“I’m gettin’ you a damn ring.”
I press my lips to his, telling him, “I love you,” before I tuck my head against his chest and let the steady beating of his heart lull me to sleep.
•
“Right through here,” Eric directs the movers to follow him, carrying a box of his own into the apartment.
As soon as we touched down at home, he called a team of movers to bring all of my stuff to his apartment, and on the way home, he stopped at a jeweler to buy me a ring. I wasn’t allowed to help; he insisted that after a year and a half of having other people help him get it right, he needed to prove himself. I was a little nervous, worried that he would grab the biggest, most expensive thing in the store just because of the price tag, but he absolutely nailed it. A cushion cut diamond sits on my ring finger, surrounded with a halo, resting on a delicate band laced with smaller diamonds. It’s definitely a luxury, but it isn’t gaudy.
Martina had a few good moments before we left yesterday; she recognized Eric as a good friend, someone who was kind to her and told her a nice story, and I think that wasenough for him. If she had known who he was, if she had really known, I don’t think that he could have gotten on that plane. I don’t think thatIcould have.
I think her remembering their story time was the best goodbye that he could have asked her for.
As more of my things pile into the apartment, I think about the ways that I’ll make it look lived in; we’ll have more than two throw pillows on the couch, that’s for sure. I’ll put up some photos and set a few plants out to bring a little life to the space. Fake plants, maybe, because I’m not really all that great with the real thing. There will be more food in the fridge than there is beer, and I’ll put a bowl of fruit out on the counter. Even if we never snack out of it, at least it will look like people exist in here.
Taking my hand in his, Eric gives me a spin, bringing me close to his body and dancing with me to music that isn’t playing.
“What are you doing?” I laugh, following his lead.
“Lovin’ on you,” he tells me.
He’s been saying it for a year, and I still haven’t gotten used to the butterflies that unleash inside of me when the words roll off of his tongue.
When I met Eric, I was a completely different person than I am now. I never expected my one night stand to turn into a man that I couldn’t get out of my mind, a man that I could trust with my heart, a man that would do anything to save me from something that I thought I would never escape.
I didn’t think that I was meant for a love like this, but here I am, thriving in it. So filled with love every single day that I don’t know where I keep it all.
He gave that to me, and I will forever be grateful that I found him.
EPILOGUE
Davis
3 months later
Cupping Sophia’s face in my hands, I bend down to meet her in a bruising kiss, fusing my lips to hers. Her arms wrap around my neck, her hands tangling into my hair before we separate.
“Is this the craziest thing we’ve ever done?” She asks.
“I dunno,” I shrug, “I’ve done some shit with my big toe that might have this beat, but it’s a close second.”
The crisp white of her bikini makes her tan look even deeper, which just serves to make the seafoam of her eyes look even more fucking unreal. If I could pause a moment in time to log away in my mind forever, it would be this one, right here. I could stare at her, lit up like an angel on the beach under the Florida sun, for the rest of my fucking life.
Sophia presses her palms to my chest, running her thumbs over my piercings while she gets up on the tips of her toes to kiss me again. “We’re really gonna be late now,” she laughs. “They’re gonna be mad.”
“They’ll be fine, Sugar.”
We trek back to our cabana, not more than a couple minutes away from us, and I pick up a small cardboard envelope, folded in at the sides. Grabbing my phone from thetable in front of us, I scroll through my contacts and pull up FaceTime.
“Hey, asshole,” Colt says from the screen of my phone. “You’re late.”
“Sorry ‘bout that,” I tell him as Sophia sticks her left hand in front of the camera, showing off her ring, “we decided to get married real quick first.”
Rowan can be heard screaming‘what?!’in the background as she rushes toward the phone, and I think a vein in Colt’s neck might burst. “Bullshit,” he challenges.
I hold up my own left hand, showing off a silver band wrapped around my finger before panning to the officiant still walking along the beach. “Not bullshit, old man. Just did it five minutes ago.”
“It was a beach wedding,” Sophia adds with a giggle.
