I whip my head toward the nightstand, finding the tissue I tossed there landed in one of the candles and is currently on fire. I quickly pluck it out, tossing the flaming tissue to the ground and stomping it out beneath my boot, coughing on the smoke.
Turns out candles and rose petals are great in theory, but hazardous in practice.
This entire thing is so cheesy it hurts, but two years with Blair Montrose has taught me how to handle the pain. I mean, if I can survive her unpredictable mood swings and verbal barbs, I can survive a little candle-induced smoke inhalation, right? I’m still fanning the air trying to clear the smoke when Blair enters the room. My first instinct is to grab her, kiss her, but I stick to the script and wait for her to notice the display I’ve laid out for her.
She pauses at the threshold, one hand on the doorframe, like she might be ready to call an evacuation. "What's this?" she asks, blinking.
"Happy Anniversary, babe." I smirk, proud of the set-up but even prouder of her dramatic pause.That moment of shocked surprise is exactly what I was going for.
"It looks like Valentine's Day exploded in here," she deadpans, eyes moving from the rose petals to the candles to the way I've dimmed the lights. I wait for the sarcastic eye roll I know is coming, but instead, there's a smile twitching at the corner of her lips. She almost looks...impressed?
Nah. I must be getting delusional from oxygen deprivation.
Crossing the room in a few long strides, I pull her to me, breathing her in like she's fresh air. Her dark eyes catch the low light and my heart skips a damn beat. "I told you I’d win you over with my romantic side,” I drawl, winking.
"If bywin me overyou mean set off the fire alarm, then you're halfway there," she teases, leaning into me with a chuckle. The warmth of her body leeches into mine as her eyes scan the room again, the soft, awestruck look on her face making the last hour of work more than worth it. "You've been busy."
"Ah, it was nothing,” I say, sweeping a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
The dancing flames of the candles scattered throughout the room reflect in her eyes as she shakes her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you did all this."
"Yeah, well. I wanted to get it right,” I murmur, brushing my lips against hers and trying to keep my nerves in check. It feels like the first day we moved in together all over again, my body buzzing with anxious energy and adrenaline.
"It's... it's really sweet, Matty,” she whispers, her throat bobbing with a swallow as she sweeps her gaze over the room again. “Now I feel dumb for only getting you a watch.”
I dig a hand into my pocket, brushing my fingertips against the velvet box. “Blair,” I start, fumbling to pull it out, hoping that I don’t have nearly as much trouble with my carefully rehearsed speech. “These past two years together have been the best of my life. I’m so in love with you, and I know I can’t give you a mate mark, but…”
She arches an eyebrow, watching me suspiciously as I fish the box out and flip it open, dropping to a knee. Her eyes land on the ring inside– a two-carat black diamond solitaire in a six-prong platinum setting– and her mouth drops open.
I hold my breath as I watch her reaction, knowing that if I botch this moment, she'll never let me live it down. Her eyes widen, and for a second, I think I’ve actually gone and blown her mind. Then I see the flicker of doubt, and I panic that maybe this was the wrong move– it’s too traditional, toohuman…
"Matty,” she rasps, voice wavering as her eyes ping back up to meet mine. “Is this…?”
"A commitment," I interrupt, hoping that maybe if I explain, I can still salvage this. "Since I can’t mark you with my teeth, I figured this would be the next best thing. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Blair. If you’ll have me."
The raw edge in my tone surprises even me, emotion bleeding into every word. I’ve said some version of the sentimentto her a million times, in a million different ways, but never quite likethis. Never with a ring. The diamond catches the light, but it’s her face I can’t look away from.
"Matty…” Her eyes glisten as she takes the ring box from me with a delicate touch, the same hand that used to be so firm in pushing me away now trembling. "It’s beautiful."
"You’re beautiful," I say, not even caring that I’m coming off like a walking Hallmark card right now. “So…?”
Blair clutches the ring box tightly in her hands, and for a second, I worry she’s going to throw it at me. It’d be pretty on-brand for my feisty, fierce girlfriend. Instead, she bites her lip, her chin quivering as she looks down at me. “You really wanna be stuck with me forever?”
My lips split into a wide grin. "Is that a yes?”
"Yes,” she breathes, eyes going glassy with tears. “Yes, you big romantic idiot. Of course,yes."
The second she says it, I’m on my feet and her arms are around my neck, our mouths fusing in a kiss that makes the whole world fade away. I sweep her up in a way that would’ve gotten me stabbed when we first met. Now, it just earns me an enthusiastic moan as I kiss her within an inch of her life, tasting her ‘yes’ on her tongue, writing promises against it with my own.
She pulls away for air, gasping and laughing at once. "Put the ring on before I change my mind."
I pull it from the box and slip it on her finger, grinning like a madman when it fits perfectly.Just like us."Guess this means you’re my fiancée,” I say proudly, beaming a smile at her.
She traces a finger down my chest, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. "That’s such a human term. Why don’t we go withmate.”
“Yeah?” I ask, a little too enthusiastically.
“Yeah,” she laughs, glancing down at the ring, wiggling her fingers so it catches the light. “A black diamond?” she muses,her lips pulling into a smirk as she glances up at me through her eyelashes.
