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“Ready?” Bryce looks at me, reaches over, and grabs my hand. He lightly kisses the inside of my wrist, grinning at me.
“Been ready forever,” I lean over and kiss him slowly on the lips. His tongue in my mouth moves slow and steady. I pull back with hooded eyes, saying, “Does everyone need to help us move?”
Bryce throws his head back and laughs. “Yes, it’ll move a lot faster—no pun intended. The sooner we get moved in, the sooner we can break the house in.” He winks.
I smile inwardly and look out the window. Tonight is going to be a long and busy night.
* * *
Once all the furniture and boxes find homes in their designated rooms, I order pizza for everyone. Bryce had stocked the fridge with drinks for everyone the day before. We just had no food in the house yet.
I look around and see everyone scattered around the family room. My parents, my sister and her husband, Bryce’s parents, Vicki, and Austin. Our little bubble; our family and friends. The people we love helping us celebrate an important moment in our lives.
Our new home is a beautiful two-story house that has a beautiful backyard. Actually it’s a huge backyard, which is very hard to find in Las Vegas. I know Bryce is already planning on building am outdoor kitchen in the backyard for the future parties he plans on having. We chose this house because of the open floor plan and huge gourmet kitchen. We plan on having holidays here in the future, and having the open floor plan will allow for everyone to feel apart of the festivities.
I walk outside and look at all the lights that Bryce strung up so we would have a relaxing area after a day of moving. I’m lost in my own thoughts when Vicki comes up next to me. She drapes her arm around me and pulls me into a hug.
“How are you doing, girl?” She smiles at me, giving me a hopeful look. “You happy to be in the house now?”
“I’m ecstatic. It just all feels perfect—like I’m finally home.” I lay my head on her shoulder. “Everything’s perfect. It couldn’t possibly get any better.”
Vicki pulls me in for a tight hug. “Actually, I think it’s about to get better. More than you could ever imagine.” She pulls back and turns me around to face Bryce, who’s standing on the other side of the patio with our friends and family behind him. Vicki leaves my side and stands behind Bryce with the rest of them.
“What’s, uh, going on?” There is a fluttering in my stomach, and I bite my lip. I look at Bryce, who’s grinning from ear to ear.
“Kitty Kat,” he says while he steps up to me. He takes my hand and meets my gaze with his.
“Bryce, what is it?” I can feel my body heat rising, and my cheeks flush pink.
“Look, I need to ask you a question; a very important one. But I want you to listen first,” Bryce pauses and places his hands on my face. “They say love is just a word until someone comes around and gives it a meaning. Kat, you gave that word meaning and so much more.” Bryce gets down on one knee in front of me. I gasp, and tears immediately start dripping down my cheeks. Happy tears. Insanely happy tears.
He pulls out a red box with a beautiful ring inside it. My eyes dart back and forth from him and the ring. Oh my God. Is this really happening?
“We started out as strangers, then we found out we were neighbors. We became friends, and then we became lovers. But that just isn’t enough for me. I want to be your husband if you’ll be my wife. Katrina, will you marry me?”
My lips being to tremble and I stand there completely stunned. My breathing stops, and my heart races wildly in my chest. I place my hands over it, trying to will it to slow down. “Yes, Bryce. A million times yes!” Bryce jumps up and draws me into his arms, then his lips come down on mine. The kiss is deep and fervent. He nips and sucks along my mouth, his tongue opening my lips and finding mine. When he finally pulls away, I realize our family still stands behind us, cheering. There are happy tears in everyone’s eyes.
Bryce takes the ring out and slips it on my finger.
“Oh, Bryce. This is so … I don’t even have words.” I shake my head as he reaches up and wipes the wetness from my eyes.
“Everything you need or want to say, I can see in your eyes. So, don’t worry, baby.” He kisses the top of my head while everyone comes up to congratulates us. We spend the next few hours with our family and friends, living in the moment and talking about the future.
When everyone leaves, we shower and come back downstairs. Sitting on the couch, we survey the work we still had to do. There are still plenty of boxes to unpack.
“Tomorrow?” Bryce looks at me, then back to the pile of endless stuff.
“Yeah, tomorrow. I’m too tired to deal with all this.” I wave my hand around, frowning.
“Well,” Bryce tips his head, saying, “I hope not too tired. I kind of wanted to celebrate with you on a much deeper level.” His voice is low and raspy as he bites his lip.
Before I can react, Bryce picks me up and throws me over his shoulder, caveman style. I laugh the entire way up to our new bedroom. When he puts me down, I notice there are candles on the dresser and a bouquet of roses next to my side of the bed.
“Bryce …” All this emotion is too much for me today. I walk over to the flowers and smell them, smiling. “Thank you.”
He spins me around, and his lips come down on mine. His tongue invades my mouth, and his hands move up my neck, wrapping my hair around them. He pulls my head back as he nibbles on my jawline and down my collarbone. His kisses grow desperate while they trace over every inch of my neck and face before moving back to my mouth.
I run my hands down his chest and pull up on the hem of his shirt. Bryce pulls his shirt off when I drop to my knees. Slowly, I pull down his basketball shorts and find that he isn’t wearing anything underneath. His lip curls up into a mischievious grin, and I can see the heat in his eyes. He wants this just as bad as I do.