Chapter 19 #2
So, this was the result of his phone call with his best friend the night before.
I leaned in and gave him a kiss. We loaded up our plates, and he poured a glass of the wine he’d brought for us.
Even with two of us, we didn’t even make a dent in the food he’d brought.
“You realize you cooked way too much, right?”
“We’ll have leftovers.”
“For how many?”
He laughed and shrugged. “Worst case, you can make some doggy bags up for your friends. You said Eli and Holden never have home cooked food, right?”
“They do. When Eli’s mom is in town and makes it.”
“Then we can pack some of this up for them if we need to. And Seb and Jonas and their boyfriends.”
The fact that he was thinking about my friends as the first line of getting rid of the excess amounts of food he’d brought warmed me.
Lucas had always had his insecurities about my friendship.
He hadn’t liked how often we’d gone out, the weekly outings that I would rarely schedule around unless it was some big occasion like the year his birthday fell on a Thursday.
It was like the captain’s hat that was a gift from my ex-girlfriend.
It hadn’t affected Noah in the slightest.
I reached across the table and started packing the food away. Noah started helping moments later, tucking everything neatly into the picnic basket. Once we had everything put away, he pulled me into his chest.
I listened to the sound of his heartbeat through the fabric of his shirt, the sound of the water gently lapping at the side of my boat, the birds, and the wind. It was peace. It was happiness.
This was the kind of love I’d dreamed about for years, the kind of love I’d always wanted.
This was the kind of love I could build forever around.
All my past relationships had been missing something, something I could never put my finger on.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t missing with Noah.
He was the only person I’d ever found it with.
We sat like that for a long time, the silence broken up with the occasional short conversation or kiss that turned into making out.
When the sun started to set, he turned on the fairy lights.
The twinkling lights brought a small smile to my lips, but it was a sign that we needed to head back soon.
I sighed and pushed myself off him. “We should head back soon.”
“Not yet,” he protested. “I’m liking this.”
“Me too.”
“I’ve got something else for you, too.” Was I imagining the nerves in his voice? I reached over and rested my hand on his knee. I had no idea why he might be nervous, but I didn’t like it. He covered his hand with mine for a moment before lifting my hand off his leg. “Sit up?”
I sat.
I sat and watched as he rose from the comfort of our lounger. I watched as he dug a small bag out from behind the cushion storage container. Whatever gift he had was tucked away in there, and I was as eager as a child on Christmas morning to know what it was.
He turned his back to me as he dug whatever it was out, and by the time he turned around, there was nothing in his hand. I scowled, and he mouthed a single word at me.
Patience.
Did he not know me? I had never been a patient person, and I doubted I would become one in whatever time it took for him to show me what he’d tucked away.
I didn’t know if it was anticipation or Noah that made his trip back across the small roof take double the usual amount of time.
I kept my eyes trained on him as he drew closer, studying him for anything that could give away what the present might be.
Whatever it was had to be small enough to fit in his pockets, but I’d watched him stick water bottles in his hoodie pocket, so that didn’t rule out a lot.
When he finally reached me, he took a deep breath. I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed on the inhale and the way his nostrils flared when he exhaled. He was nervous.
What in the world could have him so nervous?
My mind raced through possibilities, each one more implausible than the last, but not a single one comparing to the reality of him sinking down to one knee in front of me. My eyes widened in disbelief, and my heart slammed against my rib cage.
What. Was. Happening?
“Matt,” he started. His voice shook on my name.
“Matthew Jacob Bennett.” He took another deep breath and shook his head.
“Oh god, I had this whole romantic speech planned. I practiced it with Moira four times last night, and I recited it the entire drive here, but now that I’m here looking at you, I don’t remember a single word I had prepared. ”
I pulled my bottom lip in between my teeth and bit down, needing the flash of pain to tell me that this wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t. “Noa—”
“No,” he interrupted. “Don’t say anything, not yet.
Let me finish.” I nodded. I would let him say or do anything right now.
“You were the first person I ever loved. You taught me what love was when we were sixteen years old. And then you taught me what love was again over the past few months. You taught me that my heart still beat, that I could fall in love again. I don’t want to ever lose this feeling.
I want that future we dreamed about when we were kids: the house with the porch and the rocking chairs, the grandchildren playing in the yard.
I want all the years leading up to it. I want to wake up next to you every morning, fall asleep with you every night.
” His voice cracked, and I saw the tears welling in his beautiful green eyes.
“I want to spend hours debating you over stupid things and cook dinner with you. I want the good and the bad with you. You’re the love of my life, Matt.
I knew this when we were kids, and I know it now. ”
I opened my mouth to say something, but there were no words. It was rare that I was struck speechless, but seeing the man I loved on one knee, pulling a wooden box from his pocket, had made me forget every word I’d ever known.
He opened the box, revealing a simple yellow gold band. “Matt, will you marry me?”
“Yes.”
The word fell from my lips without thought.
I didn’t care that it was too soon. I didn’t care that we’d only been back together for a few months.
I wanted the future he’d talked about. I wanted the porch and the rocking chairs and the gray hair and the grandkids.
I wanted the days it took to get there. I wanted to spend my life getting to know him again, and then I wanted to change and grow alongside him.
Because there would be changes. Neither one of us were the same boys we’d been when we were in high school, and I doubted we’d be the same people at fifty that we were at twenty-six.
But I knew I would still want this man beside me in fifty years.
I wanted Noah to walk through life with me every step of the way.
“Yes, Noah,” I repeated because he was frozen in shock. My voice quivered and my vision blurred. “I will marry you. I would marry you tomorrow if I didn’t know you want a big wedding with your family around.”
“Really?” he gasped.
“Yes, really.”
He slipped the ring on my finger. It fit perfectly, like it was made for me. It belonged there, and I never wanted to take it off. I looked at the ring for a moment and then, because I couldn’t resist any longer, I kissed my future husband.
My future husband.
We would have a lifetime together, and that lifetime was beginning today.