Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 125213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“Mia.”
“This is it. This is going to ruin everything. My album, my tour, my career.” That pressure was back in my chest, stronger than ever. “It’s over. It’s all over.”
My phone was still buzzing in Aleks’s pocket, and he cursed, fishing it out before his lips pulled to the side. He showed me the screen. “It’s Bella.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t face her — not yet.
Aleks didn’t question me or point out the very obvious fact that I one-hundred percent should be speaking with my publicist right now. He just declined the call and walked over to his couch, shoving my phone between the cushions before he returned to me.
His hands slid to frame my face, thumbs against my jaw, fingers curling in my hair.
“The Internet is ablaze. All the magazines, the news outlets, the talk shows. The fans… they… God, they’ll be furious with me.” Tears slid hot down my cheeks until they hit Aleks’s skin. “Austin and Garrett won. They got what they wanted. This is it for me.”
That made Aleks’s jaw click, and he tightened his grip on me, waiting until my eyes found his before he spoke.
“They didn’t win.”
“Aleks, did you see the headlines?”
“I did.”
“Then how can you possibly—”
“I know how we can shut them all up. I know how we can prove their story wrong.”
I blinked at him, over and over, frowning as I tried to think of what solution he had come up with because I didn’t see a damn thing as an option. They weren’t wrong — we had lied to everyone. “How?”
Aleks swallowed, his eyes flicking back and forth between mine like he was trying to think of something, like he wanted to have the answer, but also knew there wasn’t one.
I knew it.
He didn’t have an idea because there was no idea to be had. There was no way to save this. I’d dug myself into this massive black hole and now I’d be buried alive in it.
I opened my mouth to tell him that, but stopped short when he slid his hands down to grab mine. He kept his eyes on me for a long moment before his gaze dropped to where he held me. He brought my knuckles to his lips, kissing each one.
Then, he slipped the fake engagement ring he’d given me off my finger.
And he dropped to his knee.
“Aleks,” I warned, my heart racing again but for a completely different reason.
“Marry me, Strings.”
He sang the words like the sweetest song, each syllable tickling my ears like the perfect string of notes. One hand held mine, the other held the ring, and his gaze was steady and sure, his beautiful, dark eyes watching me and waiting for an answer.
“I… I don’t understand.”
“Marry me,” he repeated. “Not for show, not for some stunt. For real.”
My mouth was dry, hand trembling where he held me. “I… we can’t. They’ll know. They’ll know it’s fake.”
“No, they won’t.”
“They’ll think we’re just doing it to save our asses.”
“They won’t, Mia,” he assured me, squeezing my hand. “Because there’s nothing fake about the way I love you.”
I couldn’t contain the small gasp those three words wrenched from me. I covered my mouth with a shaking hand, brows folding together.
“You heard me,” he said, as if he could read my mind, as if he could sense the disbelief rushing through me. “I love you, Mia. I’ve loved you for years. I loved you when you slept down the hall from me and when you rested your head a thousand miles away. I loved you when you weren’t mine to love, and I love you still. It’s not fake. It never has been.”
He looked down only long enough to place the ring at my fingertip, and then his eyes were on me again, waiting for permission.
“I meant every word I said on that yacht. I’ve meant every touch, every kiss. There’s nothing I want more in this world than for you to wear this ring, for it to mean you belong to me and I belong to you.” He swallowed, his voice cracking a bit when he added, “For you to be my wife.”
Fresh tears swelled in my eyes, blurring the beautiful image of this man on his knees for me.
“But only if you want this, too,” he added quickly. “If you let me have you, all of you… I’ll be everything I can be for you. I’ll be the best of myself, the version of me you’ve always seen under the dirt and grime. I can’t promise I’ll be everything you deserve, or that I’ll be the best man you’ve ever been with. But I can promise you that you’ll never know a day in this life without fierce, protective love. I can promise that I will care for you, put your dreams first, put you first in every way. I’ll never try to contain you. I’ll never try to change you. I’ll always be right here, by your side, to cheer you on or push you to be better or hold you when you need to fall apart.”