The breath I finally released quivered its way out.
“Please?” Mike slipped off the bed and knelt in front of me, lifting the lid just a fraction on a small purple box. “Make me the happiest man on the planet, Ara. Marry me.”
Every flower that once was dead bloomed within my heart, and the ashes of my soul circled in on the breeze, finding breath, light among the darkness. I looked into the small box, and a red blossom shimmered back; a ruby rose, with two emeralds on either side. A promise in the shape of life, disguised as the colour of blood—a colour so exquisite in the shadowed parts of my broken past that it cast a spotlight on the door to a future I thought was gone—a door that opened by the key of one word.
Mike and I belonged together; we were two souls from the same world.
But my heart…would it always truly belong to David?
“Yes,” I whispered so quietly that Mike’s eyes focused on my lips.
“Did you just say yes?”
“Yes. I...yeah, I did.” I could feel the light sparkling off my tears.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously.” I bit my lip.
Mike laughed, his shaky fingers removing the ring from the box, holding it to the tip of my nail. “I…I have a speech.”
“A speech?”
His cheeks and forehead went pink. “Yeah, I uh…I kinda planned this for a while.”
I shrugged, smiling widely. “Let’s hear it then.”
He cleared the awkwardness from the back of his throat, holding my fingers firmly—almost unintentionally too tight. “I designed this for you, because any other stone, any other ring would never have been perfect enough to tell you how much I love you; how you’re a part of everything I am, and how no matter what I see in the world, I will never see anything that is quite as delicate and perfect and sparkling as you. You’re my girl.” He pointed to the ruby stone. “My beautiful rose.”
The ring slid perfectly into place on my finger—fitting like the way Mike fit me, like we were made to go together. I smoothed my fingertip around the gold. “It’s perfect, Mike.”
“I know.” The corners of his eyes softened and he grinned, running his fingers along my forearms, bringing them to rest just on the backs of my elbows. As I parted my legs and let him kneel between them, my confident, womanising best friend became a little rigid, jittery, I suppose—with a kind of schoolboy awkwardness I’d never seen in him before.
“What’re you thinking, Mike?”
“Nothing,” he said, but his eyes held the smile of poorly concealed thoughts.
“Liar.”
He looked away, seemingly lost for words. “Sorry. It’s just...I’ve never felt this way before. About anyone. Not like this. I—I just don’t know what to do with you.”
“You could...” I swallowed, trying to force down the rising heat in my cheeks. “You could kiss me. That’s always a start.”
But he laughed at me instead. “I want to...kiss you. So bad it’s actually causing pain in my chest. But I just don’t wanna get it all wrong.”
“Mike?” I pulled his face toward me and closed my eyes tight. He smelled so fresh and sexy—a vibrant, musky cologne. I just wanted to press my face into his neck and breathe him in. “What can a kiss hurt?”
“Everything. I’ll go too far. I won’t be able to stop. My knees are shaking, baby—” He laughed and looked down. “I’ve wanted this for too long. It’s taking everything in me right now not to throw you on the bed and tear off your clothes.” He chuckled, but stopped, a frown blending with his smile. “I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
“Mike. Just shut up and kiss me.”
He looked down into my lap, his shoulders sinking.
“What’s wrong?” I made him look at me.
“Your dad’s not home—neither is Vicki.”
“And?”
“And, I…” He scrunched my shorts up in his fist. “I'm afraid I might want more of you than I should take.”
My lips split into a perfect grin. “Good.”
The breath he was obviously holding burst out of him. “Oh, baby. Don't say things like that to a guy who’s trying not to seduce you.”
“You just asked me to marry you—that goes beyond seduction.”
“No.” He shook his head, moving out from between my legs to sit beside me. “That’s even more of a reason I should be careful with you, Ara. You’re so young and so full of life. I know you want this, baby. I know you’ll ask me to…you know…” He nodded toward me, hinting the obvious.
“I would. So what?”
“So, you’re seventeen, girl. Wait a few years, at least until we’re married.”
“Oh, God.” I rolled my face into my hand. “Not you too.”
“What?”
“Did David put you up to this?”
“To what?”
“This no sex before marriage rule?”
Mike grinned. “He—he refused you?”
My shoulders dropped.
“So, you’re—you’re still a…?”
“Virgin?” My neck jutted forward with incredulity. “Yes, Mike. Oh my God. I can't believe you asked that. And I already told you, at the airport, that I hadn’t…you know.”
“I'm sorry, baby, I didn't believe you.” He shrugged, hands out, looking ultimately innocent and sweet.
By the time my infuriation simmered and I looked over at him, he was shaking his head, smiling down at his lap.
“What?” I said.
“I…I always wanted to be your first.”
His glittering grin infected my scowl, making me smile. “Well, you could…you know, you could do it now.”
He shook his head, sliding closer, taking my hand. “No way. You are the only girl left on this planet that still has her innocence. There is no way I'm taking that from you until we have officially tied the knot. We’re gonna do this the right way, Ara.”
I huffed. “I'm human, you know.”
“And?”
“And I'm—” I bounced my feet a few times, feeling the heat rise within me. “I'm…I want it, Mike.”
“Oh, baby, I know, but it’d be your first time. Why not just wait, just a bit. Wait ‘til we’re back home, in a place we both feel comfortable, so I can take my time with you—” His imagination spilled ideas across his face, “—enjoy the first time we get to be naked together; touch you slowly, kiss you in places I only ever dreamed of.”