Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91299 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91299 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
I just shake my head at him. Cocky bastard.
Decked out in a cream tailored suit, I dip my head and take in the way the sand feels beneath me. Seagulls call from over our heads. Palm trees wave around us.
I’m far, far from my roots in Mississippi.
I’m here, waiting for her, my heart bursting.
The guys keep murmuring softly next to me, but I tune them out. They think I’m nervous, and maybe a regular guy would be, but I’ve got nothing but clarity inside me. I’ve waited for this day since the moment I stepped onto Charisma’s front porch.
I think back to the five years that have passed. I got an agent after Combine and was drafted high in the second round, a great pick to the New York Jets. Best team I could have gone to with good teammates, plus it kept me close to Charisma and her family. Ryker went to the Giants like he wanted. Maybe one day we’ll end up together on a team, but at least we’re in the same city. Archer ended up being drafted in the third round, but trouble followed him, team infighting and fines for altercations. Last I heard, he was arrested for hitting someone outside a nightclub in Miami. His team immediately placed him on suspension. Karma eventually gets those who deserve it.
When I asked Charisma to let go of the Nashville internship and move with me, she did. It hadn’t been her dream job anyway, and after a year of waiting, she snagged a position in Manhattan and has been there since. She’s so smart. Bright and beautiful, like a flame.
I was tempted half a dozen times over the years to ask her to marry me, but I waited, always watching her, looking to see when she was ready. It wasn’t about fear or not having faith, but about us figuring each other out, learning how to live together. We happened fast, but sometimes love is like that. It slams into you and you might stumble a few times, trying to figure it out, but if it’s real, you’ll make it. You’ll last.
Ma leans over and whispers, “It’s about time. You two living in sin was nearly the death of me. Any plans for babies soon? Charm’s not getting any younger.”
I huff out a laugh at the teasing light in her eyes. The entire family is up here with me, not exactly the traditional thing, and it’s not in a church, but it fits me and Charm.
Her family is mine. Dinners, crazy games, full of laugher and shit—stuff I never had.
And I’m marrying all of them today.
The music starts and we pull our gaze from the ocean to the arch of colorful flowers on the beach.
My breath whooshes out.
How on earth did a girl like that fall in love with a boy like me?
Charisma stands waiting, her arm looped through her dad’s.
Her hair is down and wavy like I like it, her dress strapless and fitted with deep slits up the sides. Huge red heels adorn her feet. I grin. Gonna take those off real slow later.
She waltzes toward me, a confident swagger in those hips. Ah, yeah, she knows I’m hers. Not once in five years has she wavered in her trust. She is mine. I’m hers. Till the day I die.
I don’t think I take a breath until she’s next to me. Pop gives me a nod and steps aside to stand next to Ma.
My aunt and uncle and the girls sit in the front on folding wooden chairs along with some of the guys from the Jets, coaches, Penelope, and several other friends. I glance at the people who raised me. They don’t know what to make of me, I think, this boy turned man who’s moved on and far away. We visit once or twice a year, but things don’t change with them, and that’s cool. They already have their family.
And I have Charm and hers.
She puts her hands in mine, and we stare at each other. Everything else fades away. It always does. I lean in and whisper, “Ma wants grandkids. You in?”
She laughs under her breath, and I join in. I never want to stop laughing with her.
“I want at least five or six,” she murmurs.
“We’ll start tonight.”
The minster finishes up the vows we wrote, speaking of commitment and forever and love, but I’ve tuned them out. I’ve whispered them to her for many nights when we lay in bed and held each other. She knows my heart. Her name is written there.
I slide the silver band onto her finger, the one that matches her huge diamond. On the inside it reads, Fire in my hands.
She slides mine on, the inscription, I see you, always. Such simple words, nothing flowery, but she chose them. I’m worth something to her. I’m it for her.