Page 112 of All Along

“What’s the book?” I can probably find it in the dark. I spent nearly as much time in the library as Paisley did, which is saying a lot.

“It’s about the Pythagorean theory,” he begins before giving me the exact title.

“I got this. I’ll be right back. And then we can go to dinner.”

I switch on the flashlight of my phone and march toward the mathematics section. I locate the aisle I want and run my finger down the books until I find the one I’m looking for. I grab it and whirl around to return to the circulation desk but nearly bump into Caleb.

I clutch my chest. “You scared me. I didn’t realize you followed me.”

He chuckles and holds out his hand. “I wouldn’t let you run around the library in the dark without me.”

We reach the end of the aisle and Caleb tugs me toward the back exit.

“Where are we going? We can’t sneak out the back with a book.”

He continues to lead me away from the front. What he doesn’t do is answer my question.

“I’m serious, Caleb. I may have done a lot of bad things when I was in high school, but I don’t steal books.”

He chuckles. “Stealing books is where you draw the line?”

“Yep.”

“You couldn’t draw the line on stealing the car from driver’s ed?”

“I didn’t steal the car. We got lost.”

“You left the island and didn’t return for eight hours.”

“There wasn’t a GPS in the car.”

He barks out a laugh. “And you didn’t have a phone with you?”

“Stop bringing up my past,” I grumble since I have no defense. We merely ‘borrowed’ the car from driver’s ed but he obviously doesn’t believe me.

“We’re not stealing the book.” He rounds the corner and I notice our favorite study room has light coming from it.

“What’s going on?”

He’s obviously up to something. I should have realized as much when he asked me to find a book on the Pythagorean theory. But I forget to be logical when Caleb’s around. He scrambles my senses. In the best way.

He leads me to the room and I gasp. He’s turned our study room into a romantic picnic spot. There’s a blanket on the floor with a picnic basket on it, and a bottle of wine is chilling in an ice bucket.

“You made us a picnic.”

He nods to the book. “Open it.”

I notice a card sticking out of the book and pull it out. I flip it open.Marry me.

I lift my gaze but Caleb is no longer standing in front of me. He’s on his knees at my feet holding out a jewelry box. Holy mermaids in the sea! It’s finally happening.

He takes my hand. “Will you marry me, Bunny?”

“You did all this to propose to me?”

“You said you wanted a romantic proposal. I want to give you everything you ever wanted. I’m making up for those years we lost.”

“We didn’t lose those years.” I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this. “If we would have gotten together in high school, who knows if we would have stayed together. This way you had the chance to follow your dream of being a soldier without worrying if I could handle the long separations. And I got to attend the college of my choice without worrying if I was too far away from you.”

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