Chapter 7
Seven
Tommy Boy
I’ve been down a lot of roads in my life. Some I’ve taken because the club says so, some because I’m chasing the next high of the throttle, and others because I need to run from the shit in your own head.
But this one? This ride north into Virginia?
This one’s for her. For me.
For us.
The sun’s still shaking off the morning when I roll the bike out.
Jami’s got her helmet under one arm, hair braided down her back, that little grin on her lips like she knows I’m up to something.
She doesn’t press me, though. That’s one of the things I love about her—she lets me play my games until I’m ready to show my hand.
“Got the bags loaded?” she asks, sliding on her sunglasses.
“Course I do.” I slap the saddlebag. “You think I’d forget the good stuff?”
She smirks. “You mean bacon?”
“Damn right.”
She laughs and climbs on behind me, arms wrapping tight around my waist, cheek settling against my back. That’s home right here. Doesn’t matter where the wheels go, when she’s at my back, I’m good.
The road stretches out a black ribbon slicing through fields and woods down the country roads, the air warm and easy. She relaxes against me, body moving with mine, and I swear the world could fall apart around us and I’d still be alright as long as her arms stayed where they are.
I take the long way, because I want her to have the full ride. Wind, curves, the blur of green blending to blues as we go north and inland where she can see mountains rising in the distance.
Every mile, my chest gets tighter. The ring sits in my cut pocket on the inside, heavy as a brick.
Jenni helped me pick it out, and I haven’t gotten this off my mind since.
I’m not nervous about her answer—I know.
I’ve known since the night I carried her bleeding and broken and she whispered she had her power back.
I’m nervous about deserving it.
What makes a man like me land a woman who can walk through fire and still stand like her? What have I ever done in my life to deserve such strength to carry with me into the days I get old and gray? Nothing.
I damn sure don’t deserve the beauty she is. However, she chooses me over and over. I’m not strong enough to let that go. She’s my addiction.
But that’s a battle for another time. Right now, I’ve got a plan, and it’s going to be perfect.
The cabin is tucked back in the Blue Ridge, a little two-story with a deck that looks out over miles of green.
There’s a hot tub on the porch, logs stacked by the fireplace, and a fridge I had a prospect stock yesterday because well, bacon.
It doesn’t travel that well on a motorcycle and my girl loves her bacon, as do I.
Over time, it’s become our joke, and that makes me love the pork treat even more.
Jami walks through the door, wide-eyed. “Tommy…”
“You like it?”
She turns in a slow circle, taking it all in—the wood beams, the windows that frame the trees, the quiet that hums like a secret. “I love it.”
Relief hits me hard. “Good. It’s ours for the weekend.”
She turns, smiling at me, and for a second I almost ruin the surprise by blurting it all out right there.
Forever. Say yes. Be mine in every way. But I bite it back. Timing matters.
I drop the bags and pull her against me. “Now, how about we start this thing right?”
Her grin says she knows exactly what I mean.
The hot tub steams as the sun drops low. She leans back against me, head on my shoulder, legs stretched across mine. The water makes her skin slick, glowing in the last of the light, and I can’t stop touching her—hand drifting over her thigh, arm tight around her waist, mouth brushing her temple.
“Best idea you’ve ever had,” she murmurs, eyes closed.
“Thought you might like it.”
“Like it? I’m never leaving.”
“Fine by me,” I say, pressing a kiss to her wet hair.
We sit in silence, the kind that doesn’t need filling. Just the sound of water bubbling and the forest around us, alive with crickets and night birds. My heart pounds steady, the ring box tucked away in the other room. Not yet. Not like this.
Still, I can’t stop picturing it—her hand, the shine of the stone, the way her eyes will look when she realizes what I’m asking.
Soon, I remind myself.
Dinner tonight is simple—steaks on the grill, corn on the cob, and sweet tea.
We eat on the deck, laughing when the corn juice dribbles down her chin and she flips me off for staring.
Afterward, we curl up in front of the fire inside, her feet in my lap, her head tilted back as she tells me some story from her cleaning jobs.
“—and the guy swore he could fix drywall,” she carries on, giggling, “but the hole looked like someone had punched through with a sledgehammer. And he didn’t even have the sheetrock tape on him.
Now, I’m not a professional. I’ll leave that to you, honey.
But I do believe the man was not at all qualified. ”
I laugh so hard my ribs hurt. God, I love that sound. Her laughing. It’s the purest thing in the world.
Saturday is for riding.
We take the Parkway, curves sharp enough to test me, views wide enough to steal our breath.
She clings tight, sometimes lifting her arms just to feel the air, and I swear my chest could burst from the peace inside me.
At an overlook, we stop, stretch, and she leans against the railing, wind whipping her hair.
“Worth it?” I ask, slipping my arms around her waist.
She smiles at me, soft and certain. “Always.”
We kiss, slow and lingering, until a minivan pulls up and a kid yells, “Ew!” and we laugh our way back to the bike.
Evening settles around us, I set the stage.
Dinner’s not steak this time. It’s the fancy stuff I picked up—salmon, fresh greens, a bottle of sparkling water in a glass bottle I can’t pronounce but Jenni swore was good.
With her recovery we don’t drink alcohol.
Special, fancy water it is and I’m okay with it more than I ever thought I could be.
Maybe being a Hellion I drank so much in my younger days, I got it all out of my system.
Or the reality of it is, I will do anything for Jami including giving up drinking.
I light candles on the deck, spread a blanket, and put music on low.
Jami comes out in that simple sundress she packed, the one that makes her look like summer. My heart damn near stops.
“Tommy,” she whispers, eyes shining at the sight of the table. “This is beautiful.”
“You deserve it.”
We eat, we laugh, we enjoy our time together She teases me for pouring the water like I’m some kind of professional waiter. I tease her for dropping half her salad on the blanket. Everything feels light, easy, right.
And then it’s time.
My heart hammers as I reach into my pocket. The box is small, but it feels like the heaviest thing I’ve ever carried.
“Jami,” I manage to speak, voice rough. She looks up, fork paused halfway to her mouth.
“What?”
I drop to one knee.
Her eyes go wide. The fork clatters.
“Almost four years ago,” I start, throat tight, “I carried you out of hell. I thought maybe that was all I’d get—to save you once.
But you, something inside me came alive.
You saved me and I didn’t even know how lost I was.
Every damn day since, you’ve been my reason to wake up, my reason to breathe, my reason to be better. ”
Her hands fly to her mouth. Tears glisten in her eyes.
“You’re my home, Jami. Always have been, always will be. And I don’t ever want another mile of road without you on the back of my bike in the forever kind of ride. So what do you say?” I flip the box open, heart in my throat. “Marry me?”
For a second, the world holds its breath.
Then she lets out a sob and nods, hard, tears spilling. “Yes, Tommy. Yes.”
Relief slams into me so hard I almost laugh. I slide the ring on her shaking finger, stand, and she launches into my arms. I hold her close, inhaling this new beginning of me and her riding through all of life.
When I kiss her, it’s like sealing a promise I’ve been carrying for years.
She pulls back, grinning through tears. “You really surprised me.”
“Good,” I murmur against her lips. “I want to keep surprising you forever.”
She leans against me, sighing. “I can’t believe this is real.”
“Better believe it,” I whisper, kissing her shoulder and then her neck. “You’re stuck with me now.”
She laughs, soft and sweet. “Best thing that ever happened to me.”
And for once, I don’t question the how or the why or wonder when she will leave. This right here is it.
Because she’s the best thing that ever happened to me too.