SIX MONTHS LATER
“You’re acting weird, Simon,” Stella tells me as she stares at me from across the kitchen. “Why won’t you tell me where we’re going?”
I stare at her, my frustration growing. Stella isn’t exactly the best when it comes to surprises or keeping any kind of secret. I found this out this Christmas when I caught her snooping through her gifts. And then when she insisted she give me her gift, like, three days after she got it for me.
Which was two weeks before Christmas.
So, yeah… trying to surprise Stella without her demanding to know where we are going or what is going on is quite a challenge. I’m already nervous as hell about what I have planned for tonight and her challenging it all isn’t easing any of my anxiety.
“I’m not acting weird, angel,” I assure her, struggling to keep my voice on an even keel. “Just please go get dressed? I made dinner reservations and we have to leave in five minutes if we want to get there on time.”
Stella narrows her eyes but she doesn’t say anything more before she disappears from the room. I can’t stop the stupid grin from pulling on my lips, knowing I just won that little tiff. I’m sure she’s going to make the car ride tense with her relentless questions, but I’m prepared. I think…
She’s surprisingly ready to go in record time and greets me by the front door with a smile on her face instead of the scowl she was sporting earlier. Stella’s mood did a complete one-eighty and as we head out to my car, she’s talking about how her brother and his new wife are doing in Maine.
After we spent the summer in Canada, Stella moved back to Vermont and transferred to Wyncote University. She’s still in her sophomore year, but none of that matters to either of us. I would be graduating at the end of this school year and I already know that I won’t be going anywhere without Stella.
Talk of the NHL is still floating around and quite a few scouts have me on their list, but I haven’t heard of anything in regards to what team I am most likely going to get drafted to. Stella already expressed her wanting to support me and that she would go wherever I would end up.
Even though there was a point where hockey was the most important thing to me, some things have shifted in my life. I wouldn’t be making any decisions without talking to Stella first. Her wants and needs are equally important to me.
“Olivia said that we need to come visit them soon,” Stella tells me from where she’s sitting in my passenger seat. I glance over at her, my lips pulling upward. She’s exactly where she belongs.
“Whatever you want to do, angel. If you want to go visit them, you just tell me when and I’ll get it all planned.”
She looks over at me with a matching smile. “I love you, Simon.”
“And I love you that much more, Stella.”
She moved into the house with Lincoln and me when she moved back to Vermont. Instead of taking her brother’s old room, she moved into mine, and there was no going back after that. Stella is a permanent fixture in my life and I have no intention of her ever leaving it.
When we pull up in front of the restaurant, we are able to find a parking spot right out front. It’s one of Stella’s favorites and it’s a damn hard one to get into. It’s a French restaurant that only has twenty tables inside. It’s more of an experience than anything. I had to make reservations two months ago just for tonight.
And it’s been killing me keeping this entire night a damn secret until now.
I walk over and open the door for Stella, holding my hand out to her. She smiles up at me as she slides her palm into mine and I help her out of the car before shutting the door behind her. Pushing the button on my key fob, the car beeps, and I slide it into my pocket as we head toward the restaurant.
As we step inside, different smells touch my senses. The restaurant is dimly lit with a very intimate atmosphere. Light classical music plays softly through the speaker system and Stella turns to face me as we stand just inside.
“You remembered this place.”
I smile down at her, brushing a piece of her hair from her face as I tuck it behind her ear. “I could never forget.”
I’ve never been here before and Stella had talked about it so many times. She was only ever here once before and it’s a place that easily slid into the number one spot of her favorites. With how hard it was to get a reservation, I am not surprised that she wasn’t able to come again. And we tried to make a reservation before this one and weren’t able to.
That’s when the idea came to me.
Stella turns around, her eyebrows pulling together as she glances around the empty restaurant. “There’s no one here,” she says softly as she turns back to me. “What’s going on?”
“I paid for us to have a private dining experience for an hour.”
Stella’s eyes widen. “You did what? That had to have cost a fortune.”
A chuckle escapes me and I shake my head as I take a step toward my girl. “Don’t worry about any of that. You deserve so much more than this.”
She stares at me, her mouth falling open as I take her hand and lower myself onto one knee in front of her. Releasing her hand, I slide mine into my front pocket and pull out the small black velvet box that has been burning a hole in it since I bought it three months ago.
“Oh my god, Simon,” she gasps, lifting her hands to cover her mouth as I flip open the lid and meet her gaze.
“I was going to wait until after dinner to do this, but I’ve been waiting long enough. I don’t think I could wait any fucking longer.”
Tears well in her eyes as they desperately search mine. I’m overwhelmed with emotion, my body buzzing as my tongue darts out to wet my lips. Stella doesn’t say anything as she smiles down at me, her mascara staining her cheeks.
“I can’t imagine life without you, Stella Barrett. I don’t know what it looks like without you in it anymore. I want the rest of your days, the rest of your kisses. I want every goddamn moment with you and I want it as you being Stella Murray.”
“Simon,” her voice cracks and she lets out a soft laugh, shaking her head at me. “You are unlike anyone else I’ve ever met in my life. Always full of surprises.”
“Let me spoil you, angel. Let me love you. Let me make you my fucking wife.”
She smiles down at me through her tears. “Of course. Yes. I’ll marry you, Simon.”
Stella drops down to her knees in front of me, wrapping her arms around my neck. It’s a sight to see and isn’t exactly how it usually happens. She throws me off-balance a little and I fall over onto my side, taking her with me. Stella yelps before a string of laughter falls from her perfect lips.
“You couldn’t wait until I stood back up?” I ask her as we lay in a mess of tangled limbs on the floor of the restaurant.
Stella giggles and smiles at me. “I don’t know. I just reacted.”
Grabbing her hand, I slide the ring onto her finger before lifting it to my lips. “My angel.”
“I love you,” she murmurs, her voice thick with emotion.
Dropping her hand, I slide mine around the back of her neck, pulling her face to mine. “I will always love you more,” I tell her before pressing my lips to hers.
