Page 122 of The Men of Summer Collection

The ring is safely in my wallet as I bound up the path to the porch. I’ll pop inside and ask for a minute alone. I can’t wait any longer to tell Declan, not even through peach pie and whipped cream.

This is mission-critical.

Like I’m running out a double to the right field corner, I race up the steps.

All focus.

All speed.

Before I hit the top step, the door creaks open, and I lock eyes with Declan. He shuts the door, I stop on the porch, and holy hell, it’s like looking in a mirror.

His brown eyes are full of determination. Purpose. Passion. “I want to talk to you. Just you,” Declan says.

I have a feeling what he’s going to say. I shake my head, hold up a stop-sign hand. “No. I have to talk to you.” No matter what, I’m batting first.

I can’t let him think there is a single deal-breaker for me with him. Ever.

There isn’t.

Not. One.

When you find the one you love, nothing should stop you from being together.

Even if the other person isn’t sure about having a family.

Even if you never do have kids.

If my immediate family is only Declan, I’m so good with that. Family means so many things, but it means this first—him.

“Okay,” he says with a curious laugh.

I grab his hand and tug him with me as I sit on the top step and face him, gripping his fingers tight.

What I have to say now is more important than asking him to marry me in a few more days.

This is why I want to ask him to marry me.

A shudder rolls over me, but it’s not from nerves. It’s from the intensity of my feelings for him. “I’m all in with you, Declan,” I say, holding his hand tight. “No matter what. I love you more than anything. If you decide you don’t want kids, I am fine with that. I want a family, but I need you to be happy. There is no deal-breaker for me. Not a one.” I link fingers even tighter with him, and his eyes shine with joy. “You’re the one I can’t live without. You’re my family. You’re enough, and you will always be enough.”

Saying that was hard and easy at the same time.

But necessary.

Whatever he has to tell me, I had to say that first.

With Declan, all times are the right time, no matter who else comes into our life.

Declan Steele is what I see when I look down the road at the rest of my life.