“Let’s go on the canoe,” Rowan said into my ear after lunch.

I looked over at Miles, who was lying on the couch with Freddie. He was tracing the scar on my brother’s face, looking at him in awe for having survived that attack. He still hadn’t given us the details. Not that I’d expected him to. I was just happy he was with us.

We’d all gone to my grandmother’s cottage for the weekend and Rowan was the only one who’d been on a canoe. He had been rowing back home on his machine, but it wasn’t the same. He explained exactly how countless times while I sat on my yoga mat staring at him as he rowed. It made me hot every time. Even the way his sweat trickled down his face was hot. The way his lips formed an O during his pull was hot. The way his back, legs, and stomach tightened with each motion.

“I’ll go if you take off your shirt,” I said.

He grinned. “I’ll take off more than just my shirt.”

“TMI,” Freddie said from the couch. “We can hear you.”

Miles sat up and glanced over. “Why would you take off all your clothes?”

“Because Daddy’s weird,” I said.

Rowan chuckled, slapping my ass.

“What does motherfucker mean?” Miles asked, and my wide eyes shot in my son’s direction.

Freddie cough-laughed. “Where’d you hear that?”

“Daddy.”

“Rowan,” I shot him a stern look, slapping his stomach.

“You act like I called him that word.” Rowan rolled his eyes. He looked at Miles. “That’s a bad word, buddy. We don’t say that.”

“You say it.”

“Yeah, but I’m an adult.”

“So?”

“Adults are dumb sometimes. You can’t repeat everything we say.”

Miles shrugged, a little nonchalant lift a shoulder, and looked at Freddie again. “Can we watch Minions?”

“Again?”

“Yes.”

“Hey,” Rowan said. “What happens at the end of Frozen?”

Freddie frowned deeply as he sat up. “How the eff am I supposed to know? You watch Frozen?”

“I have a four-year-old. I’ve watched it. I keep falling asleep before it ends. Do Anna and Hans get married?”

“Not every Disney movie ends in marriage,” I said.

“Princess ones do,” Rowan argued.

“Not all of them. Hello, Moana?”

He shrugged, pulling my hand. “Let’s go.”

I let him lead me outside and I waved at my parents and grandmother who were gardening. It was Mom and Grandma Joan’s favorite past time, and somehow Dad got dragged into it every time. Rowan went up to them, plucked a rose, and jogged back over to me.

“Seriously, Rowan?” Mom called out. “I was about to plant it.”

“I’ll get you another one tomorrow,” he called back. “I need to impress my girlfriend.”

They laughed in unison. I shook my head, smiling as he handed me the rose. When we got to the canoe, I noted the little cushions with the tablecloth spread between them.

“We just ate,” I said.

“Can you just sit and enjoy this?”

“Okay,” I said. “Do I get the paddles?”

He shot me a glare. I put my hands up and let him row us away from the shore. He stopped in the middle, one of our usual spots, and exhaled.

“It’s a nice day.”

“It is,” I agreed, looking around. I stopped when I saw a new cottage. “That’s new.”

“It’s cute,” he commented.

“You should sell your apartment and get one so you can be closer to the water,” I suggested. “You’d be less grumpy.”

“I’m not grumpy.”

“Sometimes.” I fought a smile. He reached under the white tablecloth and pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses. I raised an eyebrow. “Color me impressed.”

He chuckled. “Good.” He set them aside. I waited, but he didn’t move to serve it, so I closed my eyes and tilted my face toward the sun, breathing it all in. Long seconds passed before he said, “You are so beautiful.”

I slowly opened my eyes at his tone, which was rough and gravely and full of heat. Rowan leaned forward, placing both hands on my knees, spreading them apart so he could settle between them, and then he put his forehead against mine and breathed out. I did the same, holding his hands on my lap.

“Have I told you that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me?” he whispered.

I nodded against him. “All the time.”

“Have I told you that I think about you obsessively?”

I laughed lightly. “No, that’s creepy.”

“I’m a creep then, because you’re all I think about. Aside from Miles, but that goes without saying.”

“I think about you creepily, obsessively too,” I admitted.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I was thirteen when you bewitched me.” He pulled back slightly, his eyes searching mine. “You looked at me one of those Saturdays when I was visiting Monte and I thought you had to be the prettiest girl in the world.” He paused, his thumbs brushing against the backs of my hands. “I’ve traveled a lot since then and I have to say, I was definitely right about that.”

I felt tears brim in my eyes. I tried to blink them back, but they trickled down my cheeks lightly. Ro brought a hand up and brushed them away.

“I never believed in marriage,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s just a stupid piece of paper, but I really, really want to sign that stupid piece of paper with your name beside mine. When our kids grow up, I want to be able to look at them and say, ‘You see that woman over there? She has some serious magic and somehow, I was the one who caught it all.’” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “What I’m trying to say is that I love you, Tessa Monte. I bleed for you. You’re the only woman in the world who can make me believe that love exists. The only woman in the world I’d ever want tied to me for an eternity. The only woman I could ever envision raising my children. Please marry me.”

“I bleed for you too,” I whispered, emotion clogging my throat. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”

He reached under the tablecloth and brought out a small box before opening it to show me the most beautiful diamond I’d ever seen. His eyes held mine as he took it out and slipped it onto my finger. “I promise I’ll be the best husband I can. I promise to listen to you and help carry your burdens. I can’t promise that I’ll cook for you every night or rub your feet after a long day every night, but I promise that I’ll try. Above anything, I promise that I’ll always talk to you, always respect you, and always put you above everything, even my work, even myself.”

I couldn’t even speak. I looked down at my shaky hand and the ring on it, and threw my arms around him, rocking the canoe back and forth. The wine rolled. When I finally sat in my side of the canoe, he grinned and nodded toward the shore, to the house I had pointed out earlier. “You see that little cottage they’re building?” He pointed at a house not much bigger than my grandmother’s. It was white with a lot of windows.

“Yeah.”

“It’s ours. They should be finished building next month.”

I pulled back. “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” he said. “I tried to buy your old house, but Sam talked me out of it. He said we needed new memories and I agree. This cottage will be a blank slate. New cottage, new family, new beginnings.” He kissed the tip of my nose and pulled away. “But the sculls stay. I can’t get rid of those.”

I laughed. “I wouldn’t dream of asking you to. I can’t believe you built us a house here.”

“Miles needs a place to see the stars,” he said, bringing his thumb up to my lower lip. “And we need a place to escape from the world.”

I kissed him then, not because of the cottage and not because of the ring, but because of everything he was and everything he’d be.

“You really do love me,” I said, smiling.

“I don’t just love you, Sprite. I bleed for you. Only for you.”