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“It is. I hope the rest of your stay is just as magical, if not more.”
“Thank you,” Anna said. “Goodnight.”
Anna hurried up to her bedroom with its view of the parking lot, laughing to herself about how ridiculously wonderful it all was. When she reached the door, she slid her key into the lock, already planning a hot bath, podcast, and then bedtime soon after.
Anna pressed the door open, stepped into the room, and immediately shrieked. There, seated on the edge of her bed, was the shadowy outline of a man. She whipped her hand to the left to turn on the light to reveal none other than Dean, her handsome boyfriend, who sat on her bed surrounded by what looked to be one hundred roses. Anna’s knees were weak.
“Dean?”
Dean’s eyes shimmered with longing. He stood from her bed, adjusting his suit jacket as he approached her gently. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
Anna’s heart swelled with joy. Slowly, she closed the door behind her and took a step toward him, understanding that this moment wasn’t one she wanted to forget. Not ever. She had to find a way to remember every single second.
Dean leafed into his suit pocket and removed a very small velvet box. Anna’s throat was tight, so much so that she wasn’t sure she could speak. “Dean…” she finally managed to say again, her voice raspy.
Dean dropped to one knee in front of her and took her left hand with his. “Anna, I love you.”
Anna felt on the verge of falling to her knees before him, if only because she wasn’t sure her legs would support her a moment longer. “I love you, too.”
“And I love the life we’ve built together so far,” Dean continued.
“Me too.” Anna’s hand shivered in his.
“The moment I met you, I knew my life was different,” Dean breathed. “Beforehand, I’d never experienced real, true love— the kind that isn’t self-serving and takes no record of wrongs. But with you, even early on, I felt that our love was the truest thing of all. And I would love to keep building that love and our life together. If you’ll have me.”
Anna’s shoulders were slack. All of her life, she’d envisioned a gorgeous engagement like this— yet she’d never thought it would come so soon. She was twenty-three and at the very beginning of her career. Her stove didn’t even work, for crying out loud.
But she knew in her heart that none of that mattered. Not as long as she and Dean had one another.
“Ask me!” Anna cried suddenly, laughing as Dean’s smile widened.
“You’re impatient,” Dean returned. “I’ve always loved that about you, too.” He then swallowed and asked, “Anna Crawford. Will you make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?”
Anna did drop to her knees after that. She threw her arms around him, whispered, “Yes! Of course I will,” and kissed him with her eyes closed. Around them, the rest of the world carried on with their lives as Anna and Dean solidified the only thing they truly needed: one another.
Afterward, Anna and Dean collapsed on the bed of the hotel and held one another, gazing at the glitz of Anna’s engagement ring and into one another’s eyes. Outside, a steady rain had begun to fall, and it soon mounted into a downpour, the raindrops pelting against the window. Anna cuddled closer to Dean and finally heard herself asking him about the logistics of the proposal.
“I asked the hotel receptionist over a week ago if I could do this,” he explained. “She was so excited.”
“She acted like she was up to something downstairs,” Anna said.
“She has already received an epic tip for her help,” Dean added with a laugh. “She helped me bring all the roses to the room, as well.”
“I can’t believe it.” Anna closed her eyes for a moment as, suddenly, Dean stood from the bed and hustled for the mini-fridge. There, he took out a bottle of champagne and wagged his eyebrows.
“Let’s make a toast to our future,” Dean said.
Anna bounced up and grabbed two plastic cups from the bathroom, the ones normally reserved for brushing your teeth. The plastic cups and the champagne seemed to perfectly reflect the state of their current relationship. They were young, mostly broke, and willing to make anything work.
Dean uncorked the champagne, and bubbles floated down the neck before he poured.
“Dean?” Anna surprised herself with her own voice. “You’re the love of my life.”
Dean’s eyes widened, and he hurried forward to kiss her on the lips. “You’re the love of my life.” He then filled the plastic glasses, which they clinked together and drank from. Anna’s mind swirled with ecstasy.
Long after midnight, after they’d drunk the rest of the bottle of champagne and talked about their love till they were blue in the face, Anna sighed and said, “Do you have to go back to school tomorrow?”
Dean shook his head mischievously. “I have the rest of the week off.”
