Page 114 of Cruel Proposal
"Being away from all the bullshit really has mellowed him out." I sip the cider again, dodging Bianca as she takes a sharp turn and goes flying to the swing set where Noah is sitting with Ellie's son, Brandon, in his lap.
Aiden hums to himself, setting the spatula to the side. "I didn't think any of this was ever going to feel normal, and there's stillsomething not quite right about being here with him, but I can see how happy he makes you."
"You're not going to go and get all feely on me now, are you?" I tease, handing him my cider.
Aiden rolls his eyes, smiling over the rim of the bottle. "You're ridiculous. You know that, don't you? But I am proud of you and all that you've accomplished."
"Ugh." I try to walk away from him, but he grabs me, hauling me into his side.
"But if he ever looks at you wrong..."
"You're not going to start shit, are you? The last time you and Noah were together, you almost started fighting."
Aiden stiffens, glancing over at Noah with a look that can only be described as hateful. "I'm not going to. Not until he gives me a reason to."
Jade strides over, Ezra trailing behind her. "Don't you dare start shit today, Aid. Summer worked hard with that accelerated program, and she graduated, and you're not going to ruin that for her with some pissing match."
Noah's hand appears on my waist, Brandon in his other arm. "Who's going to be in a pissing match?"
Ellie scowls and storms over. "The two of you aren't going to be teaching him to swear and act like a feral animal."
Sean barks out a laugh as he takes over the grill. "She says, like his first word wasn't 'fuck.'"
I start laughing, enjoying the moments I get to spend with my family under the summer sun.
It's not often that we're all together these days, and I know as we get older, the days we do are going to be even fewer.
But right now, we're together.
There's no pressure. Nobody wants to kill us.
We get to live happy and free, like there's nothing else that's going to get in our way.
I slip my hand into the pocket of my dress, toying with the ring I took off right before we arrived.
Looking around, I make a decision and slip it on. "Well, I guess since everyone is here, now would be a good time to tell you all that we're going to be getting married."
Zoe squeals from the blanket, springing up and rushing over with Taylor in her arms. She's the first one to pull me into a hug, the rest of the family still shell-shocked.
Laughing, I hug her back.
She's barely let go of me when the others are all piling around. I'm passed from one person to the next until it feels like I can barely breathe, but I wouldn't change a moment of it for anything.
When everyone finally disperses to go get their food, I sit on a planter box.
Noah corners me, looming over me, wearing that smile I can't resist, the corners of his eyes crinkling and a mischievous look in his gaze.
"What?" I take a bite of my burger.
His hands skim up my thighs. "Want to sneak off now? We could go inside when everyone is eating, and we could be back out before they ever knew we were gone."
I glance at my family and back at Noah before nodding.
He takes my hand, and we take off running to the house, everyone's backs turned as they gather around the fire Aiden is building for the s'mores to come later.
As Noah and I disappear to our room, I'm already dreaming of ducking out of our wedding to go have some fun.
Extended Epilogue=================
