by Jessica Pots
With a face full of pain, I almost ask: Whyyyyy?
We cannot afford any more delays. Honestly, I’m tired of waiting.
She kisses my lips once more. “There’s just one more thing we need to do before the night is out.”
“Okay.” She tugs on my arm and leads the way.
I don’t hesitate to follow.
Love giggles.
Champagne Dream laces her breaths.
She holds my hand tight as we shimmy through the lobby. When we make it in front of a sparkly and gold curtain, she stops, pulls me close and holds up her cellphone selfie-style.
Then she puckers her lips.
I laugh out loud at the pose and then figure, why-in-the-heck-not and do the same.
CLICK.
The flash blinds me but it doesn’t just come from Love’s phone.
It emanates from the camera held by one of the photographers here tonight.
The woman smiles. “Great shot.” She tosses a thumbs up our way, approving. “I think this is one we’ll use on the cover of Chi-Town Nights when it runs.”
“Yes, please do.” Laughing, Love yanks on my arm and then we’re heading toward the sea of people once more.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The music is deafening as we make it out on the dance floor.
“Love, I want—” I shake away my jumbled words. “Love, I need to talk to you.”
“Yeah!” She glances over her shoulder. “I need to talk to you too.” But not before she grabs another glass of champagne from a tray, chugs it back and sashays around to the music.
People writhe around us, cheer and carry on like this is the greatest place on earth!
The vibe is electric.
Heartwarming.
Alive.
And a bit sad knowing we’re ending the year.
But…
Love sashays a little and it takes me just a moment to realize I’m rocking to the beat too!
She spins around and stills. “Do you remember when we first met?” Her smile is calm.
I slant my head to the side then nod over and over. Then, I step closer, ignoring the writhing bodies around us and the bass line which beats in my chest.
The world spins.
Slowly.
Silently.
Resolutely.
As if we’re the only ones in it.
“We’re on the countdown people!” The DJ gets back on the mic. And then the music softens.
Sliding my hand up the back of Love’s neck, I inch closer and prepare to put my lips near her ear. It’s the only way she’ll hear what I have to say… “I love you, so, so much.” My heart beats away almost out of sync. “And I feel so stupid that it’s taken me so long to ask you this…”
John Lennon’s “Imagine” sounds throughout the place.
The DJ is on the mic. “Come on, people! We’re getting close. The countdown begins!”
People sway and cheer.
I laugh a bit at all the action going on around us. “Today hasn’t gone exactly as planned.” I brush my lips along the shell of her ear, breathing in the soft scent of her strands. “Hell, this entire year hasn’t gone as planned…” I say everything I’ve needed to say even if it doesn’t come out quite right.
The crowd cheers.
I meet Love’s beautiful eyes finally.
“TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX!” The crowd counts down.
“Will you marry me, Love?” I pull the ring from my clutch. I’m not sure for how long I fumble with it, searching around in the shiny purse but when I meet Love’s eyes once more, she’s already holding a ring between her fingers…
A different ring.
My face scrunches.
Love giggles one body-shaking giggle.
Cute.
Adorable.
Sexy as hell.
She takes my hand in hers. “Of course.” She slides the ring between her fingers on my shaky hand.
“FIVE!” The crowd goes crazy.
Noisemakers go off. High-pitched whistles rip through the air. People cheer.
Love edges closer.
Gemma appears a few feet away. She claps a hand over her mouth when she realizes what’s happening. If she even knows what’s happening…seeing that I’m struggling to understand what’s happening myself…
Love smooths a hand through my hair. “Everything is perfect.” She presses her lips to mine and gives me a smile that steals a few of my heartbeats.
She’s incredible.
A dream.
Everything is perfect…
I couldn’t agree more.
love
MY LIPS LEAVE HER soft ones, but her beautiful blues don’t fall away from mine.
They don’t even blink.
“FOUR! THREE!” The crowd cheers.
The DJ is back on the turntable, scratching away, talking a lot of nonsense. “Let’s bring in the new year people the right way. Tonight will go down in history! This place rocks!”
It sure will…
“Crush nightclub, people, is the place!” She does another backflip.
I laugh.
So does Honey.
“TWO! ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!” The DJ ramps up the music.
Lorde featuring Khalid, Post Malone & SZA’s “Homemade Dynamite” explodes from the speakers around the place.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Honey slides the ring on my finger, pulls my hand to her mouth and presses a kiss to it. “I love you, more than life.”
She practically flies in my arms.
We kiss forever.
Just like how everyone else is around us.
When it ends, I scan the nightclub and yelp.
Gemma is smooching with some rando. She sends a wave our way. “Congratulations!” Giggling, she dances away with the nameless woman.
“Thanks,” I mouth, shake my head and then my gaze is back on Honey—my world.
This place settles into something magical.
Our wonderland.
So beautiful.
Like our lives.
Because even if everything isn’t perfect, we’re together and that’s all that really matters.
“Here’s to a new year!” Honey kisses me once more, wraps her fingers around my neck and we rock to the music, bodies touching, breaths shared, love tangled up in each other’s. Home.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The crowd jumps around. They writhe. They sway to the music.
We do the same.
I extend a hand then gaze up above me at all the pink and white confetti which floats down around us.
It’s snowing…
It covers everything and everyone. It finds our hair and our clothes. It’s fabulous!
And reminds me of those wintry days when we would trek to class at Northwestern in the snow and wind, hunkered down and in our thick coats, scarves wrapped around our faces fighting the chill.
Except right now, it isn’t cold.
Honestly, I’m sweating.
Here’s to memories and making more of them, so many more of them…together.
Honey presses her forehead to mine and grins. “What do you think we should do now?”
A huge smile overtakes my face. “I think we should just dance…”
So, we do.
-THE END-
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Thank you for reading this book! If you have time to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads, it would be appreciated!
about me
I'm a country girl at heart and live in Dallas, Texas with my wife, Millie, and our three furbabies.
I’ve had a love of words all my life and after years of debating and wrestling with that very mysterious thing called fear, I decided I’d finally sit down and write a book!
Thank you for allowing me to share Honey and Love’s story with you. The two characters are very close to my heart and deep within them is a small piece of me.
I plan to write more fiction and roma
nce in the future.
Stay tuned!
If you’d like to reach me with questions or queries, you can email me
@ [email protected].
Table of Contents
copyright
credits
author’s note
song list
quote
one
two
three
four
five
about me
