Author: Kirsty Moseley
“Congratulations,” I cooed, grinning. She kissed me again and I held her tighter. Damn, five years and I still couldn’t get enough of her. I pulled out of the kiss, very aware that her little brother was sitting there making loud kissing noises and singing ‘Amber and Liam, sitting in a tree’.
“Thanks. I was worried when I didn’t see you; I thought you couldn’t make it.” She smiled as I set her back down on her feet.
I smiled and brushed her hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” I replied.
She was pulled into hugs by all of her family. Matt, as usual, was clinging to her legs so she couldn’t move. He adored his big sister, not that I blamed him, I mean, who wouldn’t adore my Angel? You’d have to be crazy. I bent down and pulled him off of her, tipping him upside down by his legs, making him laugh.
“So, what are you guys doing now? Shall we go have a drink or something?” Amber suggested.
Oh crap!
Everyone looked at me. OK, wow, add more pressure, I’m already freaking terrified! “Um…. actually, Angel, I was wondering if I could take you somewhere after. I’ve got something to show you,” I answered, trying not to give anything away.
She looked at me curiously, she hated surprises. “Yeah? What?” she asked, wrapping her arms around me.
I bent and kissed her nose. “You’ll have to wait and see,” I replied, smirking at her, knowing this was probably killing her. She frowned and narrowed her eyes at me, making me laugh; I grabbed her hands, unwrapping them from my waist. “You ready to go now?” I asked, hopefully.
She nodded and looked back at her family who were grinning like mad people; my mom was crying happy tears. OK guys, tone it down! She looked at them all a little confused, obviously wondering what they were all acting like this for. “I’ll see you at ours later then. One of you has a key, right?” she asked.
Jake jiggled his keys at her. “Go. We’ll see you later,” he instructed, nodding towards the exit.
I wrapped my arm around her waist and we walked towards the front. “So, how did practice go?” she asked.
“Um, yeah good,” I lied as I opened the car door for her.
She kissed me again as she got in. She was grinning, obviously proud of herself for graduating. I phoned Pete on the way round to the driver’s side to tell him we were now leaving.
~ Amber ~
Something was definitely going on. I glanced over to him again, he looked nervous about something; he was sitting really straight in his seat. This wasn’t the normal, relaxed Liam, that I loved to death. After about twenty minutes of driving and making small talk about the weather and my graduation ceremony, we pulled up. He grinned and got out.
OK, where the hell are we? I thought he’d be taking me to dinner or something. I got out and held his hand as he led me forward, stopping outside a building with glass doors. I think it used to be a gym or something, but it looked like it had been done up recently, the outside had been painted a nice cream colour and the windows had been replaced.
“What do you think?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
Think about what? What am I missing? “Um, it’s great?” I shrugged, confused.
He laughed. “OK, you have no idea what I’m talking about do you?” he teased.
“No. Sorry, lover boy, should I have?” I asked, smiling apologetically.
“Well, see that building in front of you, with the glass doors?” he asked. I nodded, still a little bemused as to what this was all about. “It’s yours.”
Mine? What the hell is that about?
I turned around to face him. “Liam, I don’t understand, babe. I’m sorry,” I said apologetically. Damn it, I was ruining his surprise.
He smiled and brushed his fingers across my cheek lightly. “I bought it for you. I’ve had it all done out inside……. it’s a dance studio,” he explained.
Oh my freaking God, he didn’t! I gasped, looking at him to see if he was joking. He grinned at me. No, he really wasn’t joking, he was totally serious.
“Oh God, Liam, you’re kidding me!” I squealed as I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. We’d talked about me setting up my own studio but he had convinced me to wait a year after my graduation, I bet that’s because he was planning this! Jeez, I have the perfect boyfriend! “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I cried excitedly.
He kissed me gently. “You’re welcome. Come on, let’s go look.” He turned me towards the doors, smiling happily.
