Page 273 of Banter & Blushes
Replace broken jukebox
Make her dance (even if she says she won’t)
Steal her rag and kiss her stupid
Tell her she’s it. Every version of forever
Hope she believes it
Ask her to make a mess of life with you anyway
My heart skips. I look up, my throat tight. “Keigan…”
He holds out a tiny velvet box before I can finish. No flash. No kneeling. Just him, standing there like this is the most natural thing in the world.
“Item eight,” he says, his voice a little rough. “Spend the rest of our lives dancing in this messy, beautiful, completely ridiculous thing we built. You in?”
I don’t answer right away.
I step into him, slide my arms around his neck, and kiss him likeit’s a promise. Because it is.
When I pull back, I whisper against his lips, “You had me at fries.”
His laugh is warm against my cheek, and when he slips the ring on my finger—right there under the stars and salt air—it feels less like an ending and more like a beginning.
The Clever Lime waits behind us. The world waits ahead.
And if I happen to spot a camera flash, well… let them try to capturethiskind of magic.
