A faint smile turned up one corner of his mouth and I sighed.
“Fine…don’t tell me,” I pouted playfully.
AJ gripped my hand in his and forced me to ride in silence all the way to the edge of town. When we pulled up to our spot in the clearing, I was grinning from ear to ear. This spot held so many memories for us. We’d snuck out of the house on many occasions to come here as kids. In fact, this was the exact spot where I’d lost my virginity to him. When I laughed, AJ’s eyes were on me.
“What’s funny?”
“Just thinking about how reckless we used to be.”
“Used to be?” he shot back, prompting me to smack his arm lightly.
“Watch it.”
With the car in park, he leaned across and forced me to hug him when I pretended to be offended. I knew he was right, though. We’d always been reckless when it came to our love for one another, but clearly it was all for a reason.
Turning my lips to catch his, I welcomed the warmth of his mouth as it contrasted the cold outside. “I love you,” he said in between kisses.
Backing away to look into AJ’s eyes, I touched my hand to his cheek. “I love you too.”
Truer words had never been spoken.
AJ bit down on his lip and fought a smile. Nodding toward my window, he drew my attention to the falling snow – the first of the season. Not enough had fallen yet to blanket the ground, but I was entranced, watching the large flakes float down from the sky.
When I turned to AJ, thinking he was watching winter put on an early show for us, I found him watching me instead. There was a look of contentment behind his eyes that was contagious.
“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”
I smiled and forced myself not to look away from his gaze. When I didn’t answer, AJ turned to open his car door and stepped out into the cool air awaiting him.
“What’re you –“ was as far as I got into my question. I watched as he rounded the front of the car, passing in front of the headlights, to come around to my side. When he opened my door and held his hand out for me to take it, I couldn’t stop smiling.
“Are you crazy? It’s freezing out here!” I protested as he gently coaxed me out of my seat. Ignoring my logic, AJ pulled my hat down over my ears so that they weren’t exposed.
As if completely unaware of the weather conditions, which had quickly worsened and taken visibility down to about a mile, AJ stood before me and waited for me to focus less on how cold I was, and more on him. “What’re you up to?”
That one side of his mouth hitched up again and I knew that I was right; he was up to something.
“We spent a long time trying to make our way back to each other, Sam.”
I pursed my lips and nodded, agreeing.
“And I don’t know about you, but…this is all I’ve ever wanted. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”
A smile flickered across my face and then faded when shock overcame me. Right there, beneath the curtain of snow that fell, AJ got down on one knee. Instantly, my hands went to my mouth as I stared, trying to fight to see him through the blur of tears that filled my eyes.
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a beautiful ring – the details of which I paid very little attention to. The size and value of the stone meant nothing. All I cared about was what it symbolized. That thin circle of precious metal was, to me, a gateway into the future that I almost missed out on – a future filled with love, laughter, and family – all with the only person on this planet that I would ever want to experience any of that with.
AJ was sporting a smile so big that it made me smile despite the fact that I was now sobbing. Here, in a place we’d claimed as our own years before, he removed my gloves and tucked them beneath his arm, holding my left hand in his.