"I swear to God, Brennen, if you don't stop poking me I'm going to kick you in the dick."
He puts his hands down and hops in place. "I'm just so excited. How can you not be excited?"
Maybe because I'm fucking terrified. We spent the entire day during one of Emma's twelve-hour shifts fixing up the deck in the backyard of our new house and making it into a little oasis for Emma to enjoy when she wants to relax with an Old Fashioned after a long day on her feet.
We recently moved into a house with Sam and Haley as our next door neighbors. Our backyards are connected into once huge backyard
We woke up really fucking early, stained the deck, built the furniture I purchased, including a coffee table fire pit, and hung bulb lights across the entire deck. There is a log ready to be burned, s'mores ready to be consumed, and a question on the tip of my tongue ready to be asked.
"You know, you can go around the corner and wait with everyone else. You don't have to stand here."
"But then you would be by yourself. Plus I enjoy seeing you sweat." He tickles my cheek with his finger that I swat away.
"Get the fuck out of here." The sound of a car door shutting rings through the night. Eyes wide, I turn to Brennen and whisper, "Go, now!"
"Fine." He holds up his hands and then pulls me into a bear hug. "Ugh, my little man is all grown-up."
"Christ." I push him off me and straighten my polo. "I'm seriously calling Jake whenever I need help now."
"Lies, so many fucking lies."
Brennen takes off before I can respond and hides next to garage with everyone else.
My stomach is flipping a mile a minute and my entire body feels shaky, so I stuff my hands in my dark jeans and try to calm my racing nerves.
I hear the kitchen door shut and I know she's seeing the sign to meet me out back. Since the door to the deck is right off the kitchen, it's going to be hard to miss the new lights illuminating the backyard, but hopefully she won't see everything from the kitchen window.
I see her in the window and my heart rate picks up. She opens the door and peeks out first, a giant smile on that gorgeous face. "What did you do?" she asks as she steps out onto the deck and takes it all in.
Damn, she looks so cute in her scrubs.
"I wanted to give you a little place to relax after your long days," I reply while walking up to her and linking our hands together.
"Colby, you've given me everywhere in the house to relax in. You didn't have to do this."
"I know I didn't, I wanted to." I kiss the top of her head and spin her around to the light music that's playing in the background. "What do you think?"
I hold her close to me as we slow dance on the deck; her eyes trail over the lights, the moonlit sky above us. When she meets my eyes, she says, "It's perfect."
"Almost perfect."
I spin her around one last time before dropping to my knee. I hold on to her hand as the other goes to her mouth. "Colby . . ." she whispers as I pull a ring box out of my pocket.
Taking a deep breath, I look her in the eyes and say, "Emma, you came back into my life when all I could see was darkness surrounding me. You moved into my apartment when I wasn't sure if I even wanted to still live there myself. You helped me see the beauty in the place we called home. Now we have our own. You brightened every ounce of my life with your smile, your teasing, and your weird random purchases that still continue to boggle my mind." She giggles as tears fall from her eyes. "You've shown me how to love again, how to live again, and how to see this world in full color. I can't imagine a day without you in my life, in my arms." I let go of her hand and pop open the ring box. She cries even harder. "Emma, will you please do me the honor in marrying me?"
She shakes her head yes, happy tears streaming down her cheeks. I stand, a weight of happiness lifting me up as I place the ring on her finger and then cup her face. "I love you so much, Emma, so fucking much."
"I love you too," she squeaks out before looping her hand around the back of my neck and pulling me into one of the best pair of lips I've ever had the privilege of kissing.
From behind us, a wave of cheers erupts as our friends start clapping and coming in for hugs. Brennen is the first one to wrap his arms around us. He's screaming in excitement and jumping up and down.
"I knew she would say yes." He shakes us to the point that I'm forced to push him away, but not before he grabs my cheeks and lays a huge kiss on my lips.
I wipe my mouth and say, "What the fuck, man?
Both Emma and Brennen are laughing at my expense as Sam's and Haley wrap around us in a hug and Jake does the same exact thing. "Lucky girl," Haley replies as she pats her cheek.
When Andrew, Sadie's boyfriend approaches me, arms wide, lips puckered, I stiff-arm him and say, "Don't even think about it."
It's taken me a bit to get used to hanging out with Sadie again, but in all honesty, it feels good to have her around as a friend. And Andrew, shit, it's hard not to like the guy. He's so damn charismatic. We might get along a little too much which freaks Emma and Sadie out of course.
"Aw, come on, man, just a little lipper." Andrew points to his lips and I push him away.
"Get the fuck out of here." I laugh.
Emma is showing off her ring to Sadie, Adalyn, and Haley. They are cooing over the diamond as Emma looks up at me, her eyes sparkling with so much love that I don't know if I could ever feel so much for one single person.
That girl, the one with the long brown hair and bright blue eyes, the one who wears a matching pajama set to bed every night, the one who used to fawn over our drunk asses as kids, and the one who wakes up next to me every morning, she's perfect. She's mine, and I will forever be hers.
THE END
(A/N) - New watt-pad only story will be posted soon. First three chapters. Love you all and I hope you guys enjoyed this book.
