I drag my fingertips along the surface, feeling the folds in the paper.
Over the past two and a half years, Griffin and I have traveled all over the world. Sometimes we’re in one place for months at a time, others are brief stops. Griffin works on property investing, and I review the entertainment structure for each hotel as the Director of Entertainment Affairs. I get to be with my favorite person and do something I love while seeing the world.
When we have the time and it’s safe enough, we take road trips. As promised, Griffin takes a million terrible selfies and posts them on social media, chronicling our adventures across the world. Last year for my twenty-fourth birthday, we spent a month in Greece and visited the mountaintop monasteries in Meteora.
I tap a spot on the map. “How about here?”
Griffin slips the blindfold off, and I blink against the sudden brightness, working to focus on the map spread out in front of me. Of course, my finger is planted in the middle of the ocean.
But our middle of the ocean destination becomes irrelevant when I spot the tiny velvet box placed right beside my finger. My stomach flips. “What’s this?”
He bends to kiss me, lips moving over mine when he says, “A birthday present. Go ahead and open it.”
My hands are shaky as I pick up the box and carefully flip it open. I’m oddly disappointed when I find a pair of diamond earrings inside. “These are beautiful.”
“Not what you expected?” Griffin’s still standing behind me, hands on my shoulders.
I tip my head back and find him smiling down at me. Somewhere between blindfolding me and getting the map out he put on a shirt and shorts. I’ve made it very clear over the past two and a half years that I’m not in a rush for him to put a ring on my finger. If it were up to Griffin, we’d already be married, but I’m young and he can be impulsive when it comes to things like staking his claim on me. So I told him no ring before I turned twenty-five. And now I’m twenty-five.
He spins the chair so I’m facing him instead of the table. It’s a little disorienting. He cups my face in between his palms and bends to kiss me. I expect some tongue to go with the pretty diamonds he gave me, so when he tries to pull away, I fist his shirt to keep him close. I upset his balance, and he has to brace himself on the table behind me to keep from tipping the chair over.
He smiles against my mouth. “So you like them, then?”
“They’re sparkly and pretty, so thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He half smirks as he pulls back. “I have something else for you.”
“What kind of something else?”
“You’ll have to let me go if you want to find out.”
I release his shirt, and he drops down in front of me. At first I think he’s going to go for orgasm number six of the morning, until he slips his hand in his shorts pocket and produces another velvet box, this one bigger than the last.
My mouth goes dry, and my whole body breaks out in a wave of goose bumps. “Is it a matching necklace?” I go for sassy, but it comes out with a waver.
“Would you like it to be a matching necklace?” Griffin shifts so he’s on one knee in front of me.
“Necklaces are nice.” I curve my fingers over my knees, pressing them together so I don’t ruin what I think very well might be one of the most memorable moments of my life by flashing him.
“I hear a ‘but’ in there.”
“You bought me a diamond necklace last Christmas.”
“Maybe I bought you another one.” He’s playing with me.
“Griffin.” I can’t stop my knees from bouncing.
“Cosy.”
“You’re stalling.”
“I’m drawing out the anticipation.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you it’s not nice to keep the birthday girl waiting?”
“Well, in all fairness, you made me wait a good two years for this.” Despite the joking, he swallows audibly and exhales a long slow breath. He reaches up to skim my cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Now, can I have my present, please?”
He laughs and picks up one of my slightly clammy hands with his, bowing so he can kiss my knuckle. He meets my gaze with a resolved one of his own. “You’re an amazing woman, Cosy, and I’m lucky to have found you. I love you more every day, and now that I have you, I don’t ever want to let you go. I want to walk through this life with you by my side, as my wife.” He flips the tiny box open and the single diamond glints in the morning light. It’s beautiful and delicate and stunning, and exactly what I hoped would be in that tiny velvet box. “Marry me, Cosy Felton. Let’s make a million amazing memories together.”