don’t mean like a pain in your actual a-arse. You- we- Not a literal one from having a—” she shut her mouth with an audible snap, then glared at us. “You’re such arseholes, the lot of you.”
NINETEEN
REMY
Later that evening, I was curled up in bed with Tana’s head on my chest, her hand stretched out as she stared at the ring.
Again.
Finding one for her had been the most frustrating task of my life. I found information and dug through the internet and files for a living—well, part of it—but a ring had almost bested me.
That was until I’d come up with an idea and had reached out to a woman we’d gone to school with who’d opened her own jewelry business two years ago.
I knew I wanted the band to be platinum, and the more I searched, the more an idea began to grow of what Tana would like. In the end, I’d sketched out two thin branches that intertwined and then separated, only to twist again throughout the band. There was a diamond in the middle, but I’d had a small emerald put where the branches met on either side, which was our birthstone.
I knew she’d get it the second she saw it, but I just hadn’t reckoned on her taking so damn long to actually do it.
I’d slipped it on her finger as we’d been sitting on the grass watching Toby taking his first step and had waited impatiently for her to notice.
When I’d asked if she had anything to say and Tana had just looked blankly at me, I’d almost given in and pointed it out to her, but I backed out at the last minute. Then, last night when she’d wrapped her hand around my cock, I’d almost pointed it out when the band had touched me, but I’d gotten distracted by what she was doing with her mouth and hadn’t. I was grateful for that now.
Marcus had thought it was hilarious she hadn’t noticed or mentioned it yet, and admittedly, it kind of was.
Now that she’d seen it, I was on edge waiting for her to say yes or no.
But she still wasn’t talking.
“Well?” I finally asked, turning us onto our sides.
“Well, what?”
“Are you going to say yes or no? I know it hasn’t been that long, but I know we’re meant to be together and that I’ll love you for the rest of my life. Your grandpa, dad, Merrick, Hart, and Croix all gave me permission when I asked them—”
Tana sat up suddenly, clutching the sheet to her chest. “You asked all of them for permission?”
“Well, yeah?” I said slowly. “Of course I was going to do it properly.”
She just stared at me, and then she started hitting me with a pillow.
“You asked them and didn’t ask me! That’s not doing it properly.”
Doing my best to bat away the pillow as she hit me with it, I snapped, “Ow, fuck! Cut it out.”
Finally, I managed to catch the edge of it and threw it to the side of the room, just as she straddled my hips.
“I can’t believe you asked them for permission, but just put the ring on my finger without asking me. When did you even do it?”
Grinning up at her, I circled her hips with my hands. “Yesterday, when we were on the grass with Toby.”
She got a faraway look in her eyes as she thought back to it, but then she frowned. “I wish I’d known.”
“It felt pretty good when you had your hand wrapped around my cock last night.”
Tana blushed and cleared her throat. “Yes, well, it would have been nice to have been asked.”
“Santana Spring—and also Beamer because Merrick holds a special place in your life—will you please marry me? I promise to love, hold, cuddle you after sex, wipe your tears when you cry, and cherish you until I die. I promise to answer your questions about sex to help you out with your books, hold your hand after you hit publish, reassure you that your work isn’t shit when you doubt yourself, and above all else, worship the ground you walk on.”
She’d been watching me with a soft expression until I got to the end.
“The last bit was a little much.” She held her thumb and forefinger only a centimeter apart. “You had me until you said that.”
“Cheesy, wasn’t it?”
Nodding, she smiled happily down at me. “I’ll marry you and allow you to do everything you just listed.”
Grinning, I muttered, “That’s mighty generous of you, baby.”
Then, tipping her to the side and laughing at her squeal, I proceeded to make good on my promises. I was a firm believer in starting as you mean to go on, and that’s just what I did.