Fool Me Once (New England Bay Sharks #2)

Chapter 31

W ith Storm on a leash in front of us, Gemma and I walk down the sidewalk on the street we grew up on.

We came last night to spend a few days here. Since Silas, Saylor, and Gemma’s brother, William, are all home visiting for the weekend, it was the perfect time for us to come here too. Which worked out because even though I was going to propose to her at our house in Portland, I had known that wasn’t the perfect spot to do it. The right place was here, where I’d first seen her when we were kids.

She’s going to start working with Trent Kade’s wife, Cameran, soon. She’s in a great headspace, and she’s healthy and happy. Finally, it feels right.

“Later, we should go into town and try the new bakery Annie Easton opened,” she says, growing more excited. “I haven’t seen her since high school. She put pictures of the baked goods she made on Facebook, and they look so good.”

“We’ll have to go check it out.” I grin, loving how excited she’s getting about baked goods. “Maybe our families will want to go too.”

Her steps slow, and she raises a brow. “They could. Or … we could go alone, and after, we could go find some abandoned road.” She moves her hand to my shirt, making tiny circles with her fingertip. “Maybe the one where I told you I loved you and you—”

“That’s a bad memory. How about we go with … the place we parked and I made you lie on your back on the hood of my truck while I licked your pussy?” I wink. “The wildlife sure got a show that night.”

My cock hardens the slightest bit as I imagine her on the edge of that hood, her legs parted wide, eager and ready for me to bury my tongue inside of her.

“They have a lot of desserts with whipped toppings, you know.” She licks her lips slowly. “But, sure … if you want the whole damn fam to tag along, we can probably just—”

I grab her hand, stopping her, and grip her chin playfully. “I didn’t realize licking frosting off of your body was on the table, babe. Fuck our family. I’m ready to eat.”

“Shh … you can’t talk like that in front of Stormy.” She giggles, starting to walk once I release her. “You know what else I would love to do? I want to go down to Rogers Point and look for some sea glass. I was talking to my mom last night, and she said that when she walked down there the other day, there was a ton of turquoise glass. Smooth and all.”

“I want someone to talk about me the way you talk about sea glass,” I tease her, earning me a little glare. “I’m jokin’. I’m jokin’. Yes, sea-glass hunting sounds great, babe.”

“That’s what I thought,” she says, grinning happily, clearly happy with my response.

We’re almost in front of her house when I glance over and find her frowning down at the sidewalk.

Pointing, she narrows her eyes. “Why is there an X marked here? That’s never been there before.”

Instructing Storm to sit, I move behind her. He watches us carefully, yet somehow, it’s like he knows what I’m about to do because he sits as still as I’ve ever seen him.

“Hmm, that is weird, isn’t it?” Digging the ring out of my pocket, I sink to one knee. “Hey, look at this,” I say only because I want her to spin to face me.

When she whirls around and finds me on one knee right next to the X , her hands fly to her mouth.

“The X marks the spot where you were standing the first time I saw you. Because you had tripped over this.” I wave toward the bump on the sidewalk that’s been there my entire life. “I was only in third grade. I didn’t understand how love worked, and I wasn’t even interested in girls at that point, but I somehow knew in that moment that you were going to be in my life forever.”

I’ve wanted this for so long. Even when we were apart, I knew deep down that, one day, she’d return to me because she was my endgame. But throwing a ring on her finger wasn’t something I could do right after she moved in because that wouldn’t have been fair to her while she was still working on healing.

“We’ve had some pretty trying times, Firefly, but the second you came back to Portland, I knew I would never let you go again.” I take her hand in mine. “I know you needed time—understandably so—but if you’re ready now … I would love to put a ring on your pretty finger. And get married and share my last name with you, if that’s okay.”

Tears stream down her face, and her eyebrows knit together as she nods her head. “Yes,” she squeaks, continuing to nod. “Yes. Yes. One million times … yes.”

I waste no time sliding the ring onto her finger and kissing her hand. Grabbing my cheeks, she practically yanks me to my feet, attacking my lips with hers. Storm wags his tail and nudges his nose against my leg eagerly.

“I love you, baby,” I murmur against her lips. “So fucking much.”

“I love you too.” She sniffles, holding her hand out beside us, staring at the ring. “It’s so perfect. Thank you.”

