“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispers, lifting her hand to my jaw. My eyes close and my forehead drops to rest against hers as my arms tighten around her, the thought of losing her too much for me to handle.

“Marry me.”

The words are out before I can catch them, but now that I’ve said them out loud, I know that’s exactly what I want. I want her to be my wife. I want to wake up with her every morning and go to bed with her every night. I want to spend the rest of my life making her happy.

“What?” she breathes.

I pull back to look into her eyes, and repeat, “Marry me.”

“We—”

“I don’t care how long we’ve been together,” I cut her off, knowing exactly what she was going to say. “I know I want a life with you. I know now, just like I knew the moment I met you, that you were made for me.”

“Sage.” Her eyes close and her head shakes.

“Just say yes. I won’t give up until you say yes.”

“You’re serious.” She opens her eyes, studying mine, and I hold her gaze letting her see the truth there.

“Never been more serious about anything in my life.”

“I’m not dying. I’m sick, but I have a long life ahead of me,” she says softly, and I pull her closer.

“Then say you’ll live your long life with me,” I urge, and her bottom lip goes between her teeth. “I love you, Kimberly, from the moment we met, and since then, I’ve fallen deeper in love with you. Tell me you don’t feel the same. Tell me from the second we met you haven’t felt this pull between us, like our lives have always been intertwined in some way. Tell me we’re not meant to be together.”

“I…” She swallows, closing her eyes. “I love you, too. I just… I don’t want you to want to marry me or to be with me just because you think my time is limited.”

“Everyone’s time is limited, baby,” I say, gently taking her face in my hands. “No one knows when their time on earth will come to an end. I could die tomorrow, but if that happens, I want to know I died meaning something to you.”

“You mean everything to me.”

“Then tell me you’ll marry me.”

“God, you are really serious. You’re crazy.”

“Say you’ll marry me, Kimberly. Tell me you’ll be my wife.”

“I’m not getting married in Vegas or at the courthouse,” she whispers, and my heart leaps in my chest.

Taking her mouth once more, I roll her to her back and pull away slightly to look down at her. “Is that a yes?”

“God, I’m seriously as crazy as you are.” She closes her eyes then opens them back up, wrapping her hand around the side of my neck. “Yes.”

“Thank fuck.” I kiss her deeply but pull back before things can get out of hand. “Your parents are down the hall,” I remind her quietly when she looks up at me disappointedly, and then her eyes close.

“Right.” She swallows, lying back on the bed. I curl her into my side, noticing the early morning sun filtering in through the closed blinds. Running my fingers down her side, I smile as she cuddles deeper into my chest. “I have a request,” she says quietly, and my hand pauses on her hip.

“What is it?”

“Next time you’re mad at me, can you take time to cool down before we talk? You…” She pauses then moves, getting up on an elbow to look at me. “That’s the second time you’ve gotten mad at me and flipped out without giving me a chance to explain.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” I reply, hating that she’s right.

“Me, too.” She shrugs, running her fingers across jaw. “I hate that I didn’t tell you before and you had to find out the way you did.”

“It’s done. We’re moving on.”

“Yeah,” she agrees, resting her head back against my pec. “Your mom and mine are going to fight like crazy. You know that, right?” she asks, breaking into the quiet after a few minutes.

“Why?” I dip my head down to look at her, and she tips hers back to meet my gaze.

“My mom has been secretly planning my wedding since I was sixteen when she took me prom dress shopping at a bridal shop. Judging by the way your mom acted at dinner, she is the same way, or she’s got ideas of how she wants things to be.”

“We’ll go to Vegas and make it easy on them.”

“I already said I’m not going to Vegas.”

“I’m not giving up on the idea. How long do you think it will take you to plan this wedding anyway?”

“It will be our wedding,” she mutters, tweaking my nipple, and I clamp my hand over hers, feeling her cheek move as she smiles. “I don’t know how long it will take. Probably a year or so.”

“Pardon?”

“A year, maybe a little longer,” she reiterates, looking at me.

“I’m not waiting a fucking year to marry you.”

“We’ll see.”

Rolling to my side, I get up on an elbow and look down at her. “I’m not waiting a year,” I repeat.

“I want my mom and dad to have this. It’s important to me that they get these times with me. I’m it for them. There are no other kids for them to marry off. I know my dad will want to walk me down the aisle, and my mom will want to help me find a dress and plan the wedding.”

She’s right; it’s only her. I have five brothers and sisters. If I don’t have a wedding, my parents will be able to get that from one of my siblings. But for Kim’s parents, it’s only her, and as much as I want her to be tied to me, I want her to be happy and her parents to be able to share that with her. They deserve that, and so does she.

“All right,” I agree reluctantly, and her face softens. “I’ll try to be patient, but I can’t make any promises.”

“Thank you.” She leans up, brushing her mouth against mine, and then that brush turns into her whimpering into my mouth as her tongue toys with mine and my hand finds her breast.

“We’re staying in a hotel tonight,” I growl as soon as I pull my mouth from hers.

“What?” She blinks her eyes open to look at me.

“I can’t make love to you here, and I really want to make love to you,” I say, pressing my hard-on into her hip, and her mouth forms a soft O. “Exactly. So tonight, we’ll stay in a hotel. That way I can take you whenever and however I want.”

“Okay,” she concurs, then she yawns and I follow hers with one of my own.

“But right now, let’s sleep,” I say quietly, moving her back into my arms.

She tucks her body down my side with her head in the crook of my arm, and I listen to her yawn again right before her quiet snoring fills the room. Smiling at the sound, I kiss the top of her head then lie here until long after she’s fallen asleep, thinking, Fucking finally.

Chapter 14

Sage

SITTING ON THE side of the bed, I rub my hands down my face then turn and let my eyes wander over Kim when she shifts behind me. Carefully sliding a piece of hair off her forehead behind her ear, my heart squeezes in my chest when she moves toward my touch, even in sleep.

Last night, we didn’t talk about her illness. Honestly, I’m scared as fuck to find out what it all means. The idea of losing her isn’t something I want to even consider, but I need to know what’s in store for her and for us. Meaning: I’m going to have to get over my shit and talk to her about it. I know she said she has a long life ahead of her, but what will that life entail?

Pulling in a deep breath, I stand from the bed and grab my duffle from the floor on the way to the bathroom attached to the room. I close the door quietly behind me and open my bag to put on a pair of shorts and a tee then quickly take care of business, brushing my teeth before leaving the bedroom. Stepping out into the hall, I walk slowly toward the kitchen. I didn’t get a good look at the house last night when I came in. Even when I went out to get my bag, I did it quickly, but seeing it now, I can tell both Don and Pattie are proud of their daughter.

Covering the wall in the hallway are pictures of Kim and her parents, Kim with family and friends, and others with just Kim by herself. I stop to look at one of them more closely and smile. Kim looks like she’s probably ten years old, and she’s smiling so brightly I can actually feel her happiness through the picture. Leaning in to get a better look at the grainy black-and-white image, I notice the older woman in the photo with her isn’t kissing her cheek like I thought she was. She’s whispering in Kim’s ear as Kim stirs something in a mixing bowl.