FULL NOVELXO A Drop of Pretty Poison: Chapter 16
I’ve never been a nervous person. The confidence I’ve possessed has become a well-known staple in my reputation. Some might choose to call it cockiness instead, and I once heard Mali refer to it as big dick energy, but it’s all the same thing. I’m not the kind of guy who shies away from a challenge or backs down from what he wants—apart from when I bitched out about telling Cam about Laiken and me that one day.
But right now, I’ve never been more anxious.
The day my dad left, I told myself that happily ever afters don’t exist. That fairy tales are for books, and no one ever really loves someone more than they love themselves. And for years, all that has been true for me. I never found someone that made me second guess what I believed—until Laiken.
In just a few months, she’s proven me wrong at every turn and shown me things completely different from what I thought I knew. With her, I have a relationship that is just as much about friendship as it is being in love. I have a person that doesn’t only make my day better but makes me look forward to every day after it. I have someone who has taught me what it feels like to care about another person more than I could ever care about myself.
My other half.
My favorite person.
My once-in-a-lifetime kind of love.
So, as I walk out with a little velvet box bulging from my pocket, there isn’t a doubt in my mind that it was always going to come to this.
I STAND IN THE mirror, putting more effort into my hair than I have in months. The thought of wearing a suit passed through my mind for a second, but I decided against it. I can still look good without making her feel underdressed.
My heart feels like a damn hummingbird inside my chest, beating a million times a minute. I could take a shot to calm my nerves, but I don’t want to. I want to feel every second of it. After all, I’m hoping this is a one and done.
Headlights shine through the windows and into the house as Laiken pulls into the driveway, and I know it’s time. Everything that’s running through my mind intensifies—red lights and warning sirens from the part of me that wants to run. But I’m not going anywhere. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not ever.
Taking a shaky, deep breath, I let it out slowly and then head downstairs. Everything looks perfect, with lit candles all over the first floor of the house, a bottle of wine in an ice bucket with a couple of glasses on the table, and the most important question I’ve ever asked spelled out in rose petals on the floor. I just hope it’s enough.
As I hear her step up onto the porch, I know that this is it. This is the moment that I lay it all on the line. I’m handing over my heart, my whole heart, for Laiken to do whatever she wants with. And regardless of the outcome, I know I’m never going to get it back.
The door opens and Laiken walks in, freezing as soon as she sees the scene in front of her. I’m honestly not sure I’m breathing at all as she drops her bag and looks around. Finally, her eyes land on me, but I can’t seem to get a read on them.
“Did you hit your head recently?” she asks.
I chuckle because I expected this. “No.”
“Drugs?”
Taking a step toward her, I shake my head slowly. “Nope.”
“Some kind of fucked-up dare where the guys are going to jump out and say I’ve been Punk’d, like you all used to do a few years ago?”
My grin widens as I pull the ring box from my pocket and open it in front of her. All of the air leaves her lungs in one breath and she stares at the gorgeous diamond in disbelief.
“You’re seriously proposing to me right now?”
Yes. “You say that like it’s such an outrageous concept.”
She looks a little skeptical. “Not outrageous, just not like you.”
Her words instantly make me wonder if I haven’t done nearly enough to prove to her how much she means to me. How important she is.
“What do you mean?” I ask nervously.
“Hayes,” she sighs. “It took you until a month ago just to say I love you.”
I huff out a laugh. “Yeah, because I’m a pussy. Not because I haven’t been completely fucking gone for you from the start.”
The way she smiles gives me a little hope. “I just don’t want you to feel like you need to rush into this. I’m not going anywhere. Okay? Just because I can’t live with you right now doesn’t mean I’m not going to be here every day.”
“No,” I say, cutting her off from saying anything else. “Let me make something very clear here, because I’m not sure you fully understand.”
Taking a step closer, I rest my arms on her shoulders and stare into her eyes—really making sure she’s listening to every word coming out of my mouth.
“You’re it for me, Laiken. I don’t care if it’s been a few months or thirty goddamn years. That isn’t going to change. So, you can say no and we can play the long game if that’s what you want. We can take it slow. But I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving you, regardless.” A single tear slides down her cheek and I gently wipe it away. “This isn’t me trying to rush into something to get my way. This is me acting on what I want with absolute certainty that it’s the right move—because you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I don’t need to wait in order to know that you’re the one I want to grow old with.”
