Page 103 of Sunsets & Slow Dances

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, cowboy. Hold your horses. Let’s not get crazy. I’m still a Scorpio. I can’t promise I’m not going to be jealous over silly things, but Icanpromise I won’t break up with you or slash anyone’s tires or anything.”

My jaw dropped as Nadia froze. She knew she was busted.

“Youdidslash Kendra’s tires.”

Kendra Abernathy got the tires on her Jeep slashed sophomore year and I always suspected Nadia was the one whodid it because Kendra left risqué Polaroids in my locker the week before the incident, but Nadia never copped to the crime.

“Whatever.” Nadia shrugged. “I never said I didn’t.”

It was true. She never denied it.

“I love you, my little criminal.” I pulled her back into my arms, and she placed her hand on my chest over my tattoo.

“Why did you get this on the day you proposed to Felicity?”

I always wondered if this would ever come up in my life, and I’d have to explain it. I hoped she would understand.

I took a deep breath. “When Felicity told me she was pregnant with Matty, I knew, or I guess I thought, the right thing to do was to ask her to marry me. I kept putting it off. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I told myself I was going to do it before Matty was born, but I didn’t. Felicity got tired of waiting, so she got in touch with a jeweler to speed the process along. On May tenth, I went to pick up the ring at the jeweler, but I couldn’t go inside. Next door, there was a tattoo shop. I got an idea and went home, grabbed the last letter you sent me, brought it down to the tattoo shop, and had them tattoo for now, for always in your handwriting over my heart.”

“That’smyhandwriting?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t even notice that.”

“I know it might sound crazy to other people, maybe even to you, but I just needed a part of you, of us, with me that day. I couldn’t buy the ring and ask someone to marry me and not have a part of you with me.”

“Yeah, that’s a little crazy,” she teased with a smile.

“I know it is, but it’s the truth.”

“Is that what the other version of the statement said? That you got that tattoo before you proposed to her?”

“No. No one knows what this tattoo means, but you and me. I don’t actually know what the statement says. Jessie writes allmy press releases. I told her what was going on, and she told me she would take care of it. I gave her the Cliffs Notes of our relationship, and she said it basically wrote itself asTheNotebookfan fiction, except Felicity does not come out looking sympathetic like James Marsden’s character Lon does in the movie, she comes off as a villain like Billy Zane’s character Cal inTitanic.”

“Callum! Nadia! Cake time!” my mom yelled from about fifty yards away.

It was so surreal hearing my mom call out our names again, just like when she used to call us in for dinner or to come downstairs to watch a movie.

We were halfway down the steps of the gazebo when Nadia stopped and looked up at me. “Do you think if we?—”

“Yes.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t even know?—”

“You want to get married in the gazebo.”

Her nose scrunched up, and I could see that I was right. That was exactly what she was going to say, but she didn’t want to admit it because she hated being predictable. She continued walking.

“Thatiswhat you were going to say.” I walked behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

She didn’t reply, just started walking faster. Unfortunately for her, she had on heels in grass, and I was much taller and stronger than her, so she couldn’t speed walk away from me.

I nuzzled my face into her neck and picked her up as she giggled. “Admit it. That was what you were going to say.”

“Never.” She giggled as she squirmed out of my arms. “I will never admit it.”

When we reached the cake area, I set Nadia down on her feet in front of me beside Chloe, my mom, and Michael, who hadMatty on his shoulders. I kept my arms around her and rested my chin on her head.

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