SIX MONTHS LATER

Noah’s been secretive all week about our date tonight. It’s been six months since I moved in and each day is better than the last. I like to think that all the time we spent apart taught us a valuable lesson about the importance of communicating. We’re both aware of how important it is to be open and honest about what we’re feeling. Any insecurities either of us have, we deal with right away before the doubts can creep in. We’re careful to never take one another for granted. We both know the loneliness of living without each other and never want to experience it again.

“You’re really not going to tell me where you’re taking me?” I ask, looking out the front windshield, searching for recognizable landmarks.

He smiles. “You’ll figure it out soon enough on your own.”

It’s only a few more miles until I realize what our destination is. We pull into the driveway of Arroyo’s, the Mexican Restaurant he brought me to on our first date. “Noah, I haven’t been back since the last time we came here.” Once we broke up, it would have brought up too many painful memories. I ran all the way to California to avoid thinking about Noah and all the wonderful times we had together.

“When was the last time you were here?” I ask, wondering if this became his date go to place.

“I’ve grabbed you take out, but I haven’t personally eaten here since the last time you and I did. And I can tell by the look on your face what you really want to know is if I’ve brought anyone else here.” He raises an eyebrow and smirks at me. Sheepishly, I shrugs and gift him with a quick grin. “No, I’ve never brought anyone else here and I never will. This has always been our place whether we were together or not.” He takes my left hand in his, studying it, before raising it to his lips for a gentle kiss on the back. “Just like you were always my girl even when you weren’t.”

“I love you, Noah.”

“I know you do, Ray and I love you.”

“Underneath that bad boy fighter exterior lies the heart of a true romantic.”

“Shh, don’t tell anyone; you’ll ruin my reputation. I don’t need my opponents thinking I’ve gone soft. I’m supposed to have the heart of a warrior.” He shuts off the car and removes his seat belt. “Come on, let’s go eat. I can smell the food all the way out here.”

We’re seated right away and this time it’s not because he’s an employee. Now, we get preferential treatment because they’re proud of him and all the success he’s having. Anyone who follows MMA these days knows who he is. Everywhere we go people approach him with pen and paper in hand to ask him for his autograph. It’s surreal at times. He’s still just Noah to me, no matter how much fame he achieves. He might have more money in the bank and his persona might be attached to a few products now, but when we’re alone, he’s the same guy he’s always been and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

“What do you think of taking a trip up to Maine for a long weekend?” he asks, taking a sip of beer. “You could do a little skiing and I could do some snowboarding. It might be nice to get away for a few days.” He places his bottle down and wipes the condensation on his napkin

“When are you thinking we should go? My dad will have a fit if you miss any training. You have that fight in May.”

“That’s still months away. I think he can handle me having a few days off this far out.”

“I’m all for it. I haven’t been skiing in years and the idea of drinking hot chocolate and reading a good book on my kindle in front of a fireplace has its appeal.”

The waitress interrupts and our focus quickly switches to the delicious food on our plates.

“Is it possible the food here is even better than it used to be? We need to come here weekly.”

“It’s like anything, too much and you’d get sick of it.”

“That’s not true,” I reply, smiling.

“What do you mean? Of course, it is.”

“How come I never get sick of you? We’re together all the time.”

“You can’t compare us to ordinary things. It’s not the same.”

“Arroyo’s isn’t ordinary.”

“You know what I mean.”

“You still haven’t answered my question. How come we never get sick of each other?”

He pauses, taking a deep breath and then presses his lips together, lost in thought. “There’s an E.E. Cummings quote I came across when we weren’t together and I saved it because it reminded me of you. Yours is the light by which my spirit’s born. You are my sun, my moon and all my stars.”

“Noah, that’s beautiful. I love it.

“You’re beautiful and I love you. No matter how much time we have together, it will never be enough. Our love is one of a kind and surpasses all boundaries. And some day when we pass on our love will continue until infinity.” He rests his hand on mine and rakes his teeth over his bottom lip. “I brought you here on our first date and that was the night I fell in love with you. Since then, each moment we’ve spent together and even the time apart has made me realize I can’t be without you. I don’t know what life has in store for us, but I know whatever it is I want you by my side for every single second of it.” He releases my hand and slides out of the booth, rising to his feet. He moves forward stopping beside where I’m seated and my eyes get wide when he drops down to one knee.

Taking my hand in his, he stares up at me and says the words I always dreamed of hearing. “Reagan, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” I cry. “Yes, I will.” Happy tears roll down my cheeks as he pulls off the sun, moon and stars ring that’s been sitting on my ring finger since we got back together. I could never bring myself to throw it away. He slips on the gorgeous diamond ring he chose, pushing it over my knuckle. It’s a perfect fit. I throw my arms around his neck and slide down over the edge of the seat to my knees in front of him. We kiss and whisper I love you’s as if we’re in a room all by ourselves. It’s only as Noah rises to his feet and pulls me to mine, that we hear the applause. We glance around and notice all the phones aimed in our direction. He turns to me grinning. “Guess it’s going to be a busy work week for you.”

* * *

I stare at the gorgeous diamond on my finger and smile. I can’t believe we’re engaged.

“Are you ready for the rest of my surprise?” he asks as he pulls into the F1 track.

