The Absence of Olivia(82)

He was right behind me, his front pressing into my back, and I soaked up the warmth he was giving me. He leaned down and rested his chin on my shoulder, his hands behind his back, and just looked at me as I slid the floss between my teeth.

After a moment, it became weird, the way he was staring at me and not speaking. I stopped mid-floss, and asked with a garbled voice due to the fingers in my mouth, “What?”

“Nothing.”

“What?” I asked again, more insistent the second time.

“Have you ever played Minecraft?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “No, can’t say that I have, what with being an adult and all.”

“It’s a pretty sweet game. Jax showed it to me. Ruby too.”

“Glad you enjoyed your time with them,” I said with a laugh.

“I did. But I felt bad, them showing me something special to them, so I had to show them something special too.”

“Did you show them how you can fit your whole fist in your mouth?” I asked, letting out an exceptionally unladylike snort with my laughter.

“No,” he said, all laughter gone from his voice. “I showed them this.” As he said the words, one of his hands came out from behind his back, and it was holding a black, velvet box. Nestled inside the box was a solitaire diamond ring. Princess cut. Perfect.

“What is that?” I asked in a whisper, a piece of floss still wedged between two teeth. I quickly pulled it out and turned to face him.

“I’m hoping it’s the ring you’ll wear for the rest of your life.” He slowly knelt to the floor on one knee, took my left hand in his, and looked up at me with the most intense but beautiful brown eyes. “Evelyn Marie Reynolds, I’ve been waiting my whole life to fall in love with you. I’d like to spend the rest of my life showing you how hard I’ve fallen. I can’t promise it will always be easy, but I can promise it will always be better with you by my side. Will you marry me?”

He asked the question, but didn’t wait for my response before he slid the ring onto my finger. My mouth was still gaping open, and I couldn’t make any words come out. Tears welled in my eyes, making everything blurry, but I couldn’t pull my gaze from the ring that sat on a previously empty and unadorned finger.

“I asked Jax and Ruby if they thought it was okay for you to marry me, and they were totally cool with it.”

I blinked down at him. “You did what?” I said, my voice squeaky and sharp.

“Ruby and Jax give their blessing,” he said, smiling at me and rising to his feet.

I couldn’t hold myself back any longer. I flung myself at him, arms wrapping tightly around his neck and, of course, he caught me, holding me around my waist.

“I love you, Lyn.” His words were a whisper against my ear. “I want to have everything with you. And I want to start now.” He took in a breath, and then said, “Marry me.”

I shook my head against his shoulder, trying, with terrible results, not to cry. He pulled away from me, his hands coming up to my cheeks, wiping away my tears with his thumbs.

“Don’t cry, baby,” he said. Then, after he’d finished drying my tears, he said, “I’d like to hear an answer.” He was smiling, and even though we were in a bathroom of a hotel room, it was the most perfect thing I could have ever imagined.

“Yes, Nate. Of course, I’ll marry you.” I had no sooner said the words than he had me in his arms, lifting me up and spinning me around. When he set me down, I was on the countertop, his hips were between my knees, and he was kissing me.

“I love you,” he said against my mouth between kisses.

“I love you too,” I said, pulling back and looking him in the eyes. “I mean that, Nate. You’re everything to me.”

“I know, babe,” he said with a brilliant smile on his face. “You’re going to marry me.”

“I am,” I laughed. “And you’re going to marry me right back.”

He hauled me into his arms and carried me into the bedroom, flipping the lights off as he went, and tossing me onto the bed. I lost myself in a fit of laughter, but all the joking ceased as he appeared over me, his eyes dark and full of love.



Later that night as I lay in a foreign bed, in a foreign city, with Nate’s arms wrapped tightly around me, holding me close, I found myself unable to sleep.

I lifted my hand up into the moonlight that shot through our room in rays, examining the beautiful ring that fit me perfectly. I couldn’t remember a time when I was that happy.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard my best friend’s voice. You’re my very best friend, Evie. Promise me, you’ll be happy.

“I’m happy, Olivia,” I whispered into the dark room. “I’m finally happy.”



The End




Acknowledgements


I would first like to thank my readers. I know this book is a little different than my others, but those of you who dove in, enthusiastically, I love you so much. You make my job and life so amazing. Thank you.

To Lindy – thank you for your constant motivation and friendship. The last half of this book was written and inspired by all the texts we’d send back and forth, challenging each other, pushing each other, and teasing each other. I met you IRL while I was writing this book and it was awesome.