Chris
Chris
Between Everly’s parents showing up and his brothers phoning him to see if he’d asked yet, Chris felt off. He wanted it to be perfect but as he held Everly in his arms, he both saw and felt her nerves. She didn’t need a slow buildup, or the perfect words, or the perfect moment. She needed him to lay it all out so her brain could stop guessing.
“I am that happy. I’m happier than I ever imagined I could be and have been every single day for about a year now.”
“That part sounds nice. What’s the ‘no’?” She turned her body on his lap, putting her hands on his shoulders to brace herself, then shifted, putting a leg on each side of him.
The feel of her moving her body against him combined with the scent of her fruity shampoo and body soap distracted him, but the question in her trusting gaze put him back on track.
“The no is I’m not scared it won’t last.”
“Cocky,” she said, some of the tension leaving her body.
“I learned a long time ago that if I want something badly enough, there’s nothing I won’t do to achieve it. To have it. And to hang on to it. So, I’m not scared to lose the happiness or that it’ll go anywhere because it’s wrapped up in you. It is you. And I will always do whatever it takes to make us work. You’re everything to me. There’s not a chance I’d let go of that. Of us.”
When her eyes widened, he saw the shine in them. She let out a little, “Oh.”
Chris squeezed her thighs. “You’re right. I’m restless.”
She nodded. “Okay. Is there something I can do? Something I can help with?”
God, he loved her. Before he’d met Everly Dean, he’d never thought much about happiness being something a person had to fight for. He’d never seen it as something to fight for. You were or you weren’t. But then she’d come into his life like a bouquet of fucking sunshine; quiet, gentle, sweet, with a backbone of steel and an inner strength that both turned him on and amazed him. And he knew there was nothing he wouldn’t do to spend his life loving her. Change his address, his job, his life.
“Chris?”
“Hand me the bag,” he said, eyes never leaving hers.
Her nose scrunched. She turned her body, grabbed the bag, and gave it to him. She didn’t even peek. Just went back to looking at him so intently, he felt like she could see all the way through him. Chris reached into the bag, knowing the feel and shape of the present he wanted and pulled it out.
“Now isn’t present time,” she said. “It’s talk time. Tell me why you’re restless.”
He smiled, one hand on her thigh, the other holding the small, square present decorated with silver ribbon on top.
“I’m restless because I fell head over heels in love with a woman who makes me a better man. One who makes me smile and laugh and think about things in a different way. A woman who leaves lists everywhere, triple-checks them, and works her ass off to achieve whatever she’s written down.” He slid his hand around, stroked downward, pulling her closer, loving the way she sucked in a sharp breath before biting her lip.
“Maybe restless isn’t the right word. I’m excited. I’m… eager. To tie myself to you in any and every single way possible.”
Everly arched one brow, glanced at the present. “That box seems too small for a silk tie.”
Chris laughed, the words coming freer and easier because he knew her answer. He knew her heart. And his own.
“Not that kind of tie, but it’s not off the table. Nothing is off the table with you, Evs. I’m not scared of losing what we have because I don’t plan on ever giving you a reason to find happiness elsewhere. You’re it for me. I think, on some level, I knew it the first time I met you.” He moved his hand, used both to hold the present. Slowly, holding her gaze, he tugged on one of the silver ribbons.
“Chris.”
Yeah. She knew.
“They say that someone else can’t be in charge of your happiness, but you own mine. I feel it when I’m near you, when I’m thinking about you,” he said softly, watching her watch him untie the gift, toss the ribbon beside him.
“I wanted to build up to this, ease you into the presents. But I know better. You don’t need things. You need words and follow-through.”
The box had been wrapped in a way that allowed him to lift the lid. Everly’s hands went to her mouth. Chris pulled the Tiffany-blue box from inside and set the gift box on the couch.
“I’m telling you now that I love you. I’ll always love you. And I’ll spend my life showing you I do. You’ll never have to doubt how I feel or where I want to be.” He popped open the lid, felt pleasure slam into him when her gaze went impossibly wide. And happiness shone from it. “I want to marry you. I want to spend my life with you. Raise babies with you. Fight with you, make up with you. I’m restless and excited, and really fucking nervous, because I know it’s something you’re still a little scared of—”
“I’m not scared,” she said in a rush, moving her hands. His heart short-circuited, like someone took jumper cables to the organ. “Not with you. I mean, I am. I’m scared of everything. But I’m learning that it’s better to be scared with the person you love than on your own. Yes. The answer is yes. Wait. You didn’t actually ask. You just said you want to.”
His laughter shook both of their bodies. Pulling the platinum band with a square diamond solitaire from its soft casing, he held it up. “I do want to. But let me make it official. Will you marry me, Everly? Will you be my wife?”
She nodded, a few tears breaking free.
“If I have to be official, so do you,” he teased, his own eyes stinging just a bit. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes. Yes.”
He slipped the ring on her finger. Like them, it fit perfectly, like it was meant to be there. Like it belonged.
Everly leaned down, her arms going around his neck as she brought her mouth to his and kissed him. She kept kissing him. His mouth, his cheeks, his eyelids, ears, his neck. Chris shifted on the couch but she didn’t stop. She just kept kissing him over and over, her hands starting to move, traveling into his hair, over his shoulders, pulling him closer.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Words he’d never get tired of.
“I love you back.”
Everly leaned away, pulling him with her so she lay on the couch with Chris over her. One of his arms was under her, but with the other, he stroked her hair away from her face.
“You know how much I love you. What were you worried might be going on?” He whispered.
Her lips pursed, her gaze darting away from his.
“Everly?”
Everly reached out, stroked her hand over his cheek. He leaned into her palm. Wrapping one leg around his, she fit her body against his, and even fully clothed, she stole the air from his lungs. He’d never known he could want someone this way. In a way that would always be exactly what he needed, but never quite enough. A lifetime wouldn’t be enough.
“I was scared you were going to say you planned a surprise party. With a pinata”
His laugh was strained. “I’ll write it into our vows. I promise to love you forever and ban any and all pinatas from our home, even if they aren’t stuffed with condoms.”
The love in her gaze washed over him. “See? Best. Chris. Ever.”