Page 146 of Road Trip to Forever
“Boyfriend,” he repeats. His cheeks turn pink as he guides me to the elevator. “I’ll never get tired of hearing that.”
“I love you, Patrick Walker.” I tip my head back and my eyes meet his. The green glows with pride and awe and a joy so expansive it wouldn’t fit inside a football stadium. “None of this would have been possible without you. Thank you for taking a chance on me.”
“I’m always going to choose you,” he says with conviction, and I know it to be true.
His palm wraps around the back of my neck, skimming the sunburn tinging my skin after our park picnic yesterday afternoon.
“Remember when you didn’t count our first kiss as a first kiss?” I ask. I swing our arms back and forth as we take the elevator to the ground floor, a lightness to my step.
“Remember when you meant to kiss my cheek and accidentally missed?” he says back. “I should’ve just kissed you for real then.”
I drop his hand and grab his button-up shirt. He looks so smart and studious with the crisp collar and the tie around his neck. I want to undo the silk and watch it flutter to the floor. Revel in the way his eyes follow the bend of my hips and the twist of my back as I unzip my dress and let it flutter to the floor too, watching it land right beside the pink and green polka dotted tie.
Patrick’s nose brushes against mine. He tugs me close, cradling me to his chest, and smiles with all his teeth and laugh lines on full display.
“How do you suggest we remedy that?” he whispers against my lips, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth.
“We should probably take another trip,” I say. “Seems like we do our best work on the road.”
Patrick hums, a low and deep sound full of agreement. “My bags are already packed, Jones. Just name the place.”
“How about Japan to see the cherry blossoms next year? During your spring break? We won’t stay long, and then we’ll come home. Together.”
He lifts me in his arms and spins me around. My heel falls off my foot and hits the tiled floor.
“I’m going to love you forever,” he says. “And then I’m going to love you some more.”
“How is that possible?”
“I’ll make it possible. I’ll make anything possible when it comes to you.”
“Patrick? Can I tell you a secret?”
He chuckles into my shoulder, his breath warm on my skin. “You know you can tell me anything, Lola.”
“No matter what happens down the road, no matter where we go in life—whether that’s somewhere together or separate—I am very lucky to have found a friend like you.”
Patrick cups my cheek and stares at me with so much love in his eyes, the love that you know is special. It’s the kind you feel in your bones and in your soul, joining my heart to his for infinity.
“I am very lucky to have found a friend like you too, Lola.”
“Who would’ve thought we’d be here, twenty-four years later, with silly matching bracelets on our wrists and tattoos on your body?”
“I thought it. I wished for it and hoped for it on every birthday and on every shooting star. But I think we’re just getting started. The best is yet to come.”
EPILOGUE
Patrick
Three years later
I boughtthe ring the morning after our first date.
Some people might consider spending money on a piece of jewelry a huge gamble when Lola and I had only been officially together for a few days. A jinx, a curse on the relationship before it even began.
I always knew Lola was the one for me, though.
The heart wants what the heart wants, and my heart wants her.
