Page 106 of Mayflower

She produces a little laugh, but it gets cut off. She swallows hard, her eyes on the little black box in my palm before her. Her chest starts rising and falling heavily. And no, Kat can’t control her emotions right now. The number of times she bites her lips, then licks them—there won’t be any red lipstick left on them soon.

She finally looks me in the eyes and starts nodding rapidly.

I dip my head and raise my brows to encourage her to say it.

“Yes,” she says, still nodding, her lips spreading in a smile. “Oh, hell, yes, babe! Yes!”

I rise to my feet, and she jumps off her chair and into my arms, laughing like a maniac and kissing my face, which I’m pretty sure will get the rest of her red lipstick.

My heart is thudding in excitement. “Hold on.” I am yet to see her reaction when I show her her ring.

She grins when I open the box then take out the ring and put it on her ring finger. She’s puzzled, looking at it.

“What is this exactly?” She lifts her hand in front of her face, inspecting the masterpiece.

Okay, so I could’ve gotten her a million-dollar diamond, the largest rarest gem I could find. Anything eccentric or extravagant. But I know Kat, and I know she doesn’t get impressed with meaningless things, no matter the cost.

So, here’s what she gets.

Those shark teeth we collected almost a year ago—they sat in my drawer for a while. When she moved in, she put them in a glass case.

Our matching wedding bands, made to order, are made of rose gold and black titanium and inlaid with shark teeth fragments.

Her main ring is rose gold with a medium-sized shark tooth, the one we found together, outlined with pink gold, and adorned with dark pink diamonds. It looks somewhat vicious, but also gorgeous—like her.

“Is this”—her frown softens at the recognition—“a stone?”

“It’s a shark tooth, Kat. The shark tooth.”

She lifts her eyes at me, and if I doubted for a second that she would find the ring eccentric and silly, I sure as hell know I hit the spot because Kat’s eyes are sparkling with glee.

“You did this? For me?” She wraps her arms around me, leaning into a hug. “Arch, I love you so much. So fucking much. It’s perfect. It’s… So perfect… And so are you. It’s… I don’t know what to say…”

She keeps talking but doesn’t pull back to look at me. I know Kat. She never talks nonsense or blabbers or gets generous with fancy words. Unless she’s emotional.

I pull back and duck my head to see her eyes. She brushes her cheek with her fingers and smiles awkwardly. And I see it, the sight so rare and so beautiful—Kat tearing up.

Except this time, she’s smiling through tears. And this time, I won’t tease her about it.

“Kat, wild thing,” I whisper, tilting her chin until her sparkly eyes are on me. “I love you more than anything. You know that already. And I’ve never felt prouder and happier than when I am by your side. I want to make sure that I always am.”

She nods, leans in, and kisses me. “Can we tell Dad?”

She doesn’t say “my dad” anymore, just says “Dad,” and it warms my heart.

“Of course. Tell everyone,” I say.

She grins, spins on her heel, and goes for her phone right away.

I pull out mine because there is one person I can’t wait to tell, my brother.

So, I text Droga.

Me: She said yes.

He responds right away.

Droga: Congrats, asshole.

---