Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
“Fine,” he grumbled, going back to his show.
Before Nova could invite anyone else, I grabbed her bag off the floor and ushered her outside.
“What’s the rush?” she asked, frowning as I led her to my truck. At some point, one of the prospects had brought Ash’s car over to my place, but Nova’s was still back at the trailer. Clothes and toiletries had been gathered and paperwork was secured from Samson’s safe by a couple of the old ladies, but none of Nova’s family had been back there yet. They weren’t ready and I couldn’t blame them. I didn’t want to step foot in that trailer ever again and I’d only seen the aftermath.
“You realize we haven’t been alone in months?” I asked conversationally as I helped her into the truck. “Months.”
She waited until I was in the truck to respond. “We’re together every second you’re not at work. I think this is more time than we’ve ever spent together.”
“Yes,” I muttered. “But there’s always other people around.”
“So?”
I glared at her as we backed out of the driveway.
“I’m just saying,” she said with a laugh. “It seems like you’d be sick of me by now.”
“I’m not going to get sick of you.”
“Never say never.”
“I could walk around all day with you sharing a pair of pants and I still wouldn’t be sick of you.”
“Like, both of us in one pair of pants?” she asked dubiously.
“Yes.”
“How would that work exactly?”
“Well, you’d obviously be in the front.”
“Oh, obviously.”
“You’re deliberately missing the point.”
“I’m not even sure there was a point.”
“I’m not going to get sick of you.”
“Oh, right.”
We were quiet as I picked a back road that I knew wouldn’t be busy and started driving. Nova rolled down the window and closed her eyes, letting the wind blow in her face and make her hair crazy. Fuck, she was beautiful.
“I’ve been thinkin’,” I said cautiously, glancing at her as we drove.
“That sounds ominous,” she replied, her eyes still closed.
I’d been thinking about it for days and I hadn’t had a single moment to talk to Nova, but now that I had the opportunity, my stomach was in knots. I knew broaching the subject was only get harder the longer I waited, though. Instead of saying what I’d meant to say and outlining all of my reasons, I just blurted it out.
“I want to get married.”
My delivery could’ve been better.
“You what?” she practically shouted, her eyes flying open.
“I want to get married.”
Of all the ways I’d anticipated Nova reacting—and there had been many—I hadn’t prepared for her to start laughing. Hysterically.
“I’m not jokin’,” I said, making her laugh even harder.
“Sure.” She giggled. “Keep driving. We’ll get to Vegas eventually.”
“Why are you laughing? Stop laughing.”
“Rumi, you’re the best,” she said, her laughter coming to an end with a sigh.
“I’m not fuckin’ jokin’,” I said again, getting irritated.
“Whoa,” she muttered, sitting up straight in her seat as I pulled off onto an old forest road and put the truck in park.
“I want to get married,” I said again, almost angrily.
Nova blinked at me.
“Say something.”
“I’m drawing a blank,” she drawled.
“It’s a yes or no question.”
“I didn’t hear a question in there,” she said, her voice softer. “You didn’t ask me a question.”
“I’m asking you to marry me, and you’re givin’ me shit?”
“Where is this coming from, Rum?” she asked in confusion, staring at me like I’d grown an extra head and it wasn’t particularly attractive.
“It’s comin’ from me to you, Nova, the love of my fuckin’ life.”
“Oh, now I’m the love of your life?”
“You’ve always been the love of my life!”
“Funny,” she said, tilting her head. “Because I remember not too long ago when you didn’t even want to be in a relationship with me. Being boyfriend and girlfriend was too much and now you want to get married?”
“I was bein’ an idiot.”
“And that’s different from right now… how?”
Embarrassment made the back of my neck and the tips of my ears burn as she stared at me in disbelief. I’d gone about it all wrong. I knew the proposal was probably coming out of left field. It was just that we hadn’t had any privacy to fix things between us. We’d gone from best friends to lovers to nothing to best friends again and while we were sleeping in the same bed and openly affectionate—more affectionate than we’d been before we started having sex—we still hadn’t gotten back to the lovers part.
“I talked to the lawyer—”
“Nana’s lawyer?”
“The family law attorney. Bird’s lawyer,” I clarified. “And she said that we’d have a better chance keepin’ Bird with us if we were married.”
“Oh, she just threw that information out there, did she?”
“No,” I ground out, the sarcasm pushing on my last nerve. “I asked her.”
“You asked if we’d look better in court if we were married? Why would you do that?”