I shut the door behind me, swallowing down the knot in my throat. “Forget me. Are you okay?”
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, which he had no business doing. “I’m fine. You, on the other hand… Come on, strip out of those wet clothes before you freeze solid.”
“Matt, you should be lying down.”
But he was already moving, limping a little as he crossed to the closet. He pulled out a green T-shirt and a pair of worn sweats and tossed them onto the bed. “Humor me, Granger. I don’t want you catching pneumonia.”
I wanted to argue again, but he had that stubborn look on his face. “All right.” I grabbed the clothes and went to the bathroom to change, not wanting to drop more water on the carpet. Matty followed me inside, leaning against the door, supervising me like he didn’t trust me to do what he said.
Wet clothes smacked against the tiles, and I reached foranother dry towel to pass over my skin, hissing when I touched areas sore from the pelting hail. I slipped on the pair of sweat pants, free-balling it since he hadn’t given me any underwear.
Before I could put the shirt on, he was in front of me, brushing my shoulder, over the bruises the hail had left, dark, angry splotches blooming across my arms and chest. His jaw tightened.
“Why didn’t you wait in the barn?” he whispered, fingertips hovering over one welt like it hurt him to look. Then he hooked his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me in. His hug was loose, and I clung to him gently, careful not to disturb his damaged arm.
“I was so scared for you,” I murmured against his neck. “I couldn’t find you. You wouldn’t answer the phone, and no one knew where you were. If Junebug hadn’t come back without you…” My throat tightened, and I pressed my eyes shut against the stinging tears.
Matty leaned back, running his fingers through my damp hair. “Marry me.”
I froze. My pulse thumped in my ears. “What?”
“Marry me,” he said again, clearer this time, like he’d been holding it in. “I thought about it, Hud. When I was stuck in that fence, not sure when or if I’d get out, and all I could think about was what would happen to you and Ivy?”
“Matt—”
“I want everything that belongs to me to belong to you too. You and Ivy both. You’re already my family. I want it written down, locked in, no question about it.”
My chest squeezed so hard it hurt. I cupped his face, searching his expression. “Matt, you scared ten years off my life. This is the shock talking. You’ll regret it tomorrow.”
“No.” His grip on my wrist tightened, and his voice wassteadier than mine. “I once told you I don’t do things I regret, and I meant it. Four years wasted, Hud. I don’t want to wait anymore. I love you. You love me, and we’re already practically living together. Let’s make it official.”
I swallowed hard, shaking my head in disbelief. A marriage proposal was not what I had in mind when I woke up this morning. “Matt, I don’t know if I trust your judgment right now.”
“Are you turning me down?”
“God, no. There’s nothing I’d rather do than marry you. I’m saying if you feel the same way in forty-eight hours, then yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Relief and determination flickered across his face all at once. He smiled, the kind that hit me like sunlight after weeks of rain.
“Good,” he said softly. “Then it’s settled.”
I laughed under my breath, still stunned, still cold, and still holding the only man who could make me want forever so badly it hurt.
“Matt—” I brushed my lips against his.
“Hmm?”
“I hope you don’t change your mind.”
His lips curved against mine. “I won’t.”
32
MATTY
The drive down I-25 felt longer than usual, though the miles blurred past the window. I clenched my hands on the wheel, knuckles white, and in the silence of the cab, Hudson’s voice played on loop in my head.
“You can still be angry. Just don’t shut her out completely. Listen first.”
