“What is it?” she said, looking down at her own hand, seemingly trying to spot what had thrown him off guard. He could barely contain his smirk. He only had to keep the charade alive for a few more seconds to get the reaction he wanted.
“You have a tan line here.” He ran his fingers over the spot where Dorian Blake’s engagement ring once sat. She scrunched her face, too, like she couldn’t bear the sight of it either. “Let me fix it.”
She buckled in her seat. “Fix it? You got coverup in here somewhere?” She feigned searching the interior of the car.
“Yes,” he said, looking serious, but his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Right here.” He leaned around her and pulled an item out of the glovebox.
She stiffened in his lap, her eyes frozen in place on the velvety ring box he had produced. Her chest stopped rising with her breath, and, not wanting her to suffocate from suspense, he decided to put her out of her misery.
He opened the box, revealing a sparkling pear-shaped diamond ring glistening on the cushioned bed.
“Oh my G–”
Adam smiled at the diamond ring and slipped it from its resting place, sliding it over her delicate ring finger to perfectly cover the tan line.
Looking up into her stunned eyes, his heart jumped, waiting to ask a very important question. One that he should’ve asked a lot sooner.
“Marry me?”
She burst into a wide smile with tears filling her eyes.
“I love you so much,” she said. Grabbing the sides of his face, she pulled him into a deep kiss.
“Well?” he asked, eyes still closed, when they broke apart.
“Yes. Yes, I will fucking marry you.”
With that, he devoured her.
* * *
“Fuck’s sake.”
Adam and Mercedes jolted apart at the intrusion. After his surprise proposal, they’d ravaged each other right there in the car where they still sat, entangled together.
“Sssh, they don’t know we’re here,” Adam whispered, crowding above her in the backseat.
“We know you’re in there, dickwad.” Dan’s voice came through with a loud knocking on the window.
Mercedes laughed. “Come on.” She pushed up into a seated position, forcing him to do the same with a frustrated growl.
“Hurry up! We’re waiting.” Dan’s voice beamed again with several more knocks.
“You better run when this door opens, man!” Adam shouted.
A few seconds later, they both spilled out of the car, fully clothed, their footsteps crunching under the gravel as they found their friends waiting on the mountain overlook. The same place they’d pushed a getaway car over not too long ago. The sun was starting to set, leaving pink and orange hues sailing across the sky, covering the city below in pastels.
Adam approached with his yellow Hawaiian shirt still hanging open at the front.
“What wereyoudoing?” Carlos smirked.
“Gross.” Dan slapped Carlos across the back of the head.
“How’s Brooke?” Mercedes placed a hand on Paul’s shoulder.
“Really good,” Paul smiled, and Adam noted it may have been the first real one he’d seen from his friend in a long time. “Better, if you’d waited until you were discharged to run off, you could have seen her for yourself.” His tone was scalding, but she laughed it off.
Carlos lit up a smoke as Dan ran his fingers through his hair.
