Epilogue

ASHTON

I waited until the next morning. I didn’t want to be predictable, but as soon as she started waking up, with her coffee already on the nightstand, she rolled over, and I was there.

“Morni—” She stopped because she saw what was in my hand.

The ring. I moved so I was half lying on her, nestled between her legs, and I held it up to her. “Will you marry me?”

“Ashton.” She sat up slowly, reaching for the ring.

She’d start crying. She was a crier, at least lately, but she cried when she was happy. She rarely cried from the other reasons anymore.

Those tears were starting. Her bottom lip beginning to tremble. “Is this—are you sure?”

I groaned. “God, I’m sure.” I reached forward, brushing her hair back, tucking it behind her ear, and I held her head in the palm of my hand. “I meant it last night. I think I’ve loved you since we were kids. Just took me a long time to figure it out.”

She was biting her lip, still crying, but her eyes were beaming at me. She kept looking from me to the ri