Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 49490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
He turned to gaze at the horizon and slipped a finger through my belt loop. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
“We’re early. Let’s check it out from the cliff.”
It was more of a grassy knoll from a lookout point with spectacular views of the Pacific than a true cliff, but it was better than standing in a parking lot.
“The sky is on fire. I can order this up the day I pop the question, and you can—what are you doing?”
I dropped to one knee and reached for Mateo’s hand. “What do you think I’m doing? I’m asking you to marry me.”
His mouth fell open. “For real?”
“For real. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Mateo Cavaretti. What do you say?”
“Well…” Mateo blinked, shoved his hands into his pockets, took them out again, then crossed and uncrossed his arms. “I think I-I mean…you stole my idea.”
“What are you gonna do? Start a war?”
His grin was wide and unfettered. Mateo sank to his knees and sealed his lips to mine. “I might.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes. It’s a fucking yes.”
We slowly stood but didn’t let go of each other for a long time.
Mateo finally pushed away, his hand still in mine. “Sometimes I can’t believe this is real. Everything we are, everything we’ve done, everything we’re going to do. I really fucking love you.”
I crushed him to my chest, holding him close. “I love you too.”
He squeezed our fingers and smiled. “C’mon, we’re gonna be late and Vanni and Amber will—”
“We’re not meeting them, Teo. It’s just us tonight.”
Mateo squinted suspiciously. “You tricked me?”
“Yeah. I mean…I do have a reservation—table for two. I didn’t feel like sharing this news yet. It’s ours tonight.”
“So…you planned this?”
“I did.”
“And Vanni was in on it?”
“And Sal and Jimmy and Amber. And your mom and Aunt Sylvie. To be honest, they don’t know for sure, but they probably suspect something’s up.”
Mateo paced away from me, shaking his head. “Fuck. I think you won.”
I chuckled. “I did win, baby. I got you.”
He lifted my fingers to his lips and closed his eyes serenely as if savoring the moment. I traced the curve of his jaw with my thumb and memorized his every detail.
They say the best things in life come when least expected. That rang true for us. I’d met my match in Mateo. He was the other half of my heart and my forever person. I was pretty sure that made me the luckiest man in the world.
And perhaps if all was fair in love and war, the same rules applied for love and pizza too.