I took her hand, pulled her toward the office to grab our gear, and ruined her happy place all in one moment. "Because we're going skydiving."
"If I make it to the ground alive," Cassie yelled over the roar of the twin-engine jump plane, "I'm going to straight up murder you."
My arms wrapped tight around her chest even though I knew she couldn't get away from me if she tried. She was strapped to me because I was her jump buddy, and we were forty seconds away from our jump point.
"I look forward to it, honey," I yelled over the noise, sneaking in a kiss to her cheek and earning a world-class glare and two middle fingers.
Frankie and Claire looked on with smiles on their faces from across the plane.
"I can't believe you're a part of this madness, Claire!" Cassie screamed as loud as she could. Frankie laughed, and Claire gave two thumbs up.
"You ready?" I asked, maneuvering the two of us toward the door as the pilot gave the fifteen-second signal.
"No, I'm not ready, you motherfucker. I can't believe you got me up here!"
With a reach around her perfect body, I pulled open the door and scooted us toward the edge.
"Oh, sweet baby unicorns," Cassie breathed.
"It's okay, honey," I soothed. "Just close your eyes and enjoy the ride."
"Close my eyes? What's with you and always making me close my goddamn eyes?" she shrieked.
"Only until you feel like you can open them," I clarified with a laugh. "I promise I'll take care of you."
One hand on each side of the opening, I moved us to the very edge and watched for the pilot's signal. As soon as the thumbs-up flashed in my peripheral vision, I started my countdown.
"Three, two-"
"Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck!" Cassie screamed.
"One!"
I shoved us out and cleared the plane. The wind immediately hit me hard enough to knock the scream right out of my lungs. Surrounded by no sound but the roar of our descent to earth, I knew the same had happened to Cassie. I would have wondered if she was conscious had she not assumed the position we'd spent time instructing her on.
Her outstretched hands found my forearms and locked on, and I smiled against the force of the wind so hard that my lips started to curl back.
The fall was exhilarating and the scenery unparalleled. But as many times as I'd made this jump before, and it was a whole hell of a lot, the company had never been better. The whole thing had never been better.
I reached for the parachute as we hit our mark on altitude and gave it a solid yank. Slowing down so quickly that it felt like we went back up, Cassie's screams could definitely be heard this time. But they mingled in with manic laughter.
"You okay, honey?" I asked now that she could hear me, and all I got back was a squeal.
"Give me something other than Phil's language, baby," I said with a laugh.
"That. Was. Incredible. Holy fucking shit, I might throw up."
I chuckled and wrapped one of my long legs around hers. "Do me a favor and wait until we're on the ground, okay?"
"I'm not in control," she told me honestly.
"Just look around and breathe, baby. We'll be down soon."
I looked up to see Claire and Frankie floating not too far above us. Claire gave another thumbs-up when she caught my gaze.
"Wave hi to Claire and Frankie," I told Cassie. She looked up and let out a scream so loud I wished I'd been able to cover my ears. But it was happy.
And so was I.
The landing zone was coming up fast, so I started reminding Cassie of the important points. "Remember what I told you to do? Legs up in front of you like you're gonna sit down, okay?"
"Got it!" she yelled in answer.
Down we went, me maneuvering the chute so that we moved slow enough and in the right direction. She did terrific on impact, executing my instructions exactly until we came completely to a stop.
"Wooo!" she screamed in excitement once more. I laughed as I unhooked her from my chest and tapped her on the shoulder to let her know I was done. Before I could move to get up, she turned and tackled me, taking me back to the ground, wrapping her arms around my neck, and pushing her lips to mine.
I had never experienced anything better than that moment.
She let me go and jumped up, hopping around from foot to foot in excitement. I watched her smile, and as the sun glinted off her hair, I just knew.
I never wanted to do this without her.
I didn't want to do any of it without her anymore.
I was in love with her.
"Cassie," I called, and her eyes came to me. Claire and Frankie were landing thirty feet away and her attention was split, so I called her name again. "Cassie."
"What, Thatcher?" she asked. As soon as her eyes locked with mine, I dropped to one knee. We were still nearly the same height.
"What are you doing?" she asked through nervous laughter. I just shook my head and took her hips in my hands.
"Marry me."
"What?" she yelled.
"I said … marry me."
"Thatch," she breathed, just slightly shaking her head in disbelief.
With a clench of my hands, I dug my fingertips into the cushion of her ass and laid down a challenge I knew she wouldn't be able to resist. Because when it came to this, this truly selfish request to have her as mine for the rest of my life, I didn't care why she said yes as long as she did.
"What's the matter, honey? You scared?"
Her brows scrunched, and her eyes searched mine, deep and unrelenting.
And then, after what felt like an eternity, she said the one word that nearly knocked me on my ass and had my heart pounding so hard I thought it might jump out of my chest and into hers.
"Yes."
"How much farther until we get to my soon-to-be in-laws' house?"
I glanced over toward the driver's seat, taking in the relaxed posture of the motherfucking one-upper sitting beside me.
Thatch drove down the highway with one hand on the wheel and the other holding mine, the crowded edges of the street filled with trees rather than people. It was like a different world up here outside of the city, the only bonding characteristic the name of the state.
But my concentration on nature was next to none thanks to Thatch.
I knew what he was doing. The occasional tap or soft caress of his fingers to my left ring finger. Yeah, I knew. He was trying to egg me on, to make sure I couldn't forget what I'd agreed to or what this trip meant. Maybe he should have been soothing my nerves or whispering encouraging mantras into my ear, but I sure as hell wouldn't have been if the roles were reversed.
All I knew was, despite our attitudes toward nearly everything, the proposal had felt serious. Serious in nature and serious in meaning. Of course, I hadn't asked him about it like a fucking coward. It was so unlike me, but … everything was so good. And I didn't want to ruin it with details.
This just meant I had to figure out where to go with this little prank war next. I wasn't sure about the particulars, but the possibilities lay somewhere between an unplanned pregnancy, hiring Dean as my wedding planner, or me wearing a strap-on, and this time, the war would be waged outward-against our friends-as a unit.
I was positive I'd find a perfect middle ground-or a nice balance of all three.
Although, I wasn't sure if a pregnant woman wearing a strap-on was a violation of some unspoken rules of morality. I'd have to Google it when we got home.
Thatch grinned beside me. "About twenty minutes or so, honey. You getting nervous?"
"Me? Nervous?" I scoffed. "I haven't been this excited since Magic Mike XXL came out, and even that feels a little lame in comparison. And that's saying something, Thatcher. I almost caught a glimpse of Channing's cock in that one."
"You're excited to meet my parents?"
I tapped the handle of the passenger door. "Oh, yeah, baby. I get to meet my future in-laws. Check out teenage Thatch's masturbation suite. Talk your mom into showing me pictures of baby Thatch. I feel like you're taking me to a sex shop," I said with a waggle of my brows. "I won't even know where to start." I was excited and surprisingly comfortable, given the situation. But Thatch was at ease, so I was too.
"I should've strip-searched you before you got in the car. If you pull a black light and white gloves out of that suitcase you call a purse, I'm carrying your ass straight back to the car."
"Shut up. You're making me horny," I said, and he winked. The music faded with a quick flick of my wrist, and I grabbed my phone from the console. "Did you tell Kline about our engagement yet?"
He shook his head.
Hmm. The gossip train had slowed. Though, I guess it had been only a couple of days since he'd demanded I enter the ultimate lifelong prank war. Because that's what a marriage between Thatch and me would mean-a lifetime of one-upmanship and laughs. My chest felt warm and heavy at the possibility.