She seems satisfied with that response and rests her head on my shoulder. “It really is magical here.”
“I think so.”
We’re quiet again, her head on my shoulder and my arm wrapped around her waist. I wonder if she’s thinking about her book. Querying didn’t work out, so she’s been researching the self-publishing path, and she’s excited about it.
“Do you think the height of the waves follows some kind of polynomial function?” she asks, breaking the silence.
Apparently, she was just thinking about math.
“I love when you talk nerdy to me,” I say with a chuckle. “And I think it’s a trigonometric function.”
“Oh, duh. Sine waves.” She shakes her head, lifting it from my shoulder. “Just like your shirt.”
I grin at her, remembering the first time I wore that shirt to help her move into her current apartment. That shirt has become a regular staple in my wardrobe since then.
“I was hoping you would tell me to break up with Zach,” she says. “That night on the balcony.”
“I had a feeling,” I reply.
“Why didn’t you?”
I think for a moment, then shake my head. “I don’t really have a good reason. Too chicken, I think.” I pause. “But I also wanted you to figure it out for yourself. You were always wanting to make everyone else happy without thinking about yourself, and in that moment, I think you were just trying to find out what would make me happy. I didn’t want to get lumped in with everyone else.”
She twists her lips to the side. “Yeah. I guess that’s true.”
“But then you realized you couldn’t live without me,” I tease. “And here we are.”
She snorts a laugh. “Yeah, here we are.”
“Tied together forever.”
“Forever, huh?” She giggles. “Well, maybe one day.”
“Oh, that’s right. We’re not married.” I smirk and smack myself on the forehead. “I guess I forgot to give you this.” I reach into my pocket and pull out the ring I’ve been holding for the last year. It’s simple but elegant—a small, quality diamond, encircled by a thin, delicate band of white gold that wraps around the top and bottom of the stone. Oh, and I’ll emphasize that it’sreal.Finding out that Zach’s ring had a fake stone answered a lot of my questions about her engagement.
Claire’s eyes dart between the ring and my face, shock on her expression. “You’re… This… You’re proposing?”
I nod. “I am. This past year has been the happiest of my life. And I know it’s only the beginning.” I swallow hard, preparing to say the words I said to her a little over a year ago, but the emotion encasing it all is so different. Because this time, I’m not desperately trying to convince her of my feelings. This time, I’m just reinforcing the love she already knows exists. “I want to bring you coffee in bed every morning. I want to be the one who takes care of you when you’re sick. I want to make pretty babies with you—” She snorts a laugh. “I want every minute of every day with you. Because I wantyou, and I loveyou.” I cup her cheek with my hand, soaking in the adoration coming from her gray-green eyes. “Please say you’ll be my wife.”
Her eyes brim with tears, and she nods. “Yes.”
The second the words escape her lips, my mouth is on hers, kissing her with all the love I have in my heart. We break apart, and I slip the ring on her finger.
“It’s perfect,” she says. She looks up at me, eyes shining, and says, “Thank you.” She bites her lip and adds, “I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.”
I shake my head. “I would have waited forever.” I run my thumb over her cheek and give her a teasing grin. “My love for you is infinite.”
She chuckles. “Is it a countable or uncountable infinity?”
“Does it matter?”
She tilts her head. “I guess not. Love isn’t like math.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are no rules, no algorithm to follow. You just have to know when it’s there.” She scoots a little closer to me. “And I know it’s here.”
“Yes, it is.” We settle in again. This time I’m holding her tight, and we’re watching the waves roll in and out.
