Free Only Forever by Cristin Harber Page A

scruff scratch my fingertips. “Everything was supposed to happen for a reason.”
    “I’m a lucky bastard you think like that.”
    My head tilts. “I think like that, and every day I wake up to you, I smile at all I have.”
    “At every hurdle we’ve cleared.”
    “Yup.” I sip my wine and burrow against him. “Want to go inside?”
    “Not yet.”
    “What do you want to do?” I ask, teasing him because there is something I definitely want to do, and it involves going inside and losing the remainder of our clothes.
    “Just sit here for a few more minutes.” He sighs, holding me firmly, then breathes in deeply. “So, you like your camera?”
    It hasn’t been out of reach, and I’ve been completely addicted to it, starting with the ride out to the beach and through every moment since. “Of course I do. I love it. You’re too generous, baby.”
    He chuckles against me. “Got any good pics?”
    “I think so. Maybe I’ll wake up early and grab a couple at sunrise before we leave.” I cast my gaze into the black, inky ocean. “I got a couple super-cute ones tonight while you guys were grilling.” Grayson and Cally made dinner with aprons over their bathing suits. Cally mixed her bowls on the ground, sitting across from him while he manned the meat and veggies.
    I reach for my camera, curious about how those turned out. I flick the switch on and turn the setting to show the photos on the small screen. There are a couple of pictures I don’t recognize of Cally making faces into the lens very, very close up. I laugh. “Snugglebug got the camera when we weren’t looking.”
    He shifts us so we can both see. Slowly, I start clicking through the pictures. More Snugglebug pics, then there are some of Cally and Grayson. “Busted. You were there!”
    Laughing, he whispers against my neck, “Guess so.”
    Then one by one, I click through. Cally and Grayson pose in their daddy-daughter selfies. Then they hold a piece of paper between them with Grayson’s outstretched arm holding the camera. Black ink clearly stands out in block letters.
     
    Will
     
    What the…? I click to the next picture, sure that this is not what I think it is.
     
    You
     
    Oh my God…
     
    Marry me?
     
    I spin toward him. “Gray!”
    His smile shines in the light from the camera’s screen. “We had an art project while you went to the store.”
    “You’re asking me to marry you!”
    “We are.”
    We are. God. Shit, shoot, shit . My heart can’t take too much more of a good thing.
    This guy nails us with everything he says every time he tries. I can barely breathe through the rush of happiness. I’m choking on surprise tears and throwing my arms around his neck. “Of course I want to marry you.”
    His body shifts as his arm reaches down, below our chair, and his hand returns with a small box. He flips the lid open with his thumb, and there shines in the moonlight the most perfect ring. It’s not classic—it doesn’t have a single diamond—but it’s so me.
    “For you, baby.” He pulls me to his mouth, and I kiss him, packing as much emotion as I can convey. The camera slides to my side, and my hands clutch his face. He drops the ring box between us, and his fingers thread into my hair, tugging just enough to make it hurt, just enough to make me bite his lips.
    “I’ve always wanted to be your wife.”
    “Good answer,” he growls.
    “Now, I promise you , it’s time to take me inside.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
     
    One Year Later…
     
    Grayson
     
    “You ready, buddy?” Ryder lines up a row of shot glasses on the coffee table. “Move boots, boys. We’ve got places to go.”
    Brock walks by and smacks me on the side of my head as I push off my couch. “Easy there, killer.” I pretend to smooth down my hair. Then I join the guys standing around my living room.
    Javier. Colin. Ryder. Ryan.
    Groomsman. Groomsman. Groomsman. Best Man. Plus a couple of others. Fuck me. What a solid bunch of men to share this day