I couldn’t breathe for a second. Live with him? Go to sleep with him every night, wake up with him every morning? Were we ready for that?
“Yes,” I told him. “Yes, I’d like that.”
Because he was right. We hadn’t been ready for this six weeks ago. But we’d taken our time, and every day it only got better. If he was ready for this now, then so was I.
“Go home and pack a bag,” he said. “Start tonight.”
“Okay.” I pulled him down to me and kissed him. Passionate, but sweet.
He broke the kiss and pulled off me. “Good,” he said, pulling his shorts up again. “Stay there.” He dug in his gym bag for a towel, which he handed to me to clean up with. I should have been embarrassed, but I wasn’t.
“Is this how you always plan to convince me?” I asked when I’d pulled my yoga pants up.
“Pretty much,” Nick said.
I had nothing to say to that, because it was working.
“One more thing,” he said, digging into his gym bag again. “Sit back down.”
I sat down on the stack of mats again, tossing the towel back into his gym bag. Because I’m classy. My chest was tight with anticipation. I didn’t know he’d planned even more.
Nick came to the edge of the mats, his hips between my knees. “I’m not going to fuck you again,” he told me. “You’re just going to have to agree.”
“Agree to what?”
“To wear this.” He took my hand, turned it palm up, and put a ring in it.
A diamond ring. A slender band with a single, beautiful stone in it. The world spun for a second as I took it in. “Nick,” I breathed.
“I don’t want to fight with you, Evie,” Nick said. “I want to marry you. When you’re ready. When we’re both ready. But this,” he traced the ring in my palm, “this means we’re gonna do it. Whenever we decide.”
I closed my fingers over the ring for a second, pressing it into my palm. Then I picked it up and put it on. “I agree,” I said.
He let out a breath, and I realized for the first time that he was nervous. “That’s a yes?”
In answer, I leaned up and kissed him again. My arms around his neck, his around my waist, pulling me close. I felt a wave of happiness hit me harder than I’d ever imagined. He was tough and sweet and caring and funny and everything I ever wanted.
I broke the kiss, and he leaned down and kissed my jaw. “I love you,” I told him.
“That’s nice,” he said against my neck.
I punched his arm. “Say it.”
He kissed my earlobe, the tender skin beneath it. Sweet and yet very serious. “I love you, Evie Bates,” he said in that sexy growl of his.
It made me shiver, so I said, “Say it again.”
He was obedient for once. “I love you, Evie Bates.” He kissed my neck again. “Forever. Okay?”
I thought about it. And it was perfect. It really was.
“Okay,” I said to him. “Let’s go shower.”
* * *
CRASHED
MASON BROTHERS, BOOK 2