The Homiemoon
Page 15
As the float slowed to make a turn, I caught a snatch of conversation. “Hey, aren’t those the guys from the Homiemoon?” A pair of boys, no more than sixteen, pointed and gaped at us.
It did feel kind of cool to be recognized, especially now that our fifteen minutes of fame were finally fading. I waved at the kids, and they started freaking out. “We love your videos, man! They helped us—” Their voices grew fainter as the float pulled forward again.
I kind of wished I’d been able to hear the end of that. I liked the idea that our story had been able to help someone in some way. I grabbed Adam’s elbow and spun him toward me. That was pretty much what I’d been wanting to do all morning anyway.
“Did you hear that?” I yelled above the music. “We got recognized.”
“Of course we did!”
He’d gotten way too into this whole minor-celebrity thing. He’d even wanted to have Homiemoon T-shirts printed up for today’s event. I’d said hell no. He’d called me a spoilsport once for that… and then again for refusing the glitter.
The float approached the city square, where the parade was going to end. Born This Way came to an end, and I braced myself for it to start again. Instead, a different song started to play. It took me a moment to realize what it was. I Will Always Love You.
I blinked a few times, instantly taken back to Mikey’s barbecue and watching the fan video with Adam. This song would forever be associated with that moment—the emotional turmoil, the heartbreak that led to the realization that maybe he felt the same. I wondered if Adam associated it with that, too.
After a moment, I wondered why they were playing that song now. I looked around, noticing how the entire parade was slowing to a crawl and how the attendees were crowding around the road and yelling. It was like we were the center of attention for the entire city.
“Calvin?”
Adam’s voice was shaky. And when I turned to see him, I understood why.
My gasp caught in my throat. My breathing stopped completely. My boyfriend was on one knee, his eyes lifted to meet mine.
My heart began to race. This wasn’t real. Things like this didn’t happen. Not with the man I’d always wanted. The one I loved more than anything else in the world.
“Calvin,” he said again.
I tried to move my hands, which had somehow risen to cover my mouth. I couldn’t. My friends were grouped around me, no doubt filming everything I was doing. If this was really happening, the entire world was going to see me in tears.
“I love you,” Adam said, softly but clearly. “You are the person I want to spend my days with. When I think about my future, you’re the one I see at my side.” He paused, choking up for a second. “Calvin, please say you’ll be my husband.”
My world tilted. This just couldn’t be. I’d daydreamed about asking Adam to marry me, but we’d only moved in together a few months ago. I’d been sure from the start that this relationship was going to last, but I’d always thought—known—I’d be the one to ask him.
I lifted a hand to my forehead, trying to still the spinning. Black spots were appearing in front of my eyes. I opened my mouth, trying to say that I was dizzy. When was the last time I’d had water? It was so hot, and I could use some water. The spots grew…
And then I was on the floor of the float, people crouched all around me, and somehow it was even hotter down here but at least someone had brought me a cup of water. I drank greedily and handed it back, hoping for more.
There Adam was, right at my side. He was on both knees now, and his nervous look had turned to one of concern.
“Never thought I’d knock a guy out with my proposal,” he said, then shrugged. “Never thought I’d be proposing to a guy, though, either.”
I reached for him, bringing him in for a kiss. Now I knew this wasn’t a dream. It may have felt as hard to believe as the first time we’d kissed, but that was real, and so was this.
Dreams really did come true. And my boyfriend, the heart of my deepest fantasies, was really asking me to marry him in the middle of the Pride parade, wearing nothing but tiny gold shorts and glitter.
I glanced around, searching for the camera. Ah, there—Tiffany had it, of course. She was crouched at the other end of the float, presumably to get a good angle of me after I’d fainted. She kept filming as I gave her a weak smile.
And then I turned to Adam and said, “Yes.”
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