I grip and ungrip the steering wheel so many times that I’m fairly certain I’ve worn a hole through the leather.

I’ve hardly said a word to Avery since we left the school parking lot, mostly because I’m trying to calm myself down before I say something that I might regret.

But it’s all on the damn tip of my tongue...

She breaks the ice first.

“I’m really glad to see you.”

“Yeah?” I start, before slamming my mouth together hard.

Because, well?

It certainly didn’t seem like she fucking missed me...

“Alright, you know what? Just say it, Eric. You’re pissed off at me. Get it out, please, so that you don’t wreck the rest of the night.”

“I don’t fucking like how handsy that guy was with you. I fucking watched him the whole damn time, Avery. That guy had his hands all over you, and you seemed to like it a little too damn much.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

She unbuckles her seatbelt and turns to face me, her eyes staring daggers into me even in the dark night.

“How dare you! Wyatt is a nice guy. He wasn’t handsy with me. He was walking me to my car for goodness sakes! You want me walking into a dark parking lot all by myself?”

“Obviously not. And now that I know that the parking lot is so damn dark? I’m meeting you there every night. And when I can’t? I’ll make sure that someone else is there to do it. Someone besides old buddy Wyatt.”

“You are such an asshole.” She mutters, before throwing herself back against her seat and crossing her arms.

“Put your seatbelt back on.”

“Stop telling me what to do.” She mutters but does as I ask.

I exhale sharply, before shaking my head.

“Listen. I don’t want to fight with you about this. But I’m a guy, ok? I can tell when a man wants a woman, and I can tell. He wants you. He wants to fuck you, Ave’s. It’s so damn obvious. And I don’t like it one bit.”

“You know, for someone who preaches all the damn time about how we need trust, you sure as hell don’t seem to trust me very much.”

“I do trust you...”

“Right. That’s why you’re freaking out right now. What are you even thinking, Eric? Are you thinking that I’m just going to go off and fuck Wyatt? Is that really what you think?”

“Well...”

“Well, nothing.” She turns again towards me, and I can literally feel her eyes burning into my side.

“Keep in mind, I’m not you. I don’t just fuck anything. I’m not like that. I am not you.”

I furiously punch in the code to the gate when we reach our driveway.

I make it just past the gate before slamming on the brakes and putting the car in park.

“Always going back to that, aren’t we?” I turn to face her, before shaking my head. I try to breathe deep and calm myself down, but I just can’t fucking do it.

I’m out of the car and wrenching her door open before I can even realize what I’m doing.

I grab her out of the car, as a small gasp leaves her lips. I kick the door shut before pinning her against it.

Her dress is pulled up and her panties ripped off in a split second, as her eyes widen.

“Eric...what are you...”

“Showing you that you’re all I want.”

I force her legs around me, before slamming into her, making her head roll back as my name leaves her lips.

“I’m showing you that no one can make you feel the way that I do.”

It’s angry fucking, at its finest, as she grips my shoulders hard and screams my name. But she’s also begging for it, begging for it to be harder, and faster, which I give her.

Hell yes, I give it to her.

All of my pent-up anger and frustration over the last few days leaves me, as I lose myself in her, right here, against the car in our driveway.

I’m panting by the time we’re through, and she’s limp against me.

She’s no longer digging her nails into me, but instead, her hands are gently trailing along my back.

I inhale sharply a few times, trying to catch my breath, before the words that have been circling my brain for weeks now manage to slip out.

“Marry me,” I whisper as I stare hard into her glazed over eyes.

“What?” She lifts her head slightly off of my shoulder, as I take another ragged breath.

“Marry me, baby. Be my wife.”

“You’re...really?”

She pulls back, forcing us to lose contact. Her eyes are wide as she stares up at me and shakes her head.

“Really? You come home unexpectedly, basically tell me that I’m cheating on you, angry fuck me against the car in the driveway, and then ask me to marry you?”

She at least smiles, before shaking her head.

“I can’t answer that question right now, Eric. You just threw a tornado of emotions my way. And I’m not going to marry someone who doesn’t trust me.”