Though it’s far from a small rock in the center of the ring, I knew she wouldn’t want anything too flashy because that’s not who she is. Gemma is subtle and delicate while also being breathtaking. I wanted the ring she wears from this day forward to be a reflection of her. And judging from the pictures I saw long ago of her previous engagement, I chose the opposite of the ring that motherfucker had gotten her.

“What in the hell is going on out here?” my sister suddenly calls from our front door. “You two are, like … dry-humping on the sidewalk.”

I groan, thankful that Gemma’s family hasn’t figured out what’s going on yet.

I asked her dad a few months ago if, when the time was right, I could propose. Part of me really hadn’t wanted to ask him because it was his fault that it’d taken us this long and a few detours to get to this point, but I know he loves her and she loves him. I didn’t tell anyone else I was planning on doing it today because I didn’t want her to feel like a spectacle. I wanted it just to be us.

As our family starts to file out from their houses, trying to figure out what all the commotion is about, I throw my arm around her shoulders and tuck her against me. She holds her hand up and beams at our families while she giggles .

“Guess we’re getting married!” she yells, practically bouncing on her feet before looking up at me and giving my cheek a slight squeeze. “I’m so happy.”

“Me too, Gem.” I kiss her temple. “Maybe, to really top things off, you could sleep in your bedroom tonight, and I could sneak in through your window, like old times.”

“I heard that!” her dad hollers out, but even he doesn’t look as pissed as he normally would about something like that.

“Smith Sawyer, if I had known you were doing that, I would have whooped your ass!” my mom yells, rushing across the road toward us and holding her arms out. Throwing them around both of us, she sobs. “I’m forever grateful that the two of you found your way back to each other. Especially when it mattered most.” She stands on her tippy-toes, kissing my cheek. “I am so proud of the man you have become.” Her eyes narrow. “Even though it’s bullshit that you used to sneak into Gem’s room, asshole.”

I give her an amused look. “Really? Saylor’s probably done worse.”

My mom swings an appalled gaze in my sister’s direction, and she meekly shrugs.

“I could defend myself, but you all know I whored my way around for a hot minute there.”

“Saylor!” my mom hisses.

I think Gemma and I are both thankful when she saunters off toward my sister, and my dad walks up to us, giving us both a hug.

“You know you’ve been a part of the family for a long time now, Gem.” He smiles. “Hell, sometimes, I’d probably take you over Smith.”

“Thanks,” I utter, rolling my eyes.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled.” Dad looks between both of us. “You two have always been meant to go the distance. I know it.”

“All I can say is … about fucking time,” Silas jokes, a huge-ass smirk covering his face as he hugs us both.

“You’re not kidding,” I utter, feeling the same damn way about it.

Once he walks off, it’s Gemma’s family’s turn, and they all start toward us.

William is the first to give his sister a hug, but then he shakes my hand, holding it roughly. “Don’t do anything stupid again. I don’t want to have to kick your ass,” he says in a half-joking, half-serious tone before slapping a hand on my back. “Welcome to the family, brother.”

As Gemma hugs her mother, her dad stands before me. He’s much stronger than he was all those months ago when I brought his daughter home to share her truth, but I know his entire family will always be scared of his cancer returning. If that’s taught me anything, it’s to take chances and fight for what I want. And what I want—and have always wanted—is his daughter.

“You never dim her light, Smith. If anything, you help her burn brighter.” He swallows roughly, fighting off emotions because this man hates showing them. “I wish I could have seen the man you were going to one day become because I never would have done what I did. I’m sorry for that, but I’m glad that she has you now.” He holds his hand out for me to shake. “Thank you for healing her. You’re a good guy, and you’ll make a damn good husband.”

“Thank you, sir.” I shake his hand. “I can’t take the credit for healing her though. She did that all by herself. I just stood by her through it.”

He pulls me against him with one arm and gives my back a pound with his palm. “You helped her more than you’ll ever give yourself credit for.”

Seconds later, he releases me and moves along to his daughter, and I let his words sink in. The truth is, I am a better man than the one who packed my truck up and left the love of my life behind. But Gemma made me become that man because that’s the man she needed when she came back to Maine.

Before she returned, I was sleeping around, drinking too much, and acting like I was invincible. Then, she showed up, and I knew that if I wanted my second chance, I needed to grow the fuck up and be the person in her corner she needed me to be.

Gemma Jones is the reason why I am the man that I am now.