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Bronywyn
The ceiling fan whirls overhead as I lay here in the dark beside Tarnley. Part of me is more than ready to get this over with so we know exactly how it’s going to play out. But the other part of me—the undoubtedly more selfish side—never wants to leave this bed.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Our future,” I lie.
“We’re bonded, Bronywyn, and lying has never been your strong suit.”
A heavy sigh leaves my lips as I sit up. He flips on the lamp, sitting up beside me. “Don’t you feel like you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop?”
“What do you mean?”
“This plan, the different teams, all of it feels so well planned out that something is bound to go wrong.”
Tarnley chuckles and reaches forward to brush hair from my face. He tucks it behind my ear then takes my hand. “That’s why you have a plan,” he says, softly. “So things don’t go wrong. Or, so if they do, you know how to respond.”
He looks so hopeful, so incredibly handsome, that even if I wanted to argue—which I do—I decide not to. “You’re likely right.”
“I am definitely right.” He leans down and kisses my cheek. “Now, how about we do discuss our future?” He pulls away and reaches into the nightstand and then turns back to me, holding a blue velvet box in his hand.
“What the hell is that?”
Laughing, he opens it. “What do you think it is?”
I gasp, taking in the sight of the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen. Seated on a band of white gold, the orange gemstone is surrounded by diamond rays. The band itself is an infinity symbol with the gemstone sun seated right in the center of the apex. “Tarnley.” His name is barely above a whisper as I stare down at it.
“I know it’s not typical, but you are anything but.” He climbs off the bed and drops to a knee beside it. “It’s a sun because you, Bronywyn Walsh, have always been a ray of sunshine in my life. Even when I only knew midnight, there you were, illuminating the darkness inside my heart. You brought me back to life, my love—so many times—and without you, there is no living for me.”
My heart swells to a near painful size as heavy tears slip from my eyes. On the precipice of what could very well be our annihilation, Tarnley is the only thing I’ve ever wanted in my entire life.
“Will you marry me?” he asks, and I lose what little control I had over my sobs. They break free, making my shoulders shake as I throw myself forward and into his arms.
He tumbles backward, me on top, landing with a softthudagainst the carpeted floor. I straddle him and lean down to press my lips to his. “I already said yes, you dumbass.”
His deep chuckles reverberate through my soul, and I know that if we only have this one moment—this one last evening of joy—I will be able to move onto the afterlife with the knowledge that I loved with all I had.
And was loved just the same.
I sit up and hold out my hand as Tarnley removes the ring from the box and slips it onto my ring finger. “A perfect fit,” I say with a smile.
“I might have used some string while you were sleeping the other night.”
“Are you serious?”
He shrugs. “I wanted to make sure it was perfect.”
I stare down at the ring, happier than I ever thought possible. The gemstone is absolutely perfect. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Leaning down again, I force his head up as I wrap both arms around his neck and press my lips to his again. The kiss begins gentle, a caress full of promises, but as it deepens and the all too familiar butterflies fill my stomach, it turns into so, so much more.
He blurs us over so, in the next heartbeat, it’s my back against the floor. My legs go around his waist, and he grins into me, one hand gripping my left hip, the other wrapped around the back of my neck.
The knock at the door breaks us apart.
“Come on, you two. Open up!”
