Page 129 of Not Until Her

I stop walking and face her.

“You’re asking if I’d marry you?”

I can’t be sure how I was able to ask that much, can people talk when their hearts completely stop beating? Because that’s what feels like is going on.

She has to shield the sun from her face when she faces me, and the way her eyes crinkle is pure perfection. Like when she laughs at me. It lights me up.

“What if I was? What would you say?”

A few beats pass before I wrap my head around it.

“I’d say that’s crazy.”

How could I say anything else?

She shifts her weight from one leg to another.

“Everything’s always changing, and it’s always out of my control, and I feel so alone with all of it,” she starts. It feels like her eyes are staring straight into my soul. “But I don’t when I’m with you, and it… It makes me feel like I never want to lose this.”

Holy shit.

I feel the same way about her. Of course I never want to lose her. I’ve experienced a taste of it once before, and I can live without that feeling for the rest of my life.

But getting married again? Now?

“That’s like… I don’t know, Kara. That’s a lot. I’ve been divorced once already.”

“So have I, remember? Do you think I’d even broach the subject if I wasn’t a million percent sure about you?” she asks.

“You’re being so serious?” I breathe.

“I am,” she says. “I can’t believe I am, but this moment just feels likesomething. Like why else would this just be in our path while trying to find some tacos?”

“You sound like you believe in fate.”

“I have to now. I moved in next to you.”

The words reach my ears, and I run up to hug her. Her arms don’t even take very long to wrap around me in return, and then she’s kissing my head.

“I love you. A lot,” she whispers.

I’m scared. I think it would be weird if I wasn’t, but I trust her. Maybe I’m a fool for it, and maybe one day I’ll regret not being more apprehensive.

But life is short.

With that running through my head, I tell my worries to fuck off, and I grab the back of her neck.

“Okay.”

She immediately leans back, and her eyes bulge when they meet mine.

“Seriously? You’ll marry me?”

“I totally will.”

With those words, she’s all I see, leaving kisses all over my face, my head, my neck. I giggle at her enthusiasm and feel my heart somehow expand to fit all of the love I have for her.

“I’m so in love with you, how is this even possible?”