Chapter 33 Paige
Paige
The bed of Hunter’s old pickup had never been glamorous, but that night, under a sky littered with stars, it felt perfect.
He’d driven us out past the edge of Honeybrook Hollow, up the winding road where the trees opened wide and the air smelled like pine and wild grass. He spread a soft quilt over the truck bed and helped me up.
I leaned back on my elbows, staring at the night sky. “You know,” I said, my voice carrying in the stillness, “seventeen-year-old me thought the back of your truck was the height of cool. I can’t believe you still have it.”
“It’s a classic. My dad knows how to pick ‘em.” He chuckled, stretching out beside me, his arm sliding under my shoulders to pull me close. “And seventeen-year-old me thought the same thing. Still does.”
The crickets filled the silence, their steady hum grounding me. My life had been chaos for so long, but here, in the truck bed with him, everything felt peaceful. Safe. Right.
When I turned to look at him, he was already watching me. His expression was steady, serious, but soft in a way that made my breath catch.
“What?” I asked.
He shifted, reaching into his jacket pocket. My heart stuttered as he pulled out a small box and held it between us.
“Hunter—”
“I know we used to joke about that pact,” he said, his voice low and certain.
“But Paige, I wasn’t joking when I brought it up again.
Not really. When we were kids, I didn’t know what we’d go through or how much we’d change along the way.
But I knew—even back then—I always wanted you in my life.
It just took us longer to get where we belong. ”
The box flipped open in his calloused hand, revealing a simple ring. Gold, with a single diamond that caught the starlight. Not flashy. Just round and brilliant, and beautiful in its simplicity. I pressed a hand to my mouth, breathless as it sparkled under the starlight.
“I’ve loved you a long time,” he said, his gaze locked with mine. “And I don’t ever want to spend another day pretending I can live without you. So, Paige Darlington, will you marry me?”
Tears blurred the stars above us. My laugh broke out, wet and shaky. “Yes. Yes, I will marry you, Hunter Cassidy.”
The relief on his face hit me like a tidal wave, stealing what breath I had left. He pulled me into his arms, kissing me hard, deep, until the crickets faded, the night air vanished, and there was only us.
When we broke apart, I pressed my forehead to his. “So, is this what happens when you keep a pact?”
He grinned, slipping the ring onto my finger, his thumb brushing over it once it was in place. “No. This is what happens when you finally get everything you’ve ever wanted.”
I curled into his chest, my hand fisted in his shirt, my heart so full it felt like it might burst. And under that blanket of stars, in the back of his old Chevy truck, I finally let myself believe we’d made it home.