Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107687 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“I do,” he says, such emotion in his voice. “You remember how, when we were on the phone with your Babu’s son and you introduced me as your boyfriend?”
I go still in his hand. “Yeah. Was that not right?”
“Yeah, it is, but I’ve always felt we were more than that.”
“Oh, I have too, but they don’t have a word for something other than boyfriend,” I say, laughing. “I’ll sound silly if I’m like, this is my soul mate, my love, my whole life, my world, my everything, Dimitri. That’s a lot for one person to process.”
He grins, his eyes twinkling. “Then how about your husband?”
My laughter trails off as I blink at him. “My husband?”
He swallows hard, letting me go to dig into his pocket. He pulls out a rather worn green box and slowly opens it to reveal a stunning, large round-diamond ring that has little diamonds surrounding it on a platinum band. The sight of the ring leaves me unable to breathe, much less think about what the hell is happening. What he is asking or even implying.
I glance up to him, and my goodness, the look on his face destroys me. His eyes are hooded, soft and full of such tenderness for me. His lips are parted, but it’s the flush along his cheeks that has me gasping for air. “My parents got married with a crappy ring when my dad found out about me. That ring was turned into a necklace that my mom still wears to this day. Fast-forward to after I was born. They fell in love and wanted to do life together forever, so my dad got her this ring. He got her a lot of different rings, but this one was always intended for me to give to my future wife. When I was a baby, he put it in my hand to give to her. It was his way of righting all the wrong things he did to her, replacing all the bad with endless good. My dad never told anyone he loved them—my mom was the first—and Austen, you were the first for me,” he says, his voice full of so much emotion.
“Just like how my dad replaced all the bad memories with good for my mom, I want to do the same for you. I want to fill your life with all kinds of amazing things so that your past will never haunt you again. I want to love you, Janie. I want to love you in the way that you should have always been loved and then some. I want your everything, your everywhere, and your always. I just want you. Forever.”
Tears flood my gaze as he whispers, “I grew up watching all these people be in love and always hearing about their love stories. I never wanted one until I met you, and now I want the best love story out of everyone. Because you make me want to be the best at everything I do. As a hockey player, a person, and as yours.”
My tears spill over, and my lip quivers as I stay locked in his gaze, still gasping for my breath. “I was going to ask your grandpa, but I’m sure he’ll say no, which would cause a whole lot of unnecessary drama. And then I thought about it, and I don’t have to ask anyone but you. Because it’s your choice.” When a tear trickles down onto his beautiful face, I come completely undone. A sob rips from his chest as he takes the ring out of the box and holds it up to me. His hand trembles as my soul sings for this beautiful man. Who is all mine.
“Austen, my Janie, my world, my everything, will you marry me?” he asks, his eyes full of emotion along with his voice. “Know in doing so, you’ll be continually tormented in and out of bed, but you’ll also be endlessly loved, because nothing in this world could ever keep me from loving you.”
I cover my mouth to keep the sob in as I gaze at Dimitri, completely taken by him. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Yes is usually what the girl is supposed to say,” he reminds me, and laughter bubbles out of me.
“I know that. I mean, aren’t I supposed to say something else, like thank you or give you my declaration of love?”
His eyes bore into mine. “Austen, you’re taking my moment here.”
I snort as his eyes dance with mine. I lean in, tears spilling down my cheeks. “Yes, Dimitri. I want nothing more than to be your wife.”
His shoulders fall in relief, which is maddening to me since there is no way in hell I could say no. He slides the ring down my finger, and it may be snug, but I don’t care. I’ve never wanted a ring on my finger as badly as I do in this moment. I take him by his shirt, pulling him to me and crashing our lips together. He cups my face, kissing me as our hearts beat together, our tears mingle, and our love for each other surrounds us. As we part, only slightly, I open my eyes to find him already looking at me. I smile against his lips, and he does the same before he runs his fingers along my cheeks.