Page 92 of Awakening
Inside the band, I had “My Gravity." Engraved in Ajaih’s own handwriting.
Dropping to one knee, Knox followed suit.
“Ajaih Jeffries,” I said, voice thick.
“Will you marry us?” Knox asked, smiling.
Her hands flew to her mouth, and tears poured down her cheeks like stars falling from heaven.
“I—I love you. Both of you. So so so so so damn much.”
“Is that a yes?” I asked, laughing through my own tears.
She dropped to her knees between us, wrapped her arms around our necks, and pulled us in.
“It’s a hell yes!”
I was still shaking when they slipped the rings on my fingers. Maverick’s, cool platinum with a diamond that glowed like a secret only we shared, and Knox’s, bold yellow fire that felt like sunlight caught in a gold band. My hands looked like devotion.
But nothing compared to how they looked at me. Both of them were down on one knee, still holding my hands and still looking up like I was holy. Maverick’s eyes were misty from the tears he’d shed, that dimple threatening to sink me entirely. Knox’s smile was sexy, confident, like he just knew I would say yes. My heart? Gone, given, FOREVER.
I nodded, whispering “Yes,” again more to myself than them, like it might make it even more real.
Then the moment exploded in laughter and tears, not the chaotic kind, but the kind that tastes like peace. They stood up and kissed me, Maverick first, tender and slow, like his mouth was memorizing every part of my answer. Then Knox, who kissed me with a grin behind it, the way he always does when he’s overwhelmed and deeply in love. Their arms wrapped around me like we’d always belonged.
I didn’t even know I was still crying until Maverick wiped my cheeks and whispered, “You good, Baby?”
All I could do was nod and press my forehead to his chest. “Better than good,” I said, “I’m—I’m a muthafucking fianceeeeeeee,” I said,waving my ring fingers in both their faces like I was Angel Reese and Mav and Knox were Caitlin Clark. They both chuckled at my silliness.
We stayed like that for a while, wrapped up in each other, until the chef brought out champagne and hors d’oeuvres. I nibbled and drank, but all I could taste was joy.
Yanna and Caleb were the first to come over, Yanna screaming softly as she hugged me from behind, careful not to smudge my makeup.
“You’re fiancée times TWO now? My God, JaJa.” Tears in her eyes. “I told you your love story was going to be damn near legendary.”
Caleb kissed my cheek and winked at Knox and Mav. “Beautiful proposal, y’all both held it together better than I thought you would.”
Knox chuckled, “I almost threw up twice, for the record.”
“Same,” Maverick added, “I had three backup speeches. Ended up saying none of them.”
I laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe. Dana and Ahmir came over next, both of them beaming with love, pride, and excitement. Dana pulled me into a hug so tight I squeaked.
“If he makes her blush, let her have fun, let her explore. We’ll always love her, but we may not be her forever, and she deserves to be open for it when it lands at her feet,” she said, repeating what she said the night I told her and Yanna about Maverick.
Holding up my hands to admire the rings, “You sparkle like wealth and intention. Big Ja! Never the little!” We laughed as Ahmir came and wrapped his arms around me.
“Freckles, I’m hugging a different woman from the unsure but beautiful woman I met over a year ago. The woman I’m hugging right now knows that she deserves everything happening to her. She knows that we all worship the ground she walks on and rightfully so. And she knows exactly who she is.” he kissed my temple. “Congratulations, Baby.”
“Y’all niggas showed out tonight,” Ahmir said to the boys, dapping them both up, “I hope you know you’ve set the damn bar.”
In bed later that night, the three of us wrapped in each other. My dress lay in a pile at the foot of the bed. Maverick was shirtless, tattoos glowing in the moonlight. Knox sat behind me, his fingers in my hair, his lips brushing my shoulder.
“You know you changed everything,” Maverick whispered, “From the moment I saw you.”
“Same,” Knox said, kissing the back of my neck, “And I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you what that means.”
I turned to face them, fully unclothed now in every sense of the word, no armor, no walls.
