Page 130 of Ashes

I opened my eyes and looked straight into the ones of the woman I’d fallen in love with, bewildered by her words.

“You’re the one I want to wake up to and go to bed withand do everything in between with. I get a choice now. I get to choose and I choose you Jamal Menelik Aguerd.”

“Your turn,” she said, like we were in some sort of debate and it was my time to present my arguments.

My lips parted, but she added, “Oh, actually, one more thing. Stop with the nonsense about protecting me. We’re stronger together, not apart. Okay,nowI’m done. You can speak if you’d like.”

I studied her, a million things running through my head. I wanted to say so much, yet any existing word in the vocabulary would fail to properly convey my love for this woman. This conversation didn’t go the way I’d planned, but this was a better outcome, the outcome I’d wanted deep down.

This beautiful woman was stubbornly mine. She would always be.

Her hand was still against my cheek, so I placed mine over hers and bent down until only a few inches separated her beautiful face from mine.

“You’re stubborn, you know that?” I finally said, my eyes dipping to her lips.

She put her hand on my chest and peered at me through her lashes. “I know what I want. There’s a difference.”

I shook my head and brought my lips even closer. I reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, my fingertips lingering on the skin beneath her ear, right above her pulse point. “I love you, you know?”

She gave me a small nod, her chest rising and falling faster. “I love you, too.”

I pressed my body against her and smiled against her lips.

Then, because I couldn’t wait any longer, I kissed my wife and I would kiss her every day after that.

EPILOGUE

FIVE MONTHS LATER

SIENNA

“Once again,undeterred, Cynara Cruz, our championship leader, crosses the line and makes it another win for her to extend her Championship lead in the F1 Academy as we head into the final round,”the commentator on the screen announced.

“Yes!” I yelled, jumping off the couch.

I heard chuckles from behind me and whipped around.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Shareef quickly looked away from where my husband was sitting behind me, stifling his laughter. “You’re just… very enthusiastic,” Shareef said from his spot on the other side of the couch where he and Kenna were snuggled.

Kenna swatted at his chest and glared at him, muttering something to him under her breath in Yorùbá.Then she turned her attention to me. “What my dear husband meant was that your joy and involvement in this sport is a beautiful thing to watch,” Kenna said, her eyes glimmering with amusement.

Shareef placed a hand on her belly and kissed her cheek. “Yes, what my beautiful wife said.”

I huffed out a laugh, shaking my head. These two were sickly adorable and he would agree to anything she said, especially now that she was pregnant.

Kenna had found out the news three months ago. When two pink lines had shown up on the stick, she’d immediately video called our group chat, freaking out from her bathroom floor.

She and Shareef had planned to wait until she had completed her residency to start trying, but after a two-hour-long conversation, her fear turned into an overwhelming joy, happy tears flowing freely when she truly realized that she was becoming a mom.

And to say Shareef was happy about becoming a father would be an understatement.

“But you did almost step on me with thatenthusiasm,” Kai claimed from where he was sitting on the floor, his elbow propped on the couch where we were all sitting.

I glanced down at him and mouthed a sorry before I took my seat again.

The man beside me tightened the arms I loved around me and made a noise that had me glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. He had his head cocked to look at me, aplayful smile that both annoyed me and made my heart beat faster plastered on his face.