Naked and pressed up against him, Sydney laughed. “You are ridiculous, but considering Haley packed my bag, for all I know, there’s one in there.”
“She packed you a bag?”
“Yup. She was a busy girl while I was in the shower. Other than singing your praises, she convinced my parents to toss me out and send me your way.”
It was said lightly, but it still kind of bothered him. “I wish I didn’t know that part.”
Pushing herself up, she looked at him. “Why?”
“You wouldn’t be here right now if no one made you. And don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful that you’re here, but…”
“Yeah, I know.” Resting her head on his chest, she sighed. “I wanted to come here even before anyone did anything. I just didn’t know how to do it without it looking like I was ditching Haley.” She groaned. “I didn’t mean it quite like that, but…I’m a responsible person and my place was with her. When my parents showed up, I knew I’d be able to get away, but I just didn’t know when.”
“It’s okay. I get it.”
They lay quietly for several moments. He loved running his hand through her hair as she traced lazy circles on his chest. There was a contentment there that he loved.
“There’s really only one solution to this,” she said, interrupting his thoughts.
“Um…solution to what?”
Sitting up, Sydney smiled down at him. “All of it.”
Resting one arm behind his head, he was still a little clueless. “Yeah, I’m going to need more than that.”
She rolled her eyes even as she laughed softly. Then she reached for his free hand. “Kyle Jones, do you love me?”
“You know I do, Syd. Always.”
“I love you too. I fell in love with you when I was seventeen and too immature to know that relationships take work.”
“I think we were both immature.”
“I know. I get that, but…we’ve lost so much time. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, we had the chance to grow and mature, and I think we’re finally at a point where we know what we want.” She caressed his cheek. “And I want you.”
“You have me,” he replied gruffly. “It’s not a matter of wanting each other. We already know we do. There are just some things we have to work out.”
But she was shaking her head. “No. That’s what I’m trying to say. The solution!”
Sitting up, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought because I’m not following you.”
“I don’t want you to be here and me to be there, Kyle. I want us to be together. You have no idea how many times in the last few weeks I wanted to just talk to you—not over the phone, but face to face. It bothered me every night when you had to go home after we had a great day together. I want us to be partners and…and…” She let out a small growl of frustration. “And it’s not because I want someone to share the load where Haley’s concerned; I want us to share everything. I want to hear about your day and what you’re doing and then talk to you about my day.”
“So you want us to move in together?” he asked, and before she could respond, he went on. “Obviously I’d move in with you because you have more space. I just rent this place so it makes sense for me to move in with you. But I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do in front of Haley. I don’t want to set a bad example.”
Standing, Sydney climbed from the bed and picked up the t-shirt he’d been wearing earlier. She slipped it over her head and she looked sexy as hell in it.
But he had no idea why she put it on.
“Um…Syd?”
“Just…shush.” She said as she seemed to collect her thoughts.
Then she got down on one knee next to the bed.
Holy…shit…
“Kyle Jones, I fell in love with you what feels like a lifetime ago and I never thought we’d ever find ourselves together again. I love you so much that I don’t want to wait any longer to start our lives together. I want it all—a marriage, a home, kids, a dog…everything. And I want it with you. So much of my life has been about either waiting or being put on hold and I don’t want to wait. I want you to marry me. Please.”
Reaching out, he tugged her back onto the bed with him and kissed her until he could barely breathe. And when he finally lifted his head and smiled down at her, he could tell she still wasn’t sure of his response.
“If I could marry you right now, I would,” he told her. “And if Hunter and Violet weren’t getting married this weekend, I’d do it then.” Caressing her cheek, he suggested, “How about the weekend after? Think you can wait that long?”
Her hand raked up into his hair as she nodded. “I don’t want to, but I guess I can wait that long. Besides, I think there are some things we’ll need to plan. Like where we’re going to have the ceremony, what kind of food to serve…
“There’s the pizza we have yet to eat,” he teased, but she wasn’t listening.
“And I’ll need a dress…”
“You could wear this t-shirt because it looks spectacular on you.”
“Not helping…”
His hand skimmed up her outer thigh until it rested on her hip. “Agree to disagree.” Kissing her again, he couldn’t imagine being any happier. Except…
“You realize you stole my thunder, right?”
Her eyes went wide. “Um…”
“My siblings are never going to let me live this down—that you proposed to me.” Smiling down at her, he said, “The only way I can save face is by getting you a spectacular ring and then proposing to you even though you’ve already done it.”
“Kyle…”
“No, no, no…maybe we just keep it between you and me?”
“If it’s that important to you…”
“We can tell your family, but maybe we wait to tell mine until…” He paused and sat up. “Wait right there.”
Walking over to his closet, he pulled the black shoebox that he’d had since high school down from the shelf. Placing it on his dresser, he took the lid off and searched until he found what he was looking for. When he turned to face Sydney, he could see she looked mildly confused.
“Can I ask you something?”
She nodded.
“Why did you put on my shirt?”
Her laugh was quick as she combed her hair behind her ears. “I knew I wanted to propose, but I didn’t want to be naked when I did it.”
“That’s what I thought.” Then he reached for his shorts and pulled them on before he returned to the bed.
“What was in that box?”
“The one over there?”
She nodded.
Then he held out an even smaller black box. “I bought this when we were in Myrtle Beach,” he began solemnly. “I was so nervous and worried about giving it to you, and when I realized how things were going between us, I knew the time wasn’t right.” Then he shrugged. “I was too embarrassed to return it and now I’m glad I didn’t.” Opening the box, he showed her the petite solitaire engagement ring.