“Yep.” I pull out the small black box from my purse and hold it in my palm.
He stares at it, without taking it, then looks at me.
“Is that what I think it is?” His grin pulls higher on one side.
“I don’t know. Open it.” I shrug, then beam at him. I’ve been holding on to it for weeks, and I cannot wait to see his reaction.
He picks up the box and slowly pries it open. When he sees what’s inside, his expression can only be described as giddy.
“You got me a wedding band.”
“It matches mine,” I tell him proudly and hold my hand up next to the box. It’s black tungsten carbide instead of gold, but it has the same detailing as mine with little diamonds around the center.
He keeps staring at it without making a move to put it on.
“Do you like it?”
“I love it. I’m just…” His throat works and he turns to me, covering my mouth with his and kissing me hard. It’s quick but speaks everything.
“Thank you,” he says finally.
“It’s been a whole year. I figured I better put a ring on it.”
“I was yours from the moment I saw you.” He removes the ring from the box and puts it on, then stares at it some more.
“Mmm…not quite.”
“The first moment I really saw you.”
“I can’t believe you sent me to jail.”
He winces.
“But if you hadn’t, then who knows where we’d be.”
“We’d have found our way to each other.”
“You think?”
“I know.” He places his hand next to mine and admires our rings together.
“Hey, I have an idea. Let’s get married tonight.”
“What?” He laughs then realizes I’m not kidding. “For real?”
“I nod. This time I’m going to remember every second.”
“Fuck I love you, H.B.W.”
I let out a laugh.
“No? You don’t like that one?” he asks.
“I’m only wondering when you’re going to finally decide which nickname you like best.”
He reaches up and ghosts his fingers along my jaw. “I stopped trying to pick. They’re all yours. You’re my everything.”
It’s hours later when we stumble out into the warm Vegas night.
