“I love you,” I say, still gazing deep into eyes. “I love you so much, and I never stopped.”
And then he begins to move inside me, slow and deliberate, each movement seeming to serve as a reminder of what he said and what he meant. He loves me. He never stopped. He never will.
The only time we break our gaze his when he drops down to kiss me, long and deep, just like his movements. And though I didn’t think I could top the orgasm he just gave me, I can quickly feel another building. Only this one seems to be coming from a different place, fueled by a different fire, because now I know for sure that Levi is the one. I knew it before, and I know it now, even if we had to take a little detour to get here. I was right all along. You’ll never have sex like the sex you have with the person you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with. I didn’t make a mistake before. This is where I belong. Forever.
Levi’s movements begin to grow faster, pushing harder, his thrusts becoming more insistent. I match him, grinding into him, reaching down to pull him closer to me. And just as he knew my body, I know his. I can feel his orgasm rushing towards us like a speeding train, mine accelerating right along with it. Within minutes, we’re both crying out, our bodies frantic as we take and take and take.
He collapses on top of me, our breaths heaving in time, our bodies slick with sweat. Despite our exhaustion, we cling to each other, our muscles still taught.
“I meant it,” he whispers in my ear, his breath coming in hot blasts against my neck. “I’ll never, ever stop loving you.”
I give him a little push until he rolls off me, and then I wrap myself around the side of him, his arm around me, my leg thrown over him. And then I gaze up into his eyes. “I tried very hard to stop,” I tell him. I feel my voice start to catch, the sadness of what happened hitting me one last time. “I tried so hard. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t stop loving you.”
With his free hand, I feel him reach for something. I hear a drawer slide open, then close again, and then a small velvet box comes into my view.
“Julia told me before our date that I should put this in my pocket,” he says, setting the box on his bare chest, right in front of my eyes. “I thought she was crazy. But maybe not. Because I’ve kept it here, in this drawer by my bed, since the moment I got it back. And though I didn’t want to admit it, I knew I was holding it for you. And that I always would. It would be waiting for you, and if you never came, it would wait forever. But you’re here, and once again I find myself in this insane situation of doing something impulsive and fast that feels completely right—“
Before he can finish, I’m rolling on top of him, straddling him. I grip his cheeks and plant a kiss right on his lips. “Yes,” I say, the box still pressed between us. “If you’re asking again, I’m saying yes.”
“For the third time?” he asks, and we both laugh. Because yes, for the third time, I’m saying yes to Levi Maxon. And I’ll say yes as many times as it takes.
I hold out my hand. “Gimme that ring!” I cry, and he opens the velvet box, removes the ring, and then slides it onto my left hand.
“Cadence Fallon, for the third goddamn time, will you please marry me?”
My grin grows, spreading wide until my cheeks ache. “Yes, Levi Maxon. For the third – and final – time, yes I will marry you.”
And then the ring box is lost in a tangle of sheets as Levi slides into me again.
LEVI
“Bro, that bow tie is a disaster,” Logan says, crossing the roof deck to tend to my lopsided attempt at tying it. “Why didn’t you get a pre-tied one?”
“Because I’m not fifteen and it’s not prom,” I snap, trying to ignore the nerves jumping around in my body.
“Boys, boys, calm yourselves,” Julia calls, appearing at the top of the stairs. The morning is sunny and warm for late October. This will probably be the last time it’s tolerable to host an event outdoors. Maybe one of the last weekends we get to use the limestone mansion’s roof deck. I’ve grown up in this house my entire life, but have probably spend a grand total of five minutes up here. My mother thought it was dangerous, my father a waste of time.
But as soon as Cadence set her eyes on it, with its sweeping views of the Charles River to the north, the Prudential and Hancock to the south, and the orange-topped trees of the Garden to the East, she declared it her favorite place in all of Boston. You can even see a bit of Fenway to the west if you stand on your tippy toes.
So of course we had to get married up here. And once we decided, we knew we wanted to do it quickly. Otherwise we’d be standing in a few feet of snow as our nearest and dearest shivered to death and begged us to say our vows quicker.