Chapter 32
Anastasia
With a small, wrapped box in my hand, I make my way across the parking lot toward Sawyer’s shop. The last bit of his new equipment arrived today, so he’s prepared to open up again first thing Monday morning. According to him, he’s booked out for the next few months on appointments.
It makes me so happy to see the entire town rallying around him as he has rebuilt.
It makes me even more happy to know that he’s right across the parking lot again, instead of sleeping in my mom’s guest bedroom. I would have let him stay with me, but as our relationship progressed, it became clear that we needed at least a little space.
My legs ache from a full day of work at the shop, then all the meals I made for Katelyn and Garrison’s freezer, now that they’re home with their new baby. But I’m so full of joy that I can’t even bring myself to care.
Katelyn had her baby.
My family is safe.
And life is back to normal. Or, at least, as normal as it can be after all we went through.
The door is locked, so I raise my fist and knock.
A few minutes later, Sawyer comes into view through the small window.
When he sees me, his entire expression lights up.
He pulls open the door and leans against the doorjamb, pulling the sucker out of his mouth as he grins.
Wearing stained coveralls that are folded down to his waist, a tight black T-shirt, and his favorite baseball cap, he is a sight to behold.
Warmth spreads through me as my blood turns molten in my veins. Oh, Sawyer Maddox, how you make my heart flutter.
“You know, if you keep coming over here like this, my girlfriend is bound to get jealous,” he jokes, playing off the same thing I said to him when he’d visited me for lunch earlier.
I roll my eyes and press a hand to his muscled chest. “Maybe she should keep a better eye on you.”
He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me in, then reaches up and flips his grease-stained baseball cap backward before leaning in and capturing my lips with his.
Sawyer kisses me like the world is ending and it’s our last two seconds of survival.
The sweetness of his sucker dances on my tongue as he pulls back just the breath of an inch.
“Maybe you should,” he whispers against my lips before kissing me again.
Breathless, I laugh. “You’d better stop, Maddox, or I won’t give you your present.”
“Present? Is this not my present?”
Laughing, I pull away and move into the shop as Sawyer closes the door behind us. “That was part one.” As soon as we reach the main bay, I turn toward him and offer the small wrapped box.
Sawyer takes it, studying the kitten wrapping paper.
“It seemed so fitting since you’re such a big softie for Axel.”
Sawyer laughs and slowly unwraps the present, taking his time to slide his fingers beneath the seams so he doesn’t damage the paper.
I know it’s silly, but the care he takes with it reminds me of the care he’s taken with me over the last six months.
It’s been a long process of healing, but this past month, I’ve finally managed to get a full night’s sleep without waking up drenched in sweat, crying, and terrified that I was back in Jack’s clutches.
That we were back on that boat.
That Sawyer and the others didn’t arrive in time.
Every single time I woke up terrified, I’d call, and Sawyer would be there. He’d sit up with me, drinking coffee despite having his own busy schedule, and he never made me feel like I was overreacting. Like I shouldn’t still be having issues.
He was just there. A solid, steady presence in the middle of my nightmares.
There’s no doubt in my mind that God sent him to me. That He brought Sawyer and me together. We’re soulmates, he and I.
Sawyer opens the box and reaches inside to pull out a coffee mug I spent the last three months trying to track down.
“No way!” he exclaims as he studies the ceramic mug with the words Starter Fluid painted on the side. The handle is a wrench, and he grips it now, a boyish grin on his face. “It looks just like the last one you got me!”
Joy surges through me at the absolute delight on his face. “I know the other one didn’t survive, so I wanted to get you a new one. You can’t run a business without a special coffee mug. It’s pretty much the law.”
Sawyer laughs and sets the box aside to reach for me. “Thank you, baby.” Those caramel eyes lock onto mine, and my breath catches.
“You’re welcome.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Sawyer kisses me quickly, then releases me and heads into the kitchen. “I think we should break this in.”
“Sawyer, you have to wash that first.”
“Nah, I’ll just rinse it. It’ll be fine.
Hot water kills stuff, right? Well, I just made this coffee, so it’s good and hot.
” He rinses the cup in the sink, then pours steaming hot coffee into it.
Reaching up, he pulls down a paper cup and adds coffee before offering it to me and lifting his new one to his lips.
“I cannot believe you didn’t wash it first.”
“I’ve drunk out of worse before. I’m pretty sure they don’t wash canteens before issuing them.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing I washed it before I put it into the box.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “You know me all too well, Knox.”
“Same, Maddox.”
We stand in silence for a moment, just staring at each other. Nothing is said, but I’ve found that with Sawyer, words aren’t really necessary.
“Are you ready to open on Monday?”
“I am. Excited to get my hands dirty again.”
I laugh. “What a crime it is for a mechanic to have clean hands.”
He grins. “I never said they were clean.”
My stomach flips, and my pulse hammers when he sets his mug aside and crosses over toward me. Sawyer places each hand on either side of me, caging me in. Still, I’ve never felt so free as I do right now, safe in his arms.
He leans down and rests his forehead against mine. “Marry me, Knox.”
His words hit me hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs. “What?”
Sawyer pulls away and takes the coffee from me, then sets it aside before taking both of my hands in his and kneeling on the floor in front of me. “Marry me. I have a ring. It’s not with me right now. It’s up in my apartment. But I got your mom and Zane’s blessing last week. I was going to—”
I drop down and throw my arms around his neck to press my lips to his.
“Is that a yes?” he asks when I pull away.
“Yes, Sawyer! Yes, I will marry you.”
He laughs and stands, lifting me into his arms as he does. His mouth on mine, he sets me on the counter and steps up between my legs to kiss me again. “Baby, I will do everything I can to deserve you.”
“You already do,” I reply as I take his handsome face into my hands. “I love you so much, Sawyer.”
“I love you, too.” He kisses me again, and I lose myself in it, the future right here in my arms.
It doesn’t escape me that, once upon a time, we were only friends.
Two friends who bet everything on each other…and won.