“I… I tried to call you.”
“I went to the mountains, so I didn’t have service. I wasn’t leaving you. I just needed to think for a bit.”
“I’m an idiot.”
“You’re not.” I rub her back, and thankfully after a few minutes, her sobs quiet down. “I need to see you,” I tell her quietly, and she leans away from me. A second later, soft light fills the room, and her tear-stained face looks up at me. Using my thumb, I wipe away the tears from under her eyes and study her beautiful face. “I was scared,” I admit, and her body jolts like she’s shocked by that statement. “So, fucking scared.” I run my fingers across her soft cheek, catching a tear before it falls. “I can’t imagine a world without you in it.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispers, lifting her hand to my jaw. My eyes close and my forehead drops to rest against hers as my arms tighten around her, the thought of losing her too much for me to handle.
“Marry me.”
The words are out before I can catch them, but now that I’ve said them out loud, I know that’s exactly what I want. I want her to be my wife. I want to wake up with her every morning and go to bed with her every night. I want to spend the rest of my life making her happy.
“What?” she breathes.
I pull back to look into her eyes, and repeat, “Marry me.”
“We—”
“I don’t care how long we’ve been together,” I cut her off, knowing exactly what she was going to say. “I know I want a life with you. I know now, just like I knew the moment I met you, that you were made for me.”
“Sage.” Her eyes close and her head shakes.
“Just say yes. I won’t give up until you say yes.”
“You’re serious.” She opens her eyes, studying mine, and I hold her gaze letting her see the truth there.
“Never been more serious about anything in my life.”
“I’m not dying. I’m sick, but I have a long life ahead of me,” she says softly, and I pull her closer.
“Then say you’ll live your long life with me,” I urge, and her bottom lip goes between her teeth. “I love you, Kimberly, from the moment we met, and since then, I’ve fallen deeper in love with you. Tell me you don’t feel the same. Tell me from the second we met you haven’t felt this pull between us, like our lives have always been intertwined in some way. Tell me we’re not meant to be together.”
“I…” She swallows, closing her eyes. “I love you, too. I just… I don’t want you to want to marry me or to be with me just because you think my time is limited.”
“Everyone’s time is limited, baby,” I say, gently taking her face in my hands. “No one knows when their time on earth will come to an end. I could die tomorrow, but if that happens, I want to know I died meaning something to you.”
“You mean everything to me.”
“Then tell me you’ll marry me.”
“God, you are really serious. You’re crazy.”
“Say you’ll marry me, Kimberly. Tell me you’ll be my wife.”
“I’m not getting married in Vegas or at the courthouse,” she whispers, and my heart leaps in my chest.
Taking her mouth once more, I roll her to her back and pull away slightly to look down at her. “Is that a yes?”
“God, I’m seriously as crazy as you are.” She closes her eyes then opens them back up, wrapping her hand around the side of my neck. “Yes.”
“Thank fuck.” I kiss her deeply but pull back before things can get out of hand. “Your parents are down the hall,” I remind her quietly when she looks up at me disappointedly, and then her eyes close.
“Right.” She swallows, lying back on the bed. I curl her into my side, noticing the early morning sun filtering in through the closed blinds. Running my fingers down her side, I smile as she cuddles deeper into my chest. “I have a request,” she says quietly, and my hand pauses on her hip.
“What is it?”
“Next time you’re mad at me, can you take time to cool down before we talk? You…” She pauses then moves, getting up on an elbow to look at me. “That’s the second time you’ve gotten mad at me and flipped out without giving me a chance to explain.”
“I’m sorry, baby,” I reply, hating that she’s right.
“Me, too.” She shrugs, running her fingers across jaw. “I hate that I didn’t tell you before and you had to find out the way you did.”
“It’s done. We’re moving on.”
“Yeah,” she agrees, resting her head back against my pec. “Your mom and mine are going to fight like crazy. You know that, right?” she asks, breaking into the quiet after a few minutes.