Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 111165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 556(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“Hey, you know what people don’t know about?” I ask her. “Your waggle dance.”
She laughs. “It’s not my waggle dance. It’s how the bees communicate time and distance to each other.”
“This oughta be good,” Naomi says under her breath. “Always heard about this infamous dance.”
“Why don’t you do it,” I tell her. “Give us a show.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I’m curious. You’ve never shown it to me.”
This is not true but I don’t think she cares.
She sighs but she’s smiling. “Okay.” She gets up to her feet and tugs down at the hems of her jean shorts before she claps her hands together and addresses her friends. “So, the waggle dance is a dance that all bees do to communicate where nectar and water sources are. It’s basically a figure eight pattern, except when they cross over the middle of the two circles or curves, they waggle back and forth. The longer the waggle in the middle, the greater the distance it is to the food source. It also takes in the angle of the sun. In this way, the bees are able to tell each other where—”
“Just get on with it,” Jane says. “I thought we’d escape this party without any more bee shit.”
“Fine!”
So, she starts doing the waggle dance. It’s epically cute, especially the waggle part where she’s waving her butt in circles, her smile big and joyous, not caring what she looks like, her blonde hair flying around.
When she comes to a stop, she’s breathless. Gorgeous. In her element, which is right where I want her. She takes a bow and everyone claps.
And I crawl over to her on my knees and reach up with my hand to grab hers.
“Marina,” I say to her, smiling though my tone is serious.
She stares down at me, grinning, looking a bit confused. “What? You asked me to.”
“I know,” I tell her, “but I just wanted to see your smile, that’s all.”
“Awwww,” Noah says.
“I also wanted you to get to your feet. So, I could be on my knees.”
Someone gasps. Jane, I think.
I prop one leg up so I’m down on just one knee now, holding onto her hand.
My heart is beating a mile a minute in my chest.
I reach into the pocket of my cargo shorts and my hands close around something cold and small.
The contents of the Altoids tin that Barbara gave me a year ago.
I ended up opening it the next morning after I woke up in Marina’s bed. She was in a deep sleep and her floor was covered with my poetry about her. I knew then what I’d always known.
It was her.
It was always her.
My kind of weirdo.
And I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life.
I had opened the tin and saw an engagement ring inside, gold with emeralds and diamonds in the shape of a sun.
Of course, I had to visit Barbara after that because I didn’t want to take her engagement ring.
She insisted I keep it and propose to Marina when I was ready. She also told me it wasn’t Cooper’s ring but from one of her other husband’s that didn’t work out, so I shouldn’t feel bad about taking it. She said it would do much better the second time around. I fucking hope so.
And now I’m ready. I’ve been ready for a while but with Marina’s book coming out and the fact that we just put money down on a fixer upper beach house outside of Laguna, I was waiting for everything to calm down.
I was waiting for now.
“Marina,” I say, holding her hand tighter as I stare up at her. “A long time ago you told me that all you wanted was love. That you wanted someone to fall asleep with at night. That you wanted marriage and babies and everything that came with it. You told me you wanted to find your flower.”
“Oh my god,” she says softly, her big, blue eyes brimming with tears already.
“Marina, my bumble bee, my sweet girl…I’m that flower. And you’re mine. I’m your weirdo. And you’re mine. I’m messed up and complicated and you’re messed up and complicated and together we’re better than we ever are alone.” I take in a deep breath. “I know it’s been a long, strange journey for us but I wouldn’t have it any other way because it’s led to this moment right here. It’s led to a whole new chapter in a whole new story. At least, it will…if you say yes.”
She gasps.
I open my fist and take the ring and I hold it out in front of her ring finger, choking back on tears. “Marina, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
She blinks, tears falling, stares. Then she says, “Don’t you mean bee-coming your wife?” She laughs at her own joke. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes!”