I grin at him. “Am I finally getting my shot at a rematch?”

“You are. I hope you’re ready, Ray.”

“I was born ready,” I say cracking my knuckles.

Noah chuckles as he shuts off the car.

Quickly, we head inside so I can finally show him who’s the boss of the track. He takes my hand and steers me to a section of the building I’ve never been in before. “I need to grab something in here,” he tells me as he’s already pushing the door open. He pulls me inside and I’m just about to ask what he’s doing when I hear unexpected voices shouting ‘congratulations.’ My eyes scan all the familiar faces around the room and I smile. All my family and our closest friends are here. Turning toward Noah, I wrap my arms around his waist. “You’ve been a busy guy, haven’t you?”

He nods his head and smirks proudly.

We make our way around the room to say our hellos. When we get to my parents my father shakes Noah’s hand and claps him on the back. “I knew from day one that you guys would end up here.”

“Sure, you did, Dad. That’s why you guilted Noah into breaking up with me.”

Noah’s head snaps around to face me. “I never told you that,” he says, his eyebrows drawing together.

“I know you didn’t. You kept dad’s involvement a secret, but you should have told me when it happened,” I say punching him in his arm.

Noah smiles. “You’re the only person I let punch me and I actually enjoy it.”

“How’d you figure it out?” my dad asks.

“Once we were back together, it wasn’t too hard and I’m smart enough to know how you both think. I’m disappointed I didn’t realize it the moment you broke up with me. I could’ve saved us from all the years apart.” I glance at my dad. “You’re lucky I’m willing to let this go. You shouldn’t play with people’s lives, Dad. Besides, you’re not as good at manipulating as you think you are.”

“Bullshit. You guys are right where I planned you’d be. I just wanted you both to have some separation first. And my plan worked perfectly,” he boasts, grinning. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that my father planned this all along. He’s the king of strategy when it comes to fighting, I just didn’t imagine him as a matchmaker.

We move on through the group, sharing hugs and congratulations. A tap on the shoulder has me spinning around to find Nick.

“Hey, congratulations.” He pulls me in for a quick squeeze as Griff and Noah begin a conversation next to us. “Who’s that hottie that looks like someone threw up cotton candy all over her?”

My eyes follow the direction of his and notice he’s referring to my oldest sister, Carter. She’s dressed in pink, too much pink, but that’s Carter for you. For as long as I can remember it’s been her favorite color. “That’s my sister.”

“She’s hot,” he says wiggling his eyebrows.

“She’s not your type,” I raise an eyebrow at him.

“What do you mean? They’re all my type.” He grins and it’s infectious.

I find myself smiling back at him. “I’ve heard all about your ‘type,’ and my sister doesn’t match the criteria.”

“Criteria?” he questions.

“Yeah, easy, easier and easiest. She’s a nice girl. Not your type.”

“Wow.” He places his hand over his heart. “You don’t have a very high opinion of me. Maybe I’m just waiting for the right girl to make me regret my playboy ways.” His expression is solemn, as if my words have deeply hurt him.

I immediately feel bad for my harsh comments. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were looking for a girl to be serious about.”

He laughs. “I’m not looking for a girlfriend. I had you going there, didn’t I?”

* * *

Noah fastens the helmet’s chin strap and then brushes his lips against mine. “Good luck, Ray. You’re going to need it.” He grins and winks.

“Maybe, we should take their phones away so they can’t record you getting your ass handed to you,” I joke.

“That’s how it’s going to be, huh?”

“Hell yeah. I’ve been waiting for almost five years for this moment. Vengeance will be mine.”

It’s not until we get out to the track that I realize there are no other people here, aside from family and friends. “Did you rent this place for the night?”

“I did. Now you can pick any you want and when I still beat you, you’ll realize it’s my skill and not the go-kart.”

Walking out to the track, I search for the perfect one. I don’t know what I’m looking for. It’s not like you can tell from looking which ones are fast. I notice Noah’s interest in a blue go-kart with a number two on each door. Rushing over, I slip inside, sitting down before he can.

“What the hell, Ray?” he says.

“You said I could have any that I wanted,” I shrug. “I choose this one.”

He narrows his eyes at me and walks away to continue his search. I smile. I only wanted this, because he chose it. I’m confident this will give me the edge I need to win.

I couldn’t have been more wrong - five races wrong. He didn’t even throw me a crumb this time by letting me win one.

We climb out and remove our helmets, leaving them on the go-kart seats. We meet on the edge of the track. “Were you out there?” he asks, with a confused expression on his face.

“What are you talking about? You know I was.”

“I was going so fast, everything was a blur.”

“Haha. You’re so funny.”

“You want to hear something funny?” he asks.

I nod. “Sure.”

“I knew you were going to choose whatever car you thought I wanted. I picked one I thought would be slow.”

I gasp. “You cheater.” I poke him in the chest.

“How is that cheating? If anyone cheated it was you. You took the car I wanted.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t really want it so that makes you the cheater,” I say, with conviction.

He pulls me into his arms and tugs me in closer until we’re pressed tightly together. “I can’t wait to get home and make love to my fiancé.”

“She sounds like a lucky girl.”

He presses his forehead to mine. “She’s about to be.”