Page 144 of Lotus

But he’s crouched over, zipping up a little backpack, looking at me standing in the doorway with the sweetest, most eager smile, and I honestly wouldn’t change these plans for anything. Even multiple orgasms.

Maybe.

“Is it time?” I grin, my smile gleaming.

“It appears so. They’ll be starting shortly.” Oliver slings the black backpack over his shoulder and reaches for my hand. “Let’s go.”

The walk to our secret hill is full of giggles and hand-holding, sticky air and clumsy feet, reminiscent of our childhood treks to this same location. And when we climb up the familiar ravine, I can’t help but think about how far we’ve come.

Two years ago, I sat here all alone, wishing on the fireworks, begging for something I thought would never come to be.

One year ago, I had my wish, but he was still so fragile, so full of missing pieces. But Ihadhim, he returned to me, and I’ve spent every waking moment since thanking the stars.

And this year…

This year is just the beginning of an entire lifetime of fireworks, promises, and starry-eyed wishes.

We lie side-by-side beneath the vibrant glow of the night sky as it bursts to life with radiant colors. I reach for Oliver’s hand, the fireworks muddling into painted blurs when my eyes well with the intensity of the moment. “You should make a wish,” I tell him in a hushed tone, my voice cracking in time with the sky. Turning my head, I find him already staring at me.

“All right.”

His gaze holds me in a striking clinch as reds and yellows and blues reflect within his sunset eyes. “You should write it down. Then it will definitely come true.”

Oliver smiles, and I swear I see nerves glittering in the upturn of his lips. With a small nod, he rolls to his opposite side and fetches his backpack, unzipping it and pulling out a sketchpad. He trails his index finger over the top page, and there’s a noticeable hitch when he inhales. “I did,” he responds, handing the pad of paper over to me.

We both sit up straight while butterflies dance to life inside my belly, their wings in a tizzy. I take the outstretched paper and cut him a quick glance, brimming with curiosity before flipping it open.

“I was working on a new scene for the comic and thought this particular part might interest you.”

Eyes casing over the images with the firework display as my nightlight, I absorb his beautifully crafted sketches. The first box is a picture of us holding hands as we walk down a familiar street. The second is us climbing this very hill. The third is a photo of fireworks overhead, while we lie beneath them, just as we are now.

The fourth is Oliver reaching into his backpack.

The fifth is me, looking through a comic strip—thiscomic strip. He’s captured this exact moment, right down to the fantastical twinkle in my bright blue eyes.

And the sixth box…

The sixth box.

A sob breaks loose, my hand flying to my mouth and catching the rebel tears that slip free.

“Syd…”

My eyes are squeezed shut, my whole body tremoring. I force a gulp of air into my lungs and turn to face him, pink-cheeked and stupefied. “Oliver,” I squeak out.

There he sits with a ring in his hand, the diamonds in the shape of a lotus flower.

Oliver resituates, propping himself up on one knee as the colors rain down, sheathing the diamond in dazzling hues, while illuminating the look of awestruck whimsy on his face. “Sydney,” he says, linking my fingers through his unoccupied hand as he holds up the ring. Oliver finds my eyes, my weeping, lovesick eyes, and holds tight. “I loved you then, I love you now, and I’ll love you until my dying day. You’re my best friend. You’re my queen,” he whispers, words spilling out like poetry. “Will you be my wife?”

I tackle him. I throw my arms around him and nearly steal the air from his lungs as we both topple backwards, and I pepper his face in a thousand tinyyeses. “I love you. I love you so much. Yes, yes, yes. Please marry the shit out of me.”

Oliver grins through my kiss attack, then rolls us over until he’s hovering above me. He takes my hand and places the lotus diamond around my ring finger, wiping away my tears. “I’m very relieved you said yes,” he whispers, our foreheads touching.

“Who else would I marry?” My nose scrunches up in a teasing way, my words echoing his response to me from many years ago, window to window.

A smile stretches. “It also would have been a bit awkward for the people waiting at the bottom of the hill.”

What?

---