Play by Play (Riggings Brothers 0.5)

“Yes.” She’s quick to reply. “Fine. Just tired, I guess,” she says, and I know she’s lying.

Instead of calling her out on it, I let the silence drift between us as I get lost in my thoughts. I realize that I’m terrified that she doesn’t want this, doesn’t want me. I know that it’s soon, but when you know, you know, and if there is anything in this life that’s certain, it’s the way I feel about her. My love for her.

Pulling into my garage, I shut off the engine. She’s staying with me tonight. At least, I hope she still is. “I just need to grab my things from my car. I’ll meet you inside,” she says, reaching for her handle.

“I can wait for you,” I tell her.

“No, really, go on in. That cheesecake needs to be in the fridge,” she says, indicating the to-go box full of dessert in my hands from the restaurant. We were both too full to eat it there, so we brought it home. That’s playing into my hands perfectly if I could just figure out what’s bothering her.

“You sure you don’t need any help?” I ask her.

“Promise.” She stands on her toes and kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll just be a minute.”

Heading into the house, I drop the cheesecake off at the fridge and then rush to the living room. Grabbing the ring box from its spot behind a frame on the mantel. I remove the ring and slide it into my pocket. I knew I wanted it to just be the two of us when I asked her. I had to leave it here so that I wouldn’t change the course of my plan.

“Come here, you.” I hold my arms open for her when she walks into the living room. She doesn’t hesitate to come to me as she wraps her arms around my waist. “Where are your things?” I ask her.

“Oh, I left them in the laundry room. I’ll grab them before we go to bed.”

She usually brings them all the way into the house, and I try not to think too much about it. I’m letting every little action or move stress me the fuck out. I can’t wait any longer. The suspense is killing me.

“Do you know how much I love you?” I ask, peering down at her in my arms.

She nods. “I love you too.” Her voice cracks.

“Sam.” My voice is thick with emotion. “I don’t ever want to know what my life looks like without you in it.”

“It looks like your past.”

I nod. “I only want to look toward the future. I see a wedding, those babies we talked about.” I place my hand over her flat belly, and she bites down on her bottom lip. I can see the emotion welling in her eyes. “I want to watch those babies grow and give them a safe place to thrive. I want to sit on a porch swing and watch our babies’ babies grow. I want all of that and everything in between. I want the good times and the bad times, and I want the love and the laughter. All of it, I want you by my side.” Taking a deep breath, I drop to one knee.

“Wh-What are you doing?” she asks. Her tears are now freely falling from her eyes.

“Samantha Wilson, will you spend your life with me? Will you help me create our future as husband and wife? Will you marry me?” Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the ring and hold it up for her.

“You want to marry me?” she sobs.

“More than anything.”

“I-I need to tell you something.”

A knot forms in my gut. I knew something was off. “Okay.” I can barely speak the word as I climb to my feet and lead us to the couch. “You can tell me anything,” I say, steeling my resolve.

“I’ll be right back.” She stands and takes two steps before turning to look at me. “Don’t move.” With that, she rushes off toward the laundry room.

My hand is sweating from the fist I have around the ring I just offered her. I don’t know what she has to tell me, but nothing could make me change my mind about how I feel about her. Whatever it is, we’re going to work it out. Together.

“I got you something,” she says, holding a small red bag.

“Babe, I thought we said no gifts?” I ask her.

“You just offered me a ring the size of Texas, is that not a gift?”

“No. It’s a promise and a token of how much I love you. Besides, you didn’t take it.”

“I want to, Jase. I just— You need to hear what I have to say before I take it.”

“No.” I shake my head. “Forget everything else and tell me. Do you want to be my wife?”