Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Tears spill over his hand as he slaps it to his mouth, watching me put the ring on his finger. He doesn’t even have time to register who all is here cheering for us as I cradle his face and bring it to mine for a kiss.
Honestly, the kiss is a blur.
My heart is racing too fast to feel anything. I’m still recovering from the near trauma of feeling terrified of him saying no. I feel like I’m just a second from passing out because I’ve apparently forgotten how to breathe correctly.
But suddenly I feel his hands slip around me as we kiss, and everything all at once makes sense. As much as I pretend that I’m the big, strong rock for both of us, it’s Quintin who’s the strong one. When he embraces me during our kiss, I feel every good intention spilling from his warm, caring hands.
Everything is going to be just fine.
Our lives are only beginning.
He will take care of me, and I will take care of him, through the best and worst moments of our lives to come. We will always have a companion in each other. We will always fight for one another.
We will never be alone again.
When the kiss ends, faces come into view from all over the restaurant. Quintin, who can’t seem to decide whether he wants to laugh or cry, rises from his seat as I rise from the floor. We’re immediately greeted by our friends and family. From Kent, Skipper, and my mom, who all knew about this ahead of time, to Vann, Toby, and their friend Kelsey, as well as several of Quintin’s classmates whom Vann was able to get ahold of.
And just as we start to recover from the emotion of the proposal, someone goes and flips on the music and some extra lights, and the restaurant turns into a party zone. The walls shake with celebratory music and cheering. One by one, our friends congratulate us. Whatever they say, I can’t possibly recall a word of it. Even when my brother Kent makes some snide remark about how he and Jonah were supposed to be first, I can barely pay attention to it, too overcome with my blubbering elation that Quintin actually said yes to me.
In the noise of happy celebration, laughter, and glasses tinkling together as everyone gets into the wine and bubbly champagne, I find myself staring in a numb happiness at everyone in the room.
I can’t believe this is my life.
It must be a whole hour later when the energy of the celebratory party finally calms down enough to allow for actual thoughts to move through our overwhelmed minds. Some of the party has moved outside to the boardwalk, and it’s right by the pier overlooking the water that Quin and I find ourselves recovering from the loud festivities.
“You alright?” I ask him, side-by-side against the banister, the night wind in our hair.
He gazes at me with overflowing cheer in his eyes. “More than alright. Way more than alright.”
“For a second there, I thought you were gonna say no.”
“I was too stunned at first. I didn’t even know what was happening. You’re gonna have to tell me everything you said all over again,” he tells me suddenly. “I think I was too stunned by the ring to hear, like, more than seven words of it. Probably the last seven, when you asked me if I’d be your husband. Is that seven?” He starts to count the words on his fingers.
I take hold of his hands, stopping him, then inspect the one that now carries a ring. “Looks like I got the size right. Of all things to worry about, that was actually a big one,” I admit. “I had nightmares the ring wouldn’t fit. I lost sleep over it.”
“Really?”
“And … okay, so … maybe Sunday dinner got a little tense at one point … because I …” My heart wrestles with the memory of it. “I talked to your dad.”
Quin’s face drops. “Uh … about what?”
“I asked for his blessing.” I meet Quin’s eyes. It seems I’ve just freshly shocked him all over again. “Yeah, he … he knows. I asked for his blessing. I told him my plan.”
“What did he say??”
“He said he had no idea if it would work out. He said he was concerned about the short amount of time we’ve known each other. He said he barely knew anything about me, other than what you’ve told him, and whatever he was able to get out of me during that dinner.”
“This isn’t putting me at ease, Adrian.”
“But then …” I smile, thinking of it. “Then he said he could see the way you look at me. He could see the way I cared for you. Remember when you reached for the pico de gallo and almost knocked over your drink—until I grabbed hold of the glass? Then I got the pico for you instead? He could tell I looked out for you. He could see it in our eyes. The love was undeniable. Sickeningly so,” I add, which makes Quintin laugh. “Yeah, those were his words. But he smiled when he said them.”