I could barely contain my excitement as he handed me the keys. My hands were shaking so badly that I couldn’t even get the key in the lock, so he had to do it for me. As we walked through the doors, I was already crying. There was a little reception area that led on to two huge dance studios that had mirrors on the whole of one wall and gorgeous hard wood floors, perfect for dancing on.
“Oh, Liam, this is perfect!” I cried.
He smiled. “I had someone come in and design it all. But if there’s anything you don’t like, we can change it, OK?” he stated, taking my hand and pulling me out of the door. “Let’s look upstairs,” he suggested, motioning towards the back.
I nodded and skipped along excitedly at his side. He was always so freaking thoughtful and sweet. He had been the best boyfriend anyone could ever ask for in the last five years, better than I could have ever dreamed.
Upstairs, there was a little recreation room with a pool table and air hockey table, a juice and snack bar with tables. There were even changing rooms with showers and everything. He took my hand and pulled me towards the last door. He looked really nervous again. He wasn’t smiling now.
“OK?” I asked, squeezing my arm around his waist tighter. I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face. I loved him so much that it was almost painful.
He gulped and nodded, pushing open the door. I looked in to see the room was in semi darkness. There were hundreds of little candles all scattered around, making the room flicker and look beautiful, the candles were reflected in the wall of mirrors. There were red and pink balloons floating along every single inch of the ceiling and some tied to the backs of chairs. There were bunches of red roses everywhere, red and pink rose petals scattered all over the wooden floor. It was beautiful.
I looked at him, shocked; he smiled and pulled me into the room, closing the door behind me. As he pulled me into the middle of the room I could feel my heart trying to burst out of my chest. This whole situation was so romantic that it made my stomach flutter and my skin prickle.
He kissed me softly before bending down on one knee in front of me. I felt my eyes filling with tears and I resisted the urge to shout yes before he even asked me.
He pulled out a little black ring box, lifting the lid to reveal a gorgeous diamond ring that must have cost him a fortune. “Angel, I’ve loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you. It’s only ever been you. It will always be you. Will you marry me?” he asked, looking really nervous. Did he really think I would say no?
I swallowed noisily. God, could I even speak? “Yes,” I whispered. He smiled a heart stopping smile and pulled the ring from the box, taking my hand and slipping it on my finger, where it fitted perfectly.
He jumped up and grabbed me, kissing me fiercely. I smiled happily against his lips and he pulled back to put his forehead to mine. “I love you so much,” he whispered.
“I love you too.” Those words just never seemed enough to me. Three little words, how could they possibly cover everything that I felt for this amazing boy?
“Please can I have the first dance in your dance studio, future Mrs James?” he asked, his eyes dancing with excitement.
I grinned, oh God I loved the sound of that name! “Absolutely, future husband,” I answered. My heart was beating way too fast. Liam still had the power to set my body on fire with one of his smiles, even after all this time.
He pulled a little remote from his pocket and pushed a couple of buttons, making the music start up. I gasped as the song started. It was our song. Amazed, by Boyz II Men, started and he pulled me closer to his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around me.
Could this boy be any more perfect? I couldn’t take my eyes from his as we danced. He held me tightly, one hand moving up to the back of my neck, his fingers weaving into the hair there. My breathing was coming out in small gasps as I took in every inch of his gorgeous face, my fiancé’s face. I pressed myself closer to him, feeling his gorgeous body pressed tightly against mine.
Everything about this moment was beautiful and I never wanted it to end. “Liam, could you get any more romantic?” I breathed, rubbing my hand over his chest lightly as we swayed slowly to the song.
He smiled. “I’ll try. Ask me again in fifty years,” he whispered and he bent his head and kissed me softly, stealing my breath and making my heart crash in my chest.
Surely no one had ever been happier than me in this moment. I had the perfect family, a new dance studio which had been my dream since I was little, and the man of my dreams had just asked me to be his wife. Life couldn’t get any better than this; I honestly felt like the luckiest girl in the world.