Tough Love

Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two

Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two

Dani's P.O.V.

The weekend is pretty much normal for us. We spend Sunday dinner at Connie and Don's house. Beth joins us, as well as Ash and his mom. Obviously, Tyler and Maria are there too but that is a usual Sunday for the Ramirez family. It still takes a little getting used to; all the noise and people. Even before everything happened to me, it was only my parents and myself. We lived in a little village back in Russia, so our house wasn't exceptionally busy. My mom used to visit people in the village, but we never really had big dinners or parties.

Talk quickly turns to the engagement and I drop my head in embarrassment. I can't believe all of this is happening. I know Eli's family are happy for him, but I struggle with the attention. Eli drops his arm across my shoulders and gives me a little squeeze. He whispers in Russian, "I've got this, baby."

He clears his throat and the change in him is immediate. He's so confident and he commands the attention of the whole room. I don't know how he does it and I'm still amazed at how opposite to him I am. It's like he makes up for all of the fearlessness and confidence that I lack.

"Just to get it out there, we haven't spoken about anything relating to a wedding. We're just happy to let things be as they are for now. When we've made any plans, then you'll be the first to know. For now, we aren't making any decisions. We want to do this our way and how we feel comfortable. So, just give us some time to figure out what that is."

There are murmurs of agreement and Ash takes it upon himself to change the subject completely. He starts to tell everyone that he beat Eli in a training session. This makes me smile. Ash is a good friend to both Eli and myself. I know he likes to joke around and mess about, but he has our interests at heart when it's most important.

I turn to Eli and whisper in Russian, "Thank you."

He shrugs, "They were making you uncomfortable, so I did what I had to to stop it. You ok?"

"Yeah. I just find it a bit overwhelming, that's all. It's still a shock to me..."

He chuckles, "You're not the only one. I thought it was going to take a lot of convincing on my part to change your mind..."

I frown, "You never needed to change my mind. I just needed to be in a place to answer. It was never a no; just an 'I'm not sure about this whole thing'."

He smiles brightly at me and I can hear the emotion in his voice when he whispers, "You are such an amazing and beautiful person. I love you so much. I want you to know that."

I feel the blush rising on my face and I hate that I can get embarrassed so easily. I wish I could hide my emotions a little bit more like Eli can. He can be completely stoic, even when the world is falling apart around him. I, on the other hand, can have a melt down at someone just looking at me.

"Eli?"

"Yes baby?"

"Do you think your parents would let us use their garden?"

"For?"

He looks so confused at my question. I forget myself for a minute and reach up to smooth the creases on his forehead. His look of confusion soon turns to a smile at my gesture. Once his frown has gone, I continue my thought.

"For a ceremony..."

I drop my head out of self-consciousness but I know the moment Eli understands my words because his breathing hitches for a fraction of a second.

In maybe a second, his mouth is right by my ear and his voice is husky as he speaks, "The fact that you've just thrown that question out is pretty hot. I'm not going to lie about that. And in answer to your question, I'm pretty certain they would be thrilled. It seems kind of fitting, doesn't it?"