Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
“See what you do to me?” I asked. “I’m a disaster.”
He smiled. Nice of him to enjoy my torture so much.
“Walk with me, El.”
El. I liked that. Even a dumb, stupid nickname from him made me mushy inside. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to show off a pretty man on my arm. You do realize that when we’re together, we’re even more stunning, right? Have you seen two more beautiful men? I haven’t. You’ll be losing that if you break up with me.” Tell him. Tell him you love him.
“That would be a tragedy,” Parker said as we slowly made our way down the pier.
“It would.”
Parker hooked his arm through mine. “I was freaking out yesterday, after our trip. It was…it meant so much to me. I was so scared of losing you, of chasing you away, of not being worthy of you…a million different things, and…”
He let the words linger until I nearly lost my mind. “What are you saying?”
“I’m getting there.”
“Maybe try faster,” I joked, making him chuckle.
“You’re such a jerk…only, you’re not. You never were, even from the start.”
“I think you’re getting sidetracked, and I want to know what you were originally trying to tell me.”
“I went to see my dad last night. We talked about a lot of things…me and the guys too. It made me realize some important things.”
My stomach dropped. I was a cut-the-cord kind of guy, so I said, “That this isn’t about love?”
“That I’m more afraid than I ever realized. There was something about you from the start, El. I felt it deep in the marrow of my bones, even that first night. As soon as I said no to you, I regretted it. I went back to find you, to tell you I changed my mind, and—”
“Shit.” I. Was. An idiot. “You saw me with another man.” Everything began to make sense now—why Parker had been so insistent on not dating me, why he’d seemed angry with me.
“I was interested in you already. I wanted to get to know you, but then I saw you with him, and I felt…replaceable. Like you could never really want me. Want to fuck me, yes, but you’d never really want me.”
Like the other men in his life. Like the fuckface from high school. “Beautiful…no, that’s not true. I wanted you. I’m sorry you felt that way. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you. I—”
“Shh.” He pressed his fingers to my lips. “Let me get this out first. I need to do this.”
Do what? I wanted to ask, but instead I nodded, waited.
We were standing in the middle of the pier now. My gaze darted away and…was that Vaughn? What the fuck was he doing here? And wait…my parents were standing off to the side too, with Parker’s dad…and Sebastian, who was wearing a hat and holding Declan’s hand, Corbin and Marcus beside him.
My heart began to flutter, which was the only way I could think to describe it. For a moment I worried I should go to the doctor and get that checked. I’d never fluttered in my life, but then, Parker had changed everything, hadn’t he?
“What’s…?” I turned to look at him. “What are you doing?” But I knew, I fucking knew. He was down on one knee, with a box in his hand, looking up at me like I was the whole fucking world. Like his universe couldn’t exist without me, the same thing I felt every time I thought of him.
“What do you think I’m doing?” he asked with a cocked brow.
People began to come closer. Mom was crying, as was Parker’s dad, and I was pretty sure Corbin was too.
We were the center of attention. It was like something out of a movie, or one of the books Parker read, those romances I teased him about. Fuck, the way I felt right then, I would read one every day if I could recapture it.
Parker said, “My whole life I’ve dreamed of finding the one. I’ve chased love only to never catch it. For years I thought that was because I wasn’t worthy, but now I know it’s because all those other men weren’t you. You’re… You’re everything. No one has ever made me feel the way you do, and I know we’re already married, but this time I want to do it right, before I spend the rest of my life showing you how thankful I am for you. I’m so fucking in love with you.” He opened the box. The ring was a million times better than the ones we had on—black, with a row of embedded diamonds in the middle. “You are the most romantic man I’ve ever met…you’re sweet and kind…the perfect hero. Elliott Delgado Weaver…will you marry me…again?”
Jesus, my cheeks were hurting, I was smiling so big. Parker was proposing in a big and very public way. My perfect boy was on one knee for me, asking me to be his.