The Harder They Fall

Chapter 18: Epilogue

Jasmine

"Where is everyone?" I asked, looking at Gracie and all she did was smile."You know something, don't you?"

She grinned, "I know nothing. Let's just go sit down. I'm sure they'll come in a minute." She said and dragged me to the seats.

We waited for a few minutes, but no one came.

"Gracie, seriously, what's going-" I stop talking as Tatum, her now fiance, Adam and their one-year-old, Johnathon, came smiling next to us. "Tatum? Adam?"

"Hey!'' She said, hugging me and Adam came next. I ruffled Jonathon's hair a little.

"Hi, you know I am always happy to see you guys but, I thought you said you couldn't make it?"

She only shrugged and sat next to us. Before I knew it, Cole's parents had arrived. My parents and siblings came. It seemed like we were the only ones coming.

After thirty minutes of talking, I stood from my seat, slightly irritated," Alright, can someone please tell me what is g-"

"Jasmine!" someone shouted from the field. When I looked down, it was only Cole, holding a football. "Close your eyes."

I looked at him confused, "Why?"

"Just do it. Ten seconds alright?"

When I didn't agree immediately, he added, "Please."

"Fine." With a deep breath, I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I heard whispering as I counted and couldn't wait to see what this whole thing was about.

"Ten!" I shouted, opening my eyes. When I looked down, Cole had one hand in his pocket.

"Turn around!" He shouted, and I did so. When I turned around, everyone had moved back a few rows and were each holding a poster. I slowly read each one, adding the letters to make the words on my head and saying them aloud.

"Will... You... Marry... Me?" I gasped loudly. Turning back around to look at Cole, I am met with him on his knees, holding a ring up.

"I don't want to make some big speech about why I love you, because you know I do. And mostly because I don't know what to say," he begins, and I chuckle. "Sorry, I'm not good at this. I'm not going to tell you that, but I will give you reasons why you should marry me. One, I am fantastic in bed. You should know that after l-"

"Cole! There are children here. And everyone doesn't need to know what goes on inside the bedroom." I interrupted him before he went further.

"Sorry, I'll tell you that reason privately. That's if you say yes, of course. Reason two, I will love you unconditionally even when you continue to insist you're right when you are not. Three, I will protect you from anyone and anything. Except Tatum, though. You're on your own with her," he said jokingly and everyone laughed. "Four. I will buy you whatever you want, whenever you want, except rocky road ice cream because you get very gassy when you eat that. And number five, I will stick with you until the end. No matter what, you can always count on me to be there by your side through every obstacle."

Switching knees, he stared at me expectantly. "What do you say, Jasmine? Were my reasons good enough? Will you take a leap of faith and marry me?"

I knew what my answer was. Of course, I wanted to marry Cole. He was the man of my dreams and more. But I wanted to tease them a little. Lifting my dress, I faced Cole's and my family with fake sadness. "I'm sorry, I can't."

Everyone gasped as I sprinted down the other side of the seats. Making it halfway, I turned around and saw everyone was staring at me, shocked. Smiling, I ran back towards them. "I'm just kidding, guys. "

Cole's mom rolled her eyes, irritated, and everyone else blew a breath of relief. I turned toward Cole again, who was still on his knee. "Of course, I will marry you, Cole!"

I ran down the seats to a now standing Cole with his arms stretched wide. Finally making it, I jumped into his arms. "I love you so much." We both whispered.

I smiled into his shoulder, "Spinning that wheel for a job that day turned out not to be so bad."