Page 66 of The Puck Charmer
“It’s my bucket list,” he says. “Will you read it?”
“Okay,” I say, not knowing where he’s going with this. I unfold the paper, scan the list. “Alek, this is my list.”
“That’s because I want all the same things you want. I want to pick avocados in Mexico, I want to pick olives in Tuscany, I want to have sex in a limo.”
“We kind of already did that.”
“Then let’s do it again.” His smile falls. “I love you, Aly. With all my heart. Nothing matters without you. I want to be a good man, the man you need.”
My heart crashes into my chest and my knees wobble. “You are, Alek,” I say through a tight throat. “You are all those things.”
“I want to live in this house with you, raise kids here,” he says, and I glance at his list again, to see those things listed there.
My throat tightens even more. “We can’t. There’s an offer in on it. That’s why I’m here. To sign the papers.
“You mean these papers?” he asks and pulls something from his back pocket. My legs nearly give.
“You…want to buy it?”
“For us, yes. If this is where you want to stay and raise our family, that’s what I want too. But I do have a house in Seattle that I need you to do some landscaping on. A lot of the guys do. And there is something missing from my list, babe.”
“I know.”
“Remember, I added to yours. I want you to add to mine, Aly. I need to know you want the same things as I do.” He holds a pen out and I take it from him. I drop into a chair and scribble on his list.
A smile splits his face when I hand it back, and he reads it o
ut loud. “Honeymoon in Jamaica.” As soon as the words leave his mouth, he drops to his knees. “I would have come to you sooner, Aly. But I had to make a trip home, and then I had to make things right with your grandmother,” he says and pulls a small velvet box from his back pocket. I gasp when he drops to his knees and opens it. “It’s my grandmother’s ring. It’s tradition in our family. But if you want some—”
“No,” I say as a big hiccupping sob rises from my throat.
His face falls, worry and fear invading his dark eyes. His hand shakes as he scrubs his face. “No? You don’t want to marry me?”
“Of course I do,” I blurt out. “I mean no, I don’t want a different ring. This one is absolutely perfect.”
He exhales and wipes his brow. “You scared me for a second there. Maybe I deserved it, though.” He takes my hands and slides the ring on my finger. We both look at it for a second, then he climbs to his feet and pulls me to him.
“I love you, Aly. You have made me the happiest man on the planet.”
“I love you too, Alek,” I say, and bask in his love, the smile on his face, knowing this is the happiest day of my life, and it’s only going to get better.
He picks me up and I squeal as he spins me around. My heart soars with all the love I have for this man, and his kindness, sweetness, his willingness to work around what I need in life. A noise on the front steps reaches my ears.
“What’s going on?”
He laughs and sets me down. “Come on, let’s go say hello to my family.”
My jaw drops open. “Your family is here?”
“Some of them.” He opens the door and I glance out to see Quinn, Jonah, Scotty, and Cason. “They’re your family now too, and I’ll introduce you to my folks, the rest of the team, and Tyler and his sisters when you’re ready. Your family is going to be huge, Aly.” Tears flood my eyes, and he puts a comforting arm around me and holds me tight. I soak in his warmth, his love. “But I have to say, you might regret it. They’re all kind of annoying. Especially Quinn.”
“Hey,” Quinn says and whacks his stomach. As he lets out a loud oomph, Quinn pulls me in for a hug. “Welcome to the family, Alyssa. It’s going to be a hell of a wild ride.”
I smile at my new sister. “I can’t wait.”
Afterword
Thank You!