Once he recognized Ford, he must have had his phone glued to us the whole night. We were a little distracted to notice.
It’s him. It’s me. I’m going viral. He’s going viral. My brain is short-circuiting.
I have to admit, though, it’s a beautiful video.
It’s literally Ford getting down on one knee, holding up a ring, and dolphins dancing and leaping out of the water behind him in the glow of the sunset.
The words across the video say, “Tampa Bay Beasts star proposes with dolphins watching!”
No wonder it went viral.
It continues on as he stands and I lean into him, watching the dolphins with him.
The caption reads, “But did she say yes?”
The comments ask and answer who the star is.
It’s making our announcement for us.
We’re really doing this.
I leap out of bed after watching it a full eight times, and I knock on Ford’s door. I don’t hear a reply, so I try the handle. It opens, and the room is dark. I walk over to the bed, and I find him fast asleep.
This could maybe wait until morning. I don’thaveto wake him. It’s not like we’re going to do anything about it in the middle of the night.
But I also can’t sit with this by myself until morning.
I shake him awake. “Ford?” I whisper, and then a little louder, “Ford!”
“Huh? Wha—?” he mutters, and I can’t help a tiny nervous laugh.
“Ford, wake up.”
He’s clearly groggy, but I shove my phone at him anyway.
“Wake up and watch this video.”
He’s half-asleep still as he squints at the screen that’s replaying the video over and over on a loop, and he watches all fifty-four seconds of it a full three times before what he’s looking at seems to register. “Can’t this wait until morning?”
“No. Watch it,” I demand.
“What is it?”
“Apparently it’s our engagement video as filmed by Carl and Mindy forty-seven.”
“Who the fuck are Carl and Mindy forty-seven? And how did they get your number to send this to you?”
“They didn’t send it to me, Ford,” I say, not bothering to hide my frustration that he’s not snapping out of sleep quickly enough to understand what’s going on right now. “It’s on TikTok. It’s going viral. Everyone is going to see it if they haven’t already, and we haven’t told anyone anything yet. Including my family. Includingyourfamily. Including my ex,who is your brother.”
He sits up straight as the realization hits. “Oh. Fuck.”
“Right. Oh. Fuck.”
He rubs his forehead, and he reaches for his own phone. He taps around on it, and then he curses again.
“What is it?” I ask.
He flashes his phone at me, and I see he has seventeen unread text messages and five missed calls.
