Page 28

Five months later…

“I swear if you don’t stop laughing and help me I’m going to…” I trailed off, unable to come up with an appropriate threat with my shirt wrapped around my face.

Reece chuckled next to me, low and dangerous, then his warm hands slid up my bare torso. “What are you going to do, little thief? I have you at my mercy, and I’m not in a particular hurry to fix the problem.”

I tried to pull an arm free to smack him, but the movement made me hiss as it pulled on my new nose piercing, which had snagged a strand of thread. “We have to be at the graduation ceremony in an hour, and I still need to do my hair. Can you focus please?”

With a sigh, Reece gently lowered the material—and my arms—until he could meet my eyes. “I am absolutely focused.”

To my shock, he got down on one knee, forcing me to contort forward to keep him in my line of sight. “Oh no. Get your tight butt up here. You are not doing what I think you’re doing while I’m half-naked and trapped in my shirt.”

He grinned. “Mackenzie Booth, will you do me the honor?—”

I risked my new nose hole and dove on top of him, shoving part of a sleeve in his mouth. “No. Absolutely not. Free me before you say another word.”

For the last few weeks, Reece had made it a game to try to propose in the weirdest situations possible. He’d already convinced me to move to Boston with him after graduation, not that it took much effort since I’d been in a post-sex stupor at the time—and the alternative was moving back in with my mother. She’d love having both her girls married off, but I wasn’t in a hurry to follow in my sister’s footsteps.

Getting my nose pierced last week had been the last item on my bucket list. I wanted to see what new adventures I could find in Boston before going down that particular path. Besides, I may have been sloughing off my good girl tendencies, but part of me still wanted a story to tell my grandkids that didn’t start with light bondage.

Reece spit out the material and carefully tried to detach my face jewelry from the hem of my sleep shirt. “How did you even get it this caught?”

“I have no idea,” I muttered, sucking in a breath when a small jerk sent pain shooting into my sinuses.

“Sorry,” he said, extricating himself from my mess. “I’m going to have to cut it. Do we have scissors somewhere?”

“I have manicure scissors in the left-hand drawer in the bathroom.”

Boo meowed from somewhere near the door, probably wondering why Reece was heading away from the kitchen when I’d just mentioned breakfast. “You’re confusing the cat.”

“Bullshit,” he yelled from the bathroom. “That cat is smarter than me. The only edge I have over him is opposable thumbs.”

Reece returned with my tiny scissors and quickly cut the threads holding me in place before stepping back. I gingerly removed the shirt with a sigh of relief, checking to make sure the little stud was still in place. When I turned, Reece knelt in front of me with a gorgeous diamond ring sitting in his open palm.

“Kenzie, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’m including the time I bounced a puck off Tucker Willis’ face to score the game-winning shot. I love you. I’m willing to wait as long as you need to make it official, but I want my ring on your finger when you walk across that stage later today. We’re starting a new part of our lives, and I want to do it with you. All the way with you. Marry me?”

Tears gathered and I sniffled, immediately regretting the decision when my poor nostril twinged. “Yes, but I’m telling everyone you waited until I wasn’t topless to ask.”

He put the ring on my finger, then surged up and gathered me in his arms with a possessive kiss. Heat ignited a wildfire in my blood as he backed me to the bed, but I stopped him with a hand on his chest. Despite being half-naked already, we didn’t have time for a second round.

“Everyone is waiting for us.”

Reece snorted. “They knew what they were getting into when they ordered the limo. I can have you writhing on my tongue with plenty of time left to do your hair.”

I licked my lips as my inner muscles clenched. “Challenge accepted.”

“Good girl,” he growled, sliding my shorts off.

He kept his word, and less than thirty minutes later, I curled my hair in a boneless euphoric state with my engagement ring shining at me in the bathroom light. In a matter of absolute unfairness, Reece got ready before I’d done half my head and stood leaning against the doorframe watching me with hooded eyes.

“What?” I asked, careful not to add a burn mark to my current facial injuries with my last curl.

“Your hair looks perfect, and I can’t wait to mess up all that perfect later. Let’s go tell everyone downstairs.” Boo meowed, and he nodded at the cat. “And feed the monster.”

“Are you absolutely sure you want to do this now?” I knew his answer, but I couldn’t help asking one last time.

“What’s a little more chaos? Plus, now we can celebrate while everyone is in town together.”

A crash came from downstairs, followed by barking and indignant quacks. Reece dropped his forehead to mine with a laugh. “Or we could elope and avoid the circus.”

I seriously considered it for a few seconds, but several people in our lives would murder me. Not to mention the revenge Eva would enact for not letting her help plan an event with an unlimited budget.

Under it all though, I wanted this group of people to share in my joy.

“Nah, let’s be dramatic. We’ll all be going our separate ways soon.”

Reece nodded, sobering a bit, and I wondered if I’d put my foot in my mouth.

“Are you nervous about leaving them?”

He shook his head with a smile. “I’ll miss these guys, but I couldn’t live without you.”

I framed his face and gave him a soft kiss. “I love you, and I can’t wait to see what else you convince me to do in the next couple of decades.”

“I have some ideas, but first, graduation and queso burgers.”

I perked up at the mention of queso. “Johnny’s isn’t open today.”

“I may have bribed him to come cater a special event at our house after the ceremony. Nothing is too much for you, wifey.”

I laughed as he led me downstairs to the raucous cheering of our friends, who apparently already knew Reece’s plan. Boo tackled Henry at the base of the stairs, causing all of the animals to run in different directions, and I couldn’t imagine a better way to embrace the future than with the craziness around me and the man at my side.