“I do trust you.”

Our eyes lock as I again move closer to her.

“I flew home for a twelve-hour visit because I missed you so damn badly that I couldn’t stand to be away from you for another second. I had to see you, Ave’s. I fucking had to feel you.” I shake my head as her face softens.

“I’ll admit, I did go overboard when I saw you with Wyatt. I guess...” I shrug. “I guess I’m just waiting for you to pay me back. For you to try to hurt me the way that I hurt you before.”

She reaches up, cupping my face with her hand as I relax against her.

“Eric...I’m not going to do that.”

“I know that.” I sigh against her. “But I would deserve it if you did. And I know that. That’s why it freaks me out.”

“Marrying me isn’t going to make that any better. It might make it worse.”

I scoop her back into my arms before holding her tightly against me and pressing my lips to hers.

“It wouldn’t make it worse. Avery, I’ll drop it right now because you deserve better than to be proposed to while getting fucked against a car. But I’m marrying you. Soon. And it’s not because I need it in order to trust you. It’s because I can’t imagine my life any other way than having you as my wife. You are my everything.” I whisper into her mouth before pulling back and meeting her eyes. “My everything. And I’m not going to rest until you are my wife. That’s how much I love you, Ave’s. You are my forever. My always. My entire fucking life.”

**

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU left yesterday,” Brock mutters, as we finally load up for our flight home. “It’s pretty fucking insane, Waynsie.”

I just shrug. I could try to explain it to him, I totally could. But Brock isn’t in any position in his life to try to understand that.

Nor does he want to be.

He’s perfectly happy leading his selfish single life, which for him? Is totally fine. But one of these days, he’s going to meet his match.

And I’ll be the first one lining up to give him shit about it. You can fucking bet on that.

“Waynsie’s in love.” Jake shrugs. “Leave the guy alone.”

“I woulda done the same thing when Laci and I were first starting out if she hadn’t been on our away streaks with us.”

“You are a different story.” Brock wrinkles his nose at him. “You’re a grade A stalker, remember? You probably woulda left and just went and followed her around a bit. Creepy.” He shudders, making Jake growl something at him under his breath.

Brock totally ignores him before placing his earbuds in his ears and leaning back in his seat.

“Don’t let him give you shit,” Jake mutters. “One of these days, his stupid ass is going to get blindsided by some woman. And I cannot wait to be here to witness it.”

“Same.” I agree, before sinking back against my seat.

I scan around to make sure that no one else is paying attention to us.

“I asked her to marry me last night.”

His eyes widen as he reaches out and smacks my arm. “That’s fucking awesome, man! Congrats!”

“She said no.” I finish, as his face falls.

“What? Oh, fuck. I’m sorry...”

“Don’t be.” I wave my hand. “I kinda did it in a bad way, and...”

“Tell me you didn’t ask her while you were having sex.” He rolls his eyes as my face drops.

“Dude. That’s the worst.”

“I know! I mean, I didn’t really mean for it to slip out. But it did. Of course, I want to marry her. If she woulda said yes to that last night? Fuck man, we’d be skipping the event tomorrow and be on an island someplace, where I would officially be locking that shit down for good. Believe me. But she said that she wouldn’t until I trust her.”

His eyebrows wrinkle, and he starts to open up his mouth to ask when I wave him off.

“It’s a long, unpleasant story. Let’s just say I lost it over something that I shouldn’t have. I’m asking her again. But this time? I’m going to make it so damn romantic that she can’t resist me. Just watch.”

“Nice. Gonna put a rock on it?”

“Fuck yeah.” I nod, before popping my earbuds in.

Hell yes, I’m gonna put a rock on it.

I promised her a lot of things all those years ago, and a rock is the last thing that I haven’t given her yet. I always told her that I was going to buy her a big ass house, a flashy car and a big ass ring for her finger.

I can check the first two off the list.

Now I just need to get a ring and a plan.

But it’s happening. And she is going to say yes this time.