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“Someone had to?!” she retorted, laughing.
“Someone likeme?”
“You would take my last bite?”
“No…” he grunted – and smiled sideways at her. “So does this mean you want a Boston Cream flavoring for a wedding cake someday?”
“Absolutely,” she nodded, and hesitated. “Is that what we are doing? Picking out a cake? I thought you were just plying me with sugar to keep me happy…”
“I’m absolutely doing that,” he chuckled, leaning towards her and kissing her tenderly. “But I also want to know what you want, because we are never having eggnog cake ever again.”
“Ugh,” she shivered openly. “No apple cider either.”
“Blechhh…” he agreed, sticking out his tongue before taking a drink of water and swishing it around as if to emphasize his disgust.
“I don’t think I can eat another bite…” she muttered, pushing the plate away.
“That’s because youhadthe last bite…”
“Yeah I did,” she grinned at him, leaning close to kiss him before rubbing the tip of her nose against his playfully. “And you can pretend to be all angry and such, but I know better.”
“Youdoknow better,” he muttered, kissing her back. “Now, let’s get out of here and do the fun stuff…”
“Wait… what?” she said curiously. “You mean plying me with tons of cakes for the last two hours wasn’t fun enough? Now what?”
“Let’s go look at wedding bands…”
Ruby stared at him and saw his shy smile.
“You’re serious…”
“This is my last day left in town, and I want to know what styles you like – besides, it might be fun to watch you try on jewelry.”
“Michael…”
“Ruby…” he mocked, before taking her hands in his, growing completely serious. “Please? I want you to be happy with whatever I choose later, and I’ll need to know your ring size. I think the best way would be to go and play around together, try on a few, and spend the afternoon distracted before we have to say our goodbyes.”
She looked at him… and nodded.
This felt strange and completely out of order, but she understood. He was wanting to make sure she was happy whenever he actually proposed – and could appreciate that. After seeing her brother fret and worry, it was eye-opening to realize that guys could put almost the same amount of pressure on themselves as girls did, wanting to please the other person.
Her brother had been a basket case when it came to Rose… and she could only imagine what was going through Michael’s mind, knowing he was leaving and there was so much still up in the air between them.
“Yeah?”
“I get it,” she whispered nervously. “I don’t wear much jewelry, but someday…”
“Someday I want you to have a piece you’d be proud to wear every single day, because it represents us – and maybe we can pass it down or tell our children how weird our whole relationship was.”
“Do you think it’s weird?”
“Would you think badly of me if I said ‘no’?”
“I like what we have…” she admitted softly, touching his cheek tenderly and knowing that she wouldn’t be able to tomorrow.
“I do too – but I can’t help but think that what we have doesn’t fit into that perfect little mold that people expect of us.”
“Maybe that is what’s so wonderful, because we are doing what we really want for the first time in both of our lives. We are choosing to make our own moves, take our own paths, and free to find our own happiness, however we make it.”
