AllFreeNovel
Share Us
26
Paul
Igot to work that morning being unusually grateful that it was Friday. Sure, my skydiving trip with the guys last weekend had really helped me get over myself when it came to worrying about Shelby taking that job. She’d told me she turned it down to be with me, and I just needed to trust her on that. And since our friendship was the foundation of our entire relationship, I felt like I’d be an idiot not to do that.
So, when I got home from Charleston, I did my best to show her I wasn’t dwelling on it. We talked and laughed and didn’t bring any of that job stuff up. And it wasn’t because I didn’t want to risk bringing it up for any whiny reasons. It was because I’d officially taken her at her word that she didn’t want to go.
Things may have been great with Shelby this week, but at work, it had been a seriously long week. For some reason, it seemed like I’d been dealing with way more than my usual workload. Every day there was some extra task I’d had to do outside of my shop, and I couldn’t understand why it always had to be me running around like I was a lance corporal or something. I’d paid my dues years ago, and yet here I was, reduced to being an errand boy, unable to say no because the chain of command wasn’t to be argued with.
Right before lunch, I’d sent a text to Shelby asking how her day was going. Normally she responded right away, and while I knew it was clingy and dumb, I found that I got nervous when she didn’t. It hadn’t always been that way, but after what happened in February, I couldn’t help myself. Hopefully, it would fade over time. If not, I was pretty sure I’d be in the running for the world’s most annoying boyfriend.
Boyfriend. That was what I was. It seemed like such a small and insignificant word when I held it up to how I felt about her. Our history. Our bond. Even thinking of myself as her best friend seemed like a better fit somehow. But boyfriend? I needed to figure out how I was going to upgrade that status soon. It was time for us to put the recent drama behind us and move forward together.
I’d just finished packing some gear for a round of flights next week when I heard the first notes of a song start playing over the loudspeaker. I peered up from my crouched position on the floor where I’d just finished with a pack, looking for the source of the music. Finding nothing, I stood, slowly walking around the large hangar looking for signs of life.
I was about to call out for someone when three Marines ran in. I raised a brow at them and cupped my hands around my mouth so they’d hear me. “What’s with the music?”
But they didn’t reply. They simply started dancing.
All the air left my lungs in a rush as my eyes searched the hangar. More Marines ran in from other directions, getting into formation with the first three. They jumped and did arm motions, then paired off and started cheesily dancing with each other.
I reached up and covered my mouth with my hand. No freaking way. The upbeat pop song was familiar, but it wasn’t until Bruno Mars’s melodic voice sang out the last line of the chorus that I realized the name of the song.“Marry You.”
And on that note, Will and Chase ran in from their shop in the next hangar over. They jumped in with the rest of the guys, well-versed on the choreography, and I couldn’t help but double over with laughter as I watched Will’s overly expressive face. This jerk lived with me and still managed to keep this a secret. When could they have possibly practiced this? Oh, wait. All week when I’d needed to leave the shop for an hour at a time.
I backed up, watching in bewilderment as even more Marines joined the crowd in front of me as Bruno went on with his yeah, yeah, yeahs and no, no, noes. As if that weren’t crazy enough, my higher-ups appeared on the catwalk above us, putting their hands on the rails to watch with huge grins on their faces. It probably would be too much to expect them to come down here and join in, but I gave them a wave and a grin, grateful for their support, nonetheless.
The crowd of Marines changed their formation and moved into one giant hive in the middle. It was like synchronized chaos. I couldn’t stop laughing, half in amusement—because they really did look ridiculous doing this dance in their cammies and flight suits—and half in anticipation for what I knew was coming.
Right when the singing paused for a long instrumental break, the crowd parted down the middle and revealed Shelby standing there, wearing a short red dress that flared out at her hips. It looked like a dance costume, which instantly made me hope she’d join in on this madness. Her hair fell in waves around her shoulders, and it looked so soft that I ached to run my hands through it. Her lips were painted the same color as the dress, and they were curved into a freaking gut-wrenching smile.
On the next big beat, she made my day by leaping in to join the dance, doing the same moves as the guys. Heat shot up the back of my neck as I watched her, a burst of color in the middle of all that olive green. She was probably the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my entire life. And she’d done this for me. She’d gotten with my command to set this up, and then she’d turned this group of knuckleheads into flash mob dancers.
Shelby was looking back at me and singing the lyrics to the song about wanting to marry me, and as scared as I’d been on Valentine’s Day, I was pretty sure the amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins at this moment would rival that night. I had no idea what to do with my hands, so I just kept covering my face or crossing my arms. What was happening?
Even though it was incredibly hard to take my eyes off Shelby, movement off to the side attracted my focus. My parents, Aria, Shelby’s parents, Layla, and Lyndi all came in, shocking the crap out of me by joining in with the final beats of the dance.
“No way,” I breathed, pacing so I could collect myself. “No way.”
I turned back to watch, and as the music wrapped up, Shelby turned to Aria, who ran up and handed her a small black box. My heartbeat kicked into overdrive when I realized what it was. It was obvious that this would happen, of course, but I couldn’t help feeling shocked that it really was. I guess I’d just never imagined that I’d be the one getting proposed to.
Shelby gave me a shaky smile as she stepped toward me, taking my hand and pulling me forward as the Marines and our family and friends formed a circle around us, continuing to dance. She started to lower herself to one knee, and I jerked my head back, unable to process what was going on. Part of me wanted to tell her she didn’t have to do that, but it was part of the thing, so I squashed that down.
From her spot on her bended knee, Shelby gazed up at me and opened the box, speaking loud enough so I could hear her over the music. “Paul Bristol, I did all of this because I need you to know that you deserve stuff like this. I know I pushed you away before because I thought you deserved better than what I could give you, and for that, I’m sorry. But I want to have a long, happy life with you, and we couldn’t be more perfect for each other. I’ll choose you over anything that comes, because you deserve that too, andthatI can do.”
My throat was completely closed against the lump there, but I was absolutely not going to lose it in front of my entire squadron and our families. No matter how wrecked I was on the inside, I was going to remain cool as a freaking cucumber on the outside.
“Paul, will you marry me?” Shelby asked, grinning up at me.
I nodded, and when she started to rise from her knee, I swooped down and picked her up, gathering her against me and kissing her fiercely. She crossed her ankles and bent her legs at the knee, and I spun her around in slow circles while everyone else cheered and the music faded out.
Whoever was in charge of the music—Aria, probably—closed Bruno’s song and replaced it with the unmistakable first lines from Dirty Dancing’s “Time of my Life.” And it was with that song playing in the background that I kissed her, not as her boyfriend, but as her fiancé. Achievement, unlocked. Next stop, husband. And if I had anything to say about it, I’d make that upgrade happen as soon as possible.
