This will be our moment.
“Evan,” I whisper as my lips press against his skin.
“Hmm,” he mumbles, leaning into me. There are no words to describe how it feels to have him back in my life and to feel him respond to me the way he does.
“I have a surprise for you, open your eyes.”
“Babe, unless you’re naked, I don’t want to see anything.”
“I’m totally naked and in a deserted parking lot ready to get it on.” I try not to laugh as he opens one eye and attempts to glare at me. He rubs his hands over his face and yawns.
“How long was I out for?”
“Couple of hours,” I tell him. “Look around. I thought we could have some fun. You know, break up the trip.”
Evan leans forward and looks out the window. By the rise of his cheeks I know he’s grinning from ear to ear. “Damn, EJ would love this.”
“I know, but we’re here now and there will be plenty of carnivals to take him to when we get
to Washington,” I tell him as I open the car door and get out. I know he’ll follow, just as he knows I’ll follow him anywhere. I hold out my hand and wait for him to come around. Our fingers link and it’s like I’m transported back to being a teenager, giddy and in love.
I know where I want to go first, and after we pay and purchase our ride tickets I’m dragging him to the death trap, as I like to call it. I hate this ride, but he loves it and there’s something that I need to do. And it has to be done on this ride.
“Are you sure about this?” he asks as we get in line. His hand is already holding a bag of cotton candy. I roll my eyes and pray that he doesn’t hurl.
“I am. It’s a part of us, right?”
“Yes, but we could go to the photo booth and make out, we did that last time too.”
“It’s not always about making out,” I say, shaking my head.
Evan looks completely dumbfounded that I just said that. His head shakes slowly as he says, “I must not be a very good kisser because I think it’s all about making out. Do I need to practice more?”
“Oh my goodness, will you stop?” I hand the carnie our tickets and take a deep breath. The rickety metal and put-together-in-one-day-Ferris-wheel turns my stomach. Maybe I’m not as brave as I thought, but Evan isn’t hearing it.
He stands behind with his hands on my hips and his lips to my ear. “I’ve got you. I’ll always keep you safe,” he says as he pushes us forward step by step, never letting me go until the bar locks us in.
“You know I’d be happy walking around. We didn’t have to do this.”
I nod and bury my face in his chest as we start to move. “I needed to do this,” I tell him as he rubs my back. The wheel goes around twice, maybe three times. I don’t know because I’m not counting and I’m definitely not looking. But when we stop and his words tell me to look, I know we’re at the top.
Sitting up, I look around at the peaceful valley surrounding us. We’re higher than some trees and I’m trying not to let that freak me out. I shift slightly and look at him, realizing this is now or never and it really has to be now.
“Evan, will you marry me?”
“What?” he asks choking on his word.
“I love you and we’ve spent far too many years apart. Six years ago we were supposed to get married and couldn’t, but we can now and I want to be your wife. I want to have your babies and grow old with you on our front porch.”
The ride jerks and we’re moving again. Evan is staring at me with bewilderment in his eyes but hasn’t given me an answer. We stop and it’s our turn to get off. My heart falls because I thought I had this in the bag. Maybe after being home he’s realized that we’re just perfect the way we are.
“Hey buddy,” Evan says to the operator. “I’ll give you a hundred bucks if you put us back up top for the next few minutes.” The guy doesn’t hesitate and slams our bar down, starting the ride again and stopping us when we get to the top.
“Ask me again,” he says, cupping my cheek.
I swallow hard. “Will you marry me?”
“A million times over.” He kisses me deeply, cradling my face in his hands as our tongues explore and meld together. My hands clutch at his shirt, pulling him as close to me as I can.