The Fiancé Dilemma

by Elena Armas

Change spiced up life, in my opinion. It kept you on your toes.

I wasn’t. I was a messed-up girl who was giving trauma.

“You’re memorable enough already.

“Aren’t you, sweetheart?” Sweetheart. It wasn’t the word that bothered me. It was the way he said it. Like someone who wanted to protect me. To spare me the heartbreak.

“Those are the best things to fall in love with,” I heard myself say. “The ones we find accidentally.”

“If my woman has cold hands, I’m going to keep them nice and warm.”

“Wildflowers,” I announced. “They make me smile. They grow free. They’re beauty and defiance, and the fact that no matter what goes on in the world, they still continue to bloom, makes me happy.”

“Maybe I would help any stranger. But it’s you I’m going this far for. It’s you. Josie.”

“Beautiful things shouldn’t be boxed. It eventually dims their light.”

“Perfection is subjective.”

“You’re breaking my heart,” Matthew murmured, his nose almost brushing my temple. My body stilled, my mind quieting. “Why?” I whispered. “Because I’m trying to flirt and you’re not paying attention to me.”

“Eyes on me,” Matthew instructed.

The only thing that matters right now is you.

“Nah, Blue. It makes you the strongest woman I’ve ever met.”

“The first time I heard about Josie was through a text.” I turned my head to look at him, finding his gaze on me. “It was from Adalyn, and it read: I think I’ve just met your soul mate.” Something in the middle of my chest bucked. Soul mate. Adalyn laughed from her seat. “I’d forgotten about that.” “I haven’t,” Matthew said, his eyes still on me. “Do you remember what I texted back, Ads?” There was a strange pause, and then Adalyn said in a soft, baffled voice, “You asked for a picture. Of your future wife.”

I’d never wanted a smile—a man—more than I did him. I’d never loved like I did him.

“You don’t have a reputation. You have a heart that chose to believe in love. A beautiful mind that singled out every bad or ugly thing that came at you and stayed hopeful. You have the kindness to give second and third and fourth chances. You’d rather lose hours of sleep baking so someone can feel a little better the next day than take care of yourself.

Perhaps to love was to leave a mark. And perhaps I no longer wanted to run from that.

Trust is something you earn.

“I also believe in compatibility. In falling in love. In two people finding each other because perhaps they were meant to, but in them also making it work when they do.”