I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him close, and he laughed against my lips. “I haven’t actually asked you yet, but there are no takebacks. You’ve already said yes.”
“I’ll always say yes to you,” I whispered before I kissed him more passionately and deeply than ever before.
After the kiss eventually ended, he grinned and held on to me while also turning and shaking the water off his hand. Then he reached for the piece of paper and checked something off on it with a pen I hadn’t even seen him carrying before.
“What’s that?” I asked curiously, and he lifted the paper to show me his bucket list. At the bottom of it, it readAsk the woman I love to marry me.
More tears sprang to my eyes. I didn’t bother blinking them away as I lifted my hand out of the water and dried it on my towel beside the hot tub. “That’s not the last thing that should be onourbucket list.”
Motioning for the pen, I took that and the paper when he gave them to me, and I added,Live a life full of love, happiness, and adventure,beneath it. When he saw what I’d written, he smiled and pulled me in for another kiss.
“I can definitely live with that,” he murmured. “As long as it’s all with you, count me in. You can always count me in.”
I chuckled, happier than I’d ever been before until a thought occurred to me and my nose wrinkled. “You talked to Shawn and my dad about this, right? Neither of them were overly happy that we didn’t talk to them about getting back together before I told the whole world how I felt. They won’t be very happy if they’re the last to know about this, too.”
“I asked your dad for his permission,” he said, grinning. “He said yes, obviously. As for Shawn, we talked. He threatened me again, but then he told me that I’d always been his favorite almost-brother-in-law and that it was good to welcome me into the family officially.”
I laughed. “Trust him to threaten you before welcoming you into the family. How does he feel about being the last single man standing in your group?”
“He’s wearing it as a badge of honor.” He reached for the champagne and poured us each a glass. “I don’t think he’s going to be single for much longer, though. Something tells me we’re going to be seeing him fall in love real soon. I think he was holding out until the rest of us went under, but now, there’s nothing holding him back.”
“Well, that’s going to be an interesting story,” I murmured. “I can’t wait to meet the woman who’s going to steal that big heart of his.”
“Neither can I,” he said, passing one of the glasses of champagne to me and raising his for a toast. “All in good time, but tonight is about us. The only future I want to talk about right now is ours.”
“To us,” I said, nodding my agreement. “To love, life, adventure, and being with the person we were always meant to be with.”
“To us.” He tapped his glass against mine. Then his eyes widened when my nipple popped out of the water as I lifted my arm to take a sip. “Serenity soon-to-be-Philips, where the hell did your bikini go?”
I laughed, crawling onto his lap and setting my champagne down behind his head. “It’s about time you noticed. Before you came back out, I was wondering if you’d like to make out with your girlfriend. Sort of pick up where we called things off last year, but now, I’m wondering if you’d like to make out with your fiancée? Maybe finally move things to that big, beautiful bed inside that we’ve never gotten to take full advantage of?”
“Fuck yes,” he breathed as he set down his own glass and wrapped his arms around my waist. “By taking full advantage of it, do you mean that I actually get to sleep on it instead of on that tiny couch, or do you mean that I’m finally going to get to make love to you under the Northern Lights?”
“Both,” I replied softly, running my hands through his hair and lowering my mouth to his. “Both. On repeat. Until it’s time for us to leave this place behind for another year.”
“About that,” he whispered. “What are you doing next week?”
“Anything.” I laughed. “Anything you want me to. Why? What did you have in mind?”
“A trip,” he said playfully. “Don’t ask me where we’re going, though. It’s a surprise.”
***