Chapter 31
What in the bloody hell? I eased my car to a dead stop at the row of traffic in front of me. Didn’t these people realize I had to get to my girl? I beeped my horn—something I never did, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
“You ain’t going anywhere,” Albert’s muffled voice barked into my car.
“What the…?” I turned toward the old man, glaring through my window. I lowered the window. “What is happening?”
“It’s a parade, dumbass.”
Realization slammed into me as I exhaled. Albert was right. I was a dumbass. “Labor Day.”
“You didn’t win no prize. Why are you staring at me?”
“Sorry. Have you seen Rose? It’s important.”
“Heard you knocked her up.”
“Wha—how did…” I took a deep breath and settled my nerves. “Manners, Albert.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. Have you seen Rose?”
“She’s down there,” someone yelled from behind him.
I put my car in park and jumped out.
“Where the hell are you going?” Albert asked.
“To find the mother of my child.”
“You can’t leave your car here.”
“Key fob is inside. Do what you got to do.”
“What the fuck is a key fob?”
“Albert, it’s the twenty-first century. I suggest you join the rest of us.” I took off, dodging people, avoiding children like a pro.
“Rose, have you seen Rose?” I called into the crowd, knowing at least ninety percent of people would know who I’m talking about.
“Wyatt!” Odette’s voice called out to me. “She’s down by Espresso Yourself.”
I threw my hand in the air. “Thanks, Odette.”
“Are you going to make a scene? Declare your love for her?” Somehow Odette was beside me. She moved quickly for a woman her age.
“Maybe,” I said. “Haven’t really thought it through. I just need to see her.”
Odette clapped as she managed to keep pace with me. “Oh, I knew this was going to be good. I told Steve this morning that something big was coming. He said it was indigestion, but I knew.”
“I really don’t have time—” I said as I cut around a group of teenagers texting each other.
She huffed beside me. How the hell was she keeping up? “What’s the game plan?”
“I don’t have one.”
“In the moment. Even better.”
“I just need to see her.” I glanced toward Odette. “Are you… running?”
“I walk fast when gossip is involved.”
“I thought you didn’t gossip.”
“This isn’t about me. Hurry on.”
A roar went up ahead as the first drum line rounded the corner, the beat pounding through my chest. A confetti cannon popped, and streamers fluttered down like festive snow.
“There!” Odette wheezed, jabbing a finger forward. “Espresso Yourself. Front…” Gasp. “…row.”
My heart slammed against my ribs as my eyes landed on her.
Odette slowed, her hand bracing against a lamppost. “Okay, you’re on your own, kid. Go. Be brave. Stupid. In love. Go.”
“Thanks, Odette.”
I ran into the street and skidded to a halt when I almost took out a trumpet player.
“Sorry!” I yelled as I dodged the brass section and popped out next to a color guard. He stepped forward, the pole of his banner coming down at me. I jumped out of the way.
“What the hell, dude?”
“Sorry,” I said, tossing out apologies like the falling confetti.
“Wyatt?” Rose’s voice rose above the crowd, and my entire body froze at the angelic tone that was my home.
I caught her warm, chestnut eyes. The sun shone on her as if sunshine was drawn to her. It highlighted the speckling of freckles across her nose, the sun-kissed glow she’d been sporting since June. A slight smile tugged at her lips, and all I wanted was to—
A tuba slammed into me, knocking me off balance. I fell forward into a saxophone player who lost her footing and tumbled right into a clarinet player. Jesus, these kids needed to work on their core strength; they were folding like chairs.
I started helping band members back to their feet as I made my way to Rose. Finally, I broke through the sea of carnage and came to a running stop in front of the woman I needed more than anything in this world.
A speech had formed in my mind, but I was too busy gasping for air to get it out.
“Wyatt?” Rose said, standing from her chair.
“Marry me!” I blurted like an uncultured swine.
