Summer
Jay
We’d been on the road for a few days now, and it hadn’t taken us long for us to encounter our first problem. My car decided that it would break down for the first time ever. Now. When we were finally on our long-awaited road trip.
Thankfully, there was a garage nearby that was able to take a look at my car. Ash also saw that there was a circus in town, and insisted that it had to be fate. So we’d spent the rest of the day gorging on greasy food and laughing so hard while we waited for my car to be fixed.
We’d left the circus with a charcoal portrait and faces stretched wide from all the smiling we’d done today.
Ash took my hand as he walked closer to me. “What do you say, darlin’? Was the circus another one of my great ideas?” He grinned and pressed a soft kiss to the back of my hand.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said with a roll of my eyes as we continued down the road. The garage wasn’t far, so we decided to walk back. It was a nice California evening, not too hot, and very different compared to the scorching summers I was used to in Texas. And that was the beauty of this entire trip.
New weather, new sights, new experiences. I was absorbing every single thing we’d encountered, and I was loving every single moment of it—even the car breaking down. Well, not the car malfunctioning exactly, but where that little blimp in our road trip had taken us.
I couldn’t even remember why I’d been so afraid of disappointment at traveling. Sure, going on a stateside road trip was nothing compared to traveling the world, but it was a first step at getting me out of Texas and out of my comfort zone. And it was all thanks to Ash giving me the confidence to take this first step.
My steps paused, and Ash turned around to shoot me a questioning gaze. “Thank you,” I said seriously. Who knew what would have happened if Ash hadn’t returned back into my life—maybe I would have eventually ventured out of the state I’d grown-up and lived all my life—but it wouldn’t have been the same. I wouldn’t be having nearly as fun without Ash with me.
“Are you thanking me for insisting we get the fried bacon? ‘Cuz I’m thanking myself for that, too. Best thing I’d ever eaten,” he said, rubbing his belly. “Thank god I don’t have to worry about maintaining my figure anymore.” He froze and furrowed his brows before giving me a dejected expression. “Will you still love me even if I lose all my muscles?”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you going to ask me if I’ll still love you if you turn into a worm next?”
“I’d like the answer to both please.” Ash shot me his puppy-dog eyes.
“You’re so silly. My silly Ashy,” I whispered, taking a step closer till we were chest-to-chest without a single inch of space between us. “If you turn into a worm, I’ll scour the Earth for the best dirt to feed you—or whatever the hell worms eat—and order a tiny pillow to place on my nightstand for you. But if you lose these muscles…” I traced a finger down his firm biceps. His eyes followed my actions, his brows furrowed tighter.
“Maybe then your hard-as-rock arms will actually be comfortable to sleep on,” I finished with a grin.
Ash growled and picked me up and spun us around. I laughed and held on tight. When he finally stopped, he didn’t put me down and supported me on my butt instead. I clung to him and pushed back his slightly grown out bangs. He was growing out his hair now that he’d officially retired from the NFL.
“I thought you liked sleeping in my arms,” he grumbled.
I kissed away his frown. “I do. I love sleeping anywhere you are. And I love you always, regardless of your muscle status or any fictional transformations that might overcome you. You’re mine. I remember you saying you’d feed me forever, and I’m holding you to that. In fact, we should get married. Right now.”
My heart thumped double time inside my chest. The thought came out of nowhere, but out here in this foreign place, bathed in the hues of oranges from the sunset, it felt right. This was where I was meant to be, with him.
There was no fear, just excitement for all our future days together.
Ash
I blinked at him, thinking I’d heard wrong. “Sorry, I think I hallucinated. Because I swear you just said we should get married.”
Jay smirked as he watched me. I was still holding him. His long legs wrapped around me, his delicious butt resting in my hands, and his fingers played with the back of my head. Even with all my favorite sensations happening right now, I couldn’t focus on them. I was still stuck on the words I was supposed to bring up.
“What? You’re going back on your words of forever?” he teased. There was no insecurity in his tone, only happiness. I loved how confident he was in our relationship, as he should be.
“Fuck, no. As I said before, forever with you doesn’t sound long enough. But, darlin’, you’re kinda putting me in a tough spot,” I said as I gently placed him on his feet. I took out my wallet from my pocket and pulled out a gold ring. I had the ring box in the car but managed to sneak the ring out while Jay was chatting with the mechanic.
“I’d had this planned for months, so you’ll let me have this moment, won’t you?” I said with a smirk as I fell on one knee, “Darlin’, I think I fell in love with you that day on the bleachers. And god knows I never thought we’d end up here, but I thank my lucky stars we did. I want to spend every day for the rest of our lives together, so will you marry me?”
I only got to see his smile for a split second before he was pulling me up and crashing our mouths together, but the way Jay lit up would be engraved into my memories forever. Even though the proposal wasn’t in a romantic settling like how I’d originally plan—we were on the side of the road for fuck’s sake—but it was still perfect.
When our kiss finally broke, Jay pressed his forehead against mine. Our lips were inches apart as he whispered, “If we drive now, we could probably get to Vegas before the last chapel closes.”
I pulled back from the shock of his words. “And I thought I was supposed to be the one with all the crazy ideas?” I asked with a laugh.
Jay leaned in close again, rubbed our noses together, and laughed. “I guess you rubbed off on me. Besides, I don’t see why I have to wait to call you my husband when I could do it today.”
I looked at him and saw the seriousness in his face. I thought he was joking at first, but I could see now he was one hundred percent for real.
“What about our families? What about Sam? We’re supposed to visit him in a few days,” I said, trying to be the voice of reason, but I was having a hard time finding fault with this plan. Being able to call Jay my husband was a dream come true.
“They’ll get over it, and we’re still visiting Sam. Just as husbands instead of boyfriends,” he said. He held out his left hand to me and made a show of wiggling his ring finger. “Well? Mr. Sanders, what are you waiting for?”
I smile stretched so wide as I slid the gold ring onto his finger before placing a kiss to the back of his hand. “Let’s do this…husband.”
There was a twinkle in his eyes as he spoke, “While I do love the sound of that, you better not think about not calling me your darlin’ anymore.”
“I wouldn’t dare.” I laughed and threaded our fingers together. “You ready?”
“With you, always,” he replied, then pulled me with him as he broke out into a sprint. Our laughter carried in the wind as we hurried back to the car to take us to our future.
We were running to our next adventure together.
Thank you again for reading Jay and Ash. I hoped you enjoyed their final HEA 🙂 If you want more of them, don’t worry, this won’t be the last time you’ll see them. They’ll be making a little appearance in Sam’s book Promised Vow. His book is the first of my brand new small-town series Promises, Promises. Hope to see y’all in Kither Springs!
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Aww they’re so cute