“Troy—”
“I spent a long time letting people think they knew who I was,” he says quietly. “Then you walked into my life and saw me anyway.”
Tears spill down my cheeks instantly.
His expression softens.
“You made this place feel like home, London.” His thumb brushes over the ring box nervously. “Now I just want you here permanently.”
A watery laugh escapes me. “Yes.”
Relief flashes across his face so fast it nearly wrecks me.
“Yes?” he repeats.
“Yes, you ridiculously handsome man.”
Troy slides the ring onto my finger before standing and hauling me against him hard enough to make me laugh again.
Then he kisses me.
Slow. Deep. Filled with a promise of forever.
I’m about to pull him all the way down to the ground when, somewhere out in the trees?—
“I KNEW IT!” Ethel screams. “Bernice, I told you. I told you he was going to propose this summer.”
I burst out laughing against Troy’s mouth while he closes his eyes like a man deeply questioning all his life choices.
Except for me and us.
Whatever happens, I know he’ll always choose me. And I’ll always choose him.