The Senior (College Years 4)

“Yeah. We’ve got the entire place to ourselves.” His eyes twinkle. “I say we try and christen as many rooms as possible before the night is over. What do you think?”

“Don’t you figure Jackson and Ellie have done the very same thing already?” I wrinkle my nose. They’re not even in the country right now. Jackson is on a European spring/summer tour and, of course, Ellie went with him, documenting everything via social media and her weekly podcast.

“Nah. Jackson never had much stamina.”

I laugh. “You are so full of shit.”

“You think so?” He raises a brow.

I nod, bringing the champagne glass up to my lips. I might be a little tipsy. “Definitely.”

“How about right now?” He suddenly gets down on one knee directly in front of me, reminding me of that day in his room when he got down on his knees and asked me to marry him.

After I lost the baby, we never brought getting married back up. I was too scared. Afraid he might’ve changed his mind, which is dumb.

This man is clearly going nowhere.

“Eli, what are you doing?” I ask him, my voice shaky.

“Ava Elizabeth Callahan.” He takes a deep breath. “I asked you to marry me about six months ago, and then I never followed through on my promise. I suck.”

I giggle. “You’ve been a little busy.”

“I have, but that’s no excuse. When a man finds the one woman he knows he will love for the rest of his life, he needs to make a move or…”

“Lose her forever,” I whisper, smiling. I might’ve said something similar to him a time or two.

“I love you so damn much. I want you to be my wife. To stand by my side through this new life we’re forming. I’m nervous about it, not gonna lie, but I know everything will be fine if I’ve got you with me. What do you say?” He pops open a box I didn’t even notice he had in his hand, and I gasp when I see the ring tucked inside.

It’s a deep green emerald, square cut and huge, flanked by a sleek diamond on each side. I lift my gaze to Eli’s to find him watching me.

“What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful,” I breathe.

“I had another one for you. Bought it and everything, but it was just so…I don’t know. Standard? Boring? And you’re not boring, Ava. Not even close. So I returned it and went in search of something else, something uniquely you. When I saw the emerald at a jewelry store a couple of months ago, it reminded me of your eyes,” he says as he takes the ring out of the box. “Give me your hand.”

I offer it to him, noting how my fingers tremble. His are shaky too and it takes him a second to jam the ring on my finger, both of us laughing. “It fits perfectly.”

The stones sparkle, thanks to the candles, the deep green of the emerald absolutely stunning.

“Will you marry me, Ava?”

“You’ve had this ring for a couple of months?” I ask incredulously.

He shrugs. “I bought the other one right after Thanksgiving.”

“Oh.” I glance down at the beautiful gift he’s given me. “You meant it when you said you wanted to marry me the first time.”

“Fuck yes, I did,” he says fiercely, scooting closer so he can touch my face, his fingers stroking my cheek. “You are the love of my life. My heart. My soul. We’ve been through some tough times. Being apart from you was one of the toughest things I’ve ever endured, but that means I got to fall in love with you twice—and that makes me a lucky man. I know this sounds like a bunch of corny shit, but I mean every word I say. Please say you’ll be my wife, Princess. Let me make you my queen.”

“Yes,” I murmur, my mouth stretching wide with a smile that can’t be contained. “Yes, yes, ye—”

He cuts off my response with his lips, kissing me hungrily, his hand sliding into my hair, his other hand touching the side of my neck, his fingers gentle as he streaks them across my skin. He kisses me until I’m moaning, my arms wrapping around his shoulders. Until I’m almost falling into his lap, right there on the deck.

Until we’re both laughing and I’m straddling him, his face pressed against my chest as he nips at my skin. As he whispers that he loves me.

As he whispers that I’m his.