Page 31 of How to Not Fall for a Stalker

I rub my temples, not believing that I have to have the same conversation again. “Gloria, honey, you can’t take Chester to the hospital.” I try to argue as Leo carefully takes the small animal away from the girl. “And where are your shoes?” I add while both of them turn to look at me as if I am the unreasonable one.

“Sweetie, go put your shoes on and put Chester back in his cage.” Leo tells her softly as he gives him back to her, and my heart swells at the sight of them.

He comes closer to me, placing a soft kiss on my lips. “You know we could have one of those too.” He whispers.

“A guinea pig?” I joke, but he laughs and kisses me again.

“No, a little girl. We never talked about having kids.” The smile on his face tells me this is an actual thought, not a joke, or a random idea that crossed his mind. An actual thought that has been marinating in there for a while, I bet.

“We are still married.” I point out.

“And you still don’t have a ring.” He shows me his, the one with the little skull that used to belong to Rachel. The one he never took off even when we broke up for a month last year. The same one that clued Rachel about our little secret.

“I don’t.” I show him my empty ring finger, and he kisses me again.

“Then we should start with a ring,” he tells me, reaching into his pocket; he takes out a small black box and opens it in front of me. Inside it is a small band with a skull on it, mirroring the one on his finger. I smile and take it from him, placing it on my finger. I come closer, and he leans over to kiss me.

Moments like this one, I wonder if life can truly be so easy; then I remember everything that happened, all the insane things we had to skip over to land in this moment. And even though the past year had its moments when I wished I could escape themadness, I still don’t regret anything. When you meet the right person, you just...know.