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CARTER

Finn matches my pace step for step as we jog through the trail on the coast of Emberleigh.

It’s been almost a year to the day since Finn and I met at Temptations, wrecking everything I thought I wanted for myself and out of life.

He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and as cliché as it is, I can’t imagine my life without him.

The last year has been the best of my life.

My family loves him, and we all joke that Finn’s taken my mom’s favorite son position from Dallas.

He lives for Sunday dinners over there, and no matter how hard I try to convince him to skip some weeks with me, he will drag me there against my will—even if I am only protesting because I like to rile him up.

Finn has worked tirelessly to build his travel blog, and just like I knew it would, it took off.

His first article? Aspen Ridge and the Aspen Ridge Distillery.

It boosted business, especially the event side.

It was exactly what my family was hoping for, and we’re so grateful to Finn.

People know his name, and his writing speaks for itself.

It proved to him that it was never about the Northwest Explorer or his dad, or hell, even the Nash name; it was about him.

He writes with passion and love, and it bleeds through in his words.

Watching him shine has been one of the highlights of my life and I feel like one lucky sonofabitch that I get to be by his side as he continues to grow.

After Finn planned his first weekend-long trip to Alaska last fall, I knew I couldn’t be away from him.

Lucky for me, most of my job can be handled remotely, and while it’s taken some growing pains on my family’s part to let me breathe a little, traveling with Finn while he does what he loves, watching him shine when he meets new people, and being able to continue to work with my family for the distillery has been the perfect situation for us.

I didn’t realize how much I wanted to get out and explore until our Maine trip, and I’ve loved everything about all the places we’ve seen so far.

We’re building our life together and it’s goddamn perfect with him by my side.

We came back to Emberleigh on my request, to revisit the place where I fell in love with him. We rented a tiny little studio on the beach, and it’s perfect for the weekend.

Jogging over the same path we did last year, when I was still so lost and confused but couldn’t fight the pull to him, is so surreal.

It feels like a lifetime ago that he blackmailed me into going to Maine with him and I let myself imagine just for a moment what it would be like to occupy my small house just the two of us, to walk through downtown Aspen Ridge together holding hands, to run every morning together, to build a life that we both want.

Now, we’re living it. Finn opened my eyes to an entirely new world, and I’ve waited long enough to ask him to start the next chapter with me. Because I can’t wait any longer.

“You up for some surfing today?” he asks me, breaking me from my thoughts.

Sweat glistens on his perfect body, the sun hitting him just right.

He’s gotten more muscular this year, having taken up weightlifting with my brother Liam, and while he’s always looked good to me, I’m enjoying his current physique.

He looks over at me as we run side by side, and his face reflects so much damn love that I nearly melt on the spot. Fuck it.

“Baby, I can’t wait any longer, I’m sorry. I had such an incredible night planned, but you know me, once I make a decision, I’m all in.”

Finn comes to a halt, looking at me with quizzical concern. It’s not until I drop to my knee, in the center of downtown, with people walking around and going about their lives, that his eyes go wide.

“Finn, I thought I never wanted to give another person the power to wreck me, until you came along. You broke down all my walls and showed me how perfect love can be when you hand over that trust. You’ve stolen my heart, and there’s no way I’ll ever get it back.

I trust you with it. I love you with every fiber of my being.

My life stops and ends with you. I will choose you again and again, in this life and the next.

You’re my person in all things, and I can’t wait another minute without asking you to be my husband. Please, marry me, baby.”

Finn drops to his knees in front of me, grabbing my face between his palms and slowly, methodically, kissing me. And with every brush of his lips, every lash of his tongue, I know his answer.

“Yes.”