Her gaze flew wide, mouth parted, and the joy I expected to see fill those warm chestnut eyes never came.
“No.”
Her denial dealt me a final blow, knocking all the wind out of me. Words evaded me, not like I could get them out if they hadn’t.
I stared at her, marking every single feature to memory. The one freckle on the side of her nose that was darker than the rest. The sexy curve of her too-perfect lips. The sparkle in her eye that never seemed to fade.
With a nod, I stepped back. I’d lost my chance. When she needed me most, I’d abandoned her, and now, she didn’t want me. It was my own fault.
I turned to walk away. The band had stopped playing. The entire block was staring at us. I thought about bowing, but that required energy, and I was depleted.
A hand wrapped around my wrist and yanked me. I spun toward Rose, hope filling the places in my heart that were going dark.
“I love you too much to marry you,” she said with a smile that lit my whole damn world up. “It's not what you want.”
A laugh burst free, sweet relief washing over me from crown to toe. “Turns out…” I cupped her cheek, relishing the warmth of her skin. “It’s all I want.”
“Be real.”
“I am. I kept comparing us to my parents. We’re not my parents.”
“Definitely not.”
“And we never could be. Unless you pick up smoking and I decide to walk away from the best damn thing that ever happened to me.”
A wet laugh escaped from her quivering lips.
“I’m not scared,” I said, taking her hand. “Not when you’re beside me. We’re a team, Grasso. And I’m done standing on the sidelines! I’m ready for Playoffs. Championships. Retirement speeches.”
“You really took that theme and ran with it.”
“Too much, huh?”
“A little.”
“Sorry, I’m improvising, but at least I didn’t smack you in the ass. The thought was there.”
Rose rolled her eyes, but her lips pressed together like she was trying not to laugh.
I took a deep breath, focused on Rose, letting the muffled voices, the soft thuds of instruments being rested, fade away.
“I fell in love with you from the moment I saw you, and I never stopped loving you. I never will stop loving you. You’re it for me, Rosebud.
And I don’t want to delay our life for one more second because I’m scared of some ridiculous notion I’ve had in my head.
I went home. Talked to my mom. Basically, I’m an idiot. ”
“You’re my idiot.”
I dropped to one knee and grabbed her hand before reaching into my pocket. I pulled out the ring that was the reason it took me so long to come back home.
Her gasp echoed down the street along with every single person on the parade route.
“Marry me,” I said, gazing up at her. “Not because everyone else is getting married, and not because of the party and the traditions. And definitely not because you’re carrying our child.
Marry me because I love you, and because not making you my wife is the biggest regret of my life. ”
“Yes!” she cried out and dropped beside me, throwing her arms around my neck. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
Happiness and relief flooded through me. Fear of the unknown wasn’t even a thought in my mind. Rose and I had been together for eleven years, and marriage was only the next step in our long life together. Because when you married your best friend, you weren’t losing anything.
You were choosing everything.
The crowd erupted, cheers, whistles, and too many people screaming, “Finally!” The band picked up, and confetti burst into the air, red, white, and blue raining down all around us.
Rose smiled against my mouth, her hands fisting my shirt. “I love you so much.” Her forehead pressed to mine, our breaths mixing as one.
“I love you, and I promise to tell you every single day of our lives.” I pressed my hand to her stomach. “And I love this little peanut. I can’t wait to meet them. Teach them how to do the electric slide, throw a water balloon just right for maximum explosion.”
Her head tilted back, the most joyous sound coming from her lips. Man, I loved that sound. I loved her.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” she said with a joking pat to my bicep.
The parade surged forward, drums pounding, horns blaring, everyone clapping me on the back as if I were part of the show. Someone even suggested we have our own float next year.
We both laughed, hugged her family, who all arrived at some point, then found each other’s arms again. Her back pressed into my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her, resting a hand on her stomach.
And for the first time, the future didn’t feel like something to fear.
It felt like home.
***
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