Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 182(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
“It’s about you. I want to taste and learn every part of you. I want to make you happy.”
Our teasing always turns so intense. I believe every word out of his mouth. Derek is obsessed with me. I fucking love it but it also scares me. Not the obsession, but my worthiness. What makes me so special? What if one day he wakes up and finds me obnoxious again?
“You do make me happy.” I reach across the table and he takes my hand. “And if eating ass is going to earn me a dimpled smile, who am I to stop you?”
He flashes me a smile and I’m rewarded with his adorable dimples. I love that I see them multiple times a day now. It’s actual evidence for me that I make him happy too.
“So, I want to give you something,” he says, grip tightening on my hand, “but I’m lowkey worried you’re going to hate it.”
This piques my interest. “I’m a pretty easygoing guy. I don’t hate much.”
“You hate losing on your video game, getting up early, moths, and Miracle Whip.”
Mouth agape, I scoff. “First of all, who gave you permission to know all those things? Everyone hates losing, only freaks enjoy getting up early, moths are terrifying, and I’ll gag just thinking about the last one.”
He laughs and it warms my heart. “Point is, you do hate stuff. You may hate this.”
The nerves return and he averts his gaze. It’s then I realize he’s fidgeting with his other hand in his pocket. Now I’m overly curious. What in the hell does he have in his pocket?
“Previously,” he says, voice gruff, “I was bad with commitment. It wasn’t something I wanted but always gave in for the other person. Looking back, it was shitty to go along with something I wasn’t a hundred-percent feeling.”
“With your ex?”
“Especially with her. It was one of our biggest points of contention. She always wanted more from me and I didn’t have it to give to her. Our relationship felt out of balance.”
Since Derek doesn’t go into much detail about his ex and the baby, I try not to push. This feels like a breakthrough or something. Like we’re leveling up together.
“But with me?” I implore, arching an eyebrow. “It’s different?”
“So different.” His eyes burn into mine as if he’s trying to give me a direct line of vision into his brain. I wish I could see how his mind works.
“Different how?”
“For one, I’m always on fire around you. Burning and burning. I love it. Don’t want it to end.”
“That makes two of us,” I admit with a smile.
“And, since it only intensifies, I know where this will go if we let it.”
“You do?”
“I do, hubby.”
A guy my age should cringe at all this “playing house” we’re doing, but I don’t hate it. Derek fills me up in a way I never realized I was missing. I’m no longer empty and unhappy. He fills me to the brim with him. It’s amazing.
“This is a promise to you,” he says softly, cheeks turning pink. “One day, it’ll be more than a promise. A legal binding. Unbreakable vows.”
He pulls his hand out of his pocket and reveals two rubber wedding bands. They’re both plain and simple and black. But, to me, it feels like the most significant thing that’s happened to me.
“I just want to make us official,” Derek says quickly, misreading my quiet for something else. “I want people to know we’re an item. That we’re together and it’s not something fleeting. I need to know we’re on the same page.”
I still don’t take the offered ring from his hand, my heart hammering wildly in my chest. “And here I thought I was the impulsive one.”
He flinches slightly and starts to pull his hand back. Before he can get too far, I pluck the smaller ring from his palm and inspect it up close. Then, I slide it on my right ring finger.
“It’s supposed to go on the left,” he rumbles.
“Yeah,” I agree, “when actually married. Maybe one day you’ll get to put one there too.”
It’s a challenge. To love me through thick and thin, even when I’m annoying or push his buttons. Or when the newness fades away. I’ll accept this promise and hope that the other hand gets its ring one day too.
Derek nods at my answer. He, too, puts his ring on his right finger. “I’m going to make you so happy you’re going to beg me to take you to the courthouse by Christmas.”
“Confident much?”
“When it comes to you, I’ve never been surer about anything.”
He stands from the table and then pulls me into his arms. I hug his middle, sighing happily. His big hands stroke up and down my back making me purr like a cat.
“I know it’s soon, Riko,” Derek murmurs against my hair, “but I’ve already fallen in love with you. I’m sorry.”