Her bottom lip quivers, and her gaze doesn’t leave mine as she swats away each tear that slips out. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I question, hope swelling inside my chest.
She nods and a smile spreads over her face. “Okay. Ask me.”
My heart jolts, nearly lunging from my chest and throwing itself at her feet. The future is always a crapshoot. There’s no way of knowing what will happen. But the one thing I do know is that this woman will forever be the one for me. There will never be a time where I don’t love her with everything I have.
I grin, trying not to tear up myself as I drop down onto one knee in front of her. She giggles as she cries happily and watches as I open the box once more.
“Laiken Rose,” I say, looking up at her and almost swaying from the intensity of my feelings for her. “If I’ve learned anything over the last few months, it’s that this life isn’t worth living if I don’t have you by my side. I’m already the luckiest man in the world for getting any time with you at all, but I’m greedy and I want every second you have to give. So, for the love of God, marry me, because anything less than forever with you just isn’t enough for me.”
She’s a mess by the end of it, letting the tears drip from her face and onto her shirt, but she’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And when she manages to nod up and down, I know this image is going to be burned into my mind until the end of time.
“Yes?” I double-check.
She nods. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
I have heard a lot of amazing things in my life, but the sound of those words coming out of her mouth easily takes the top spot. With one sentence, she makes me the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. I stand up and wrap my arms around her, kissing her with every possible thing I’ve got.
She’s been my best friend’s sister, my only secret, and my girlfriend. Now, she’s my fiancée. And I can’t fucking wait for the day where she becomes my wife.
Pulling the ring out of the box, the two of us are all happiness and smiles as I slide it onto her finger. Just seeing it there, knowing she’s mine, it does things to me. It sets me on fire and makes me feel safe all at once.
She fucking said yes.
The two of us stare at it, seeing how perfect it looks on her finger, and when she looks up at me, I somehow manage to fall a little harder.
“I love you, so much,” she tells me.
I exhale with a smile. “I love you more.”
And as I cover her mouth with my own and pull her into me, I plan on showing her just how much I mean those words.
I LIE ON MY side, propping myself up on my elbow and resting my head in my hands. I can’t look away from my new fiancée—though I wouldn’t even if I could. I’m too busy admiring just how beautiful she really is. Her chest rises and falls as she waits for her breathing to calm. Her lips are a deep red and a little swollen from all of the kissing. And the mark I left just below her right breast speaks straight to the part of me that wants to scream from the rooftops that she’s mine.
Her hair is splayed out on the floor, and I reach up to pull a rose petal out of it. She giggles, taking it from me and blowing it away.
“You’ve really turned into one hell of a romantic,” she teases.
I chuckle and dip down to kiss her once more. “Tell anyone and I’ll say you’re full of shit. My reputation has no room for a Sappy Fucker title.”
“Okay, totally changing your name in my phone to Sappy Fucker now,” she jokes. “But no, I won’t be telling anyone. Are you kidding? All the girls that try hitting on you are only looking for a hookup because they’re convinced that you’re not boyfriend material. No way in hell am I correcting that. They’ll break our damn door down.”
There’s only one part of what she just said that has all of my attention. “Our door? I like the sound of that.”
She bites her lip as she smiles. “Me too.”
My hand rests on her stomach, my thumb moving back and forth across her skin. “God, I can’t believe I’m marrying you.”
“How are we going to do it?” she asks. “I don’t think either of us has the patience for a long engagement.”
I shake my head. “Definitely not. I want you to be my wife as soon as humanly possible. I want you where you belong—infiltrating all of my space and sleeping beside me every night.”
That makes her smile just a little brighter. “So, courthouse in the morning? A flight to Vegas within the next couple days to elope?”
It’s tempting, honestly. There’s no doubt I’m about to walk us right into a shitshow. But I don’t want her to think that I’m trying to hide her, or us, or what she means to me. Not anymore.
“No,” I tell her. “I respect both of our mothers way too much to do that to them.”
Laiken’s brows furrow. “Okay…what are you thinking instead?”
“I’m thinking I want to marry you in front of the ones we love. Nothing crazy. Just you, me, and the most important people in our lives. And that includes your parents.”
Realization crosses her face, and she nods. “Ah, so this is a suicide mission. Got it. I’m clued in now.”
My eyes roll playfully and I tickle her side, sending her into a fit of giggles.
Whatever we have to deal with, it’ll be worth it.