Page 47 of Nostalgia

I rolled my eyes and Derek laughed. “Tell your dick of a brother I’m gonna come and fight him when I get back.”

Kota laughed from his kitchen. “We’ll see about that!”

They would probably always remain rivals, but it was friendly banter and honestly, I loved it. They loved each other in their own ways.

“Missed home?” Derek’s voice came through the speaker.

“Missing you,” Emotions flooded my body. It had been a week since we had spoken last.

“Yeah? I thought for sure you were getting tired of all the calls.” He chuckled and I heard someone in the background say something crude. Apparently, everyone was tired of how often he called me. I wished he would aim the phone at them so I could stick my tongue out.

“I will never get tired of you.” And I knew that this was my moment. Now or never to tell him what I had been thinking about since he left. I swallowed back every fear and said, “I want to marry you Derek Mule, so you better be ready when you get home.”

He grinned that mega-watt smile and I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to hold him and never let go. “My spitfire is ready to settle down?”

All I could hear in the background was cheers. At one point I had thought my heart was beyond repair. There were so many tiny shards and pieces but somehow, Derek had found every single chunk and splinter and put it all back together. He made me whole again.