Page 62 of Choose Me
Thankfully, he’s taking this well. “Yeah. I mean, we haven’t been able to find what we want on the market. So I figured we could build the perfect house. I want it to be everything we want. This property isn’t that far from the highways, and we’re not far from your parents or from my siblings. Quinn’s parents are right down the road.”
Being near our families is important to both of us. Jules has always been incredibly close with his, and with the help of my therapist, and Jules, I’ve been working on repairing my relationship with mine. It means multiple therapy sessions to talk one-on-one, and then other sessions with various combinations of my siblings. It’s been painful, and difficult, but we’re making progress. But most importantly,I’mmaking progress, because I want to be the best partner I can be for Jules. He deserves that.
“And I don’t know, I just want someplace that wasn’t somebody else’s before.”
He nods against my head. “Yeah, I can understand that.”
He’s still not saying much. It’s not a no, thank god, but it’s also not the resounding yes I’d hoped for. It’s time to throw out my final card and hope it’s an ace. “I thought if you were okay with it, we could get Quinn and Tadhg to design it.”
“Oh my god, we could. That would be amazing!”
“Right? I mean, we’d have an in with the architects. They won’t be too annoyed if we have lots of ideas, or want to see eight thousand versions.”
Jules laughs. “Eight thousand? Even Quinn might lose patience at that point. But yes. That’s perfect.”
“Are you sure? I want this house to be everything you ever wanted, because that’s where I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He tenses, and I can tell he’s not sure what I mean. “Elskling, turn around.” I loosen my arms so he can face me and take his hands in mine.
He looks at me with so much love and affection I know it’s time, though I wasn’t planning on doing this yet. Definitely not on the spur of the moment, but it feels right. So I take a breath. “I am so in love with you, Jules. You are my heart. My person. And this could be the place where we shut out the world and be ourselves. It could be our haven.”
His eyes go wide, and I wonder if he finally gets what I’m trying to say. “I meant it when I said I want to spend my life with you.” He pulls his hands from mine and shakes them out. Fuck. He’s going to have a panic attack. “Is it too much? Did I fuck up?”
Tears well in his eyes, but he shakes his head. “It’s perfect. If this is what I think it is.” He chokes out a wet laugh, and I pull him close and wrap him in a tight hug. “But are you sure?”
How can he even doubt that? “Yes. I’m sure about all of it. About buying this property, building our dream house, but most especially about you. About us, together.” I put my hands on either side of his face. “I love you,elskling. Will you marry me?”
He nods enthusiastically. “Yes. And I love you, too. So much.”
He grabs my braid and pulls me down, crashing our lips together. I gather him close, my heart bursting with love. When he finally lets me go, I laugh and wipe my eyes. “I’m sorry, I don’t have a ring. I wasn’t planning to do this today. But I’ve known for a while that I want you to be my husband.”
“I want that too.” He wipes his eyes on my shirt and laughs. “And I don’t care about a ring or that this was spontaneous. It was perfect, and very us.”
I brush my lips against his, promising him my heart, my life, everything I am with this single kiss. Because he is my everything, and if it’s in my power, I’ll make sure he never doubts it.