Chapter 35 #2
I just did it. No caution, no hesitation.
I just let my left foot hit the sand, and then Bridger was guiding me forwards.
My smile was so big it almost hurt as I walked a few steps.
My first time on sand. Soft, cool, like stepping on powdered sugar.
It made my toes tingle in the best way. I dug them into the sand, just feeling it, just being there in the moment.
“It’s so soft,” I said, letting out a giggle. “No one told me sand would be this soft.”
He laughed, the sound still deep and warm. “Yeah, honey. I know. You can walk on this every day. You excited?”
“I’m so in love with you,” I blurted out.
“I’m so in love with you too. Walk with me.”
Bridger kept gently pulling me forward, helping me take those small steps like it was my first time walking.
With each step, it felt like my feet were sinking deeper into the sand, but I liked it.
Liked the way the grains of sand clung to my skin, the way it felt like walking on the softest thing in the world, the way it was like I was melting right into the beach.
“I’m on a beach,” I whispered.
“You are, sweetheart. You having fun?”
“I can’t believe I’m on a beach.”
“This is ours forever now.”
I was trying to process the feeling. The softness and the warmth of it all, how it was gritty yet calming, and then we went from dry sand to wet, and I was pretty sure I had never felt anything so inviting.
I giggled a little. “So much colder here.”
Bridger moved from standing in front of me to standing by my side, his hand still locked to mine as I stared ahead. The sky was a pretty combination of deep pink and orange now, an almost crimson there in front of us.
The tide was sweeping in, getting closer and closer, until finally, the water hit my toes and I let out a little happy squeal. I stared ahead of me, at the endless ocean, all while taking in the fact that this was only the beginning. Home, beach, Bridger, baby.
“It’s so beautiful here,” I said, eyes wet.
I kept letting the warm sea water circle around my feet.
The sand was cool and soft under my toes, my feet not quite used to the sensation as they kept wriggling amongst the grains.
“I can’t believe I’m finally at a beach.
Is it pathetic that I’m tearing up a little bit? ”
“No.” Bridger circled his arms around my waist from behind, resting his head on my shoulder. “Not even a little bit.”
“It’s the hormones. They’re making me emotional.”
“Yeah, me too. I cried on the drive over here.”
“Shush,” I said with a laugh.
“I know it’s been a lot for you, sweetheart.
Too much has happened the last couple months, but it’s okay.
We got through it, and we’ll get through everything else together.
” His gentle hands landed on my stomach, his nose nuzzling into my neck.
“The three of us. It’ll be everything we were supposed to have but had ripped away from us, but I’m not letting anyone do that again.
Not this time.” Then he let out a long breath.
“You’re all I’ve ever wanted, Juliette. I just want you forever… ”
My heart was soaring as I took in his words. His hands left me and I missed his touch already, but then he was in front of me again, his hands on either side of my face.
“I’ll love you for the rest of my life,” he said. “I loved you then and I love you now. I never stopped loving you. It’s impossible not to love you. I just want you to be mine forever. Until the day I die, Juliette, you’re all I could ever want, the only one I could ever love.”
I drew in a quick breath as Bridger slowly sunk down to the sand on one knee.
Hand inside his pocket, he pulled out a red velvet box and flipped it open.
A pretty, sparkling silver ring looked back at me.
Round cut with a princess diamond at the center, the shape all elegant and understated and beautiful.
“You thought I was joking about crying on the way over here,” he said, a small grin spreading across his face.
“You have no idea how nervous I was to do this. God, I’ve never been so scared, because my future?
When I think about it? It’s you there, and no one else but you.
It’s your face, your love, your smile, your eyes.
You and no one else, and I know I’ll never love anyone like I love you.
You’re my girl. My forever. And we’re gonna make up for all that time they kept us apart.
That life starts now Juliette. If you want it.
I know I want it. Just you. Just you forever, baby.
Give me that and I’ll be the happiest man in the world, and I swear I’ll do everything I can to make you just as happy as you make me. Will you marry me, Juliette?”
“You don’t even have to ask,” I said, eyes wet and voice strained. “Yes, Bridger. Yes, yes, yes.”
He slipped the ring on my finger and it took everything in me not to squeal at how good it looked and how right it felt.
I didn’t even have time to think about that too much, though, because Bridger was back on his feet with his hands on my face and his soft, perfect lips on mine as the sun set behind us and my toes dug more and more into the soft, wet sand.
“It’s so beautiful, Bridger,” I said against his lips. “It’s so perfect.”
Chuckling, his own eyes looked a little wet as he pressed his forehead to mine. “Told you I’d pick out something classy.”
A laugh escaped my lips before he kissed me again, and we just stood there, the sun setting in the background and all that warm water rushing around our feet and his ring on my finger and my heart so full of warmth and love and absolute happiness I never thought I’d get to have again.
“First love, only love,” he whispered.
Nodding, I let out a quiet, content breath. “First love, only love.”
The future suddenly wasn’t scary. It wasn’t dark and daunting, and that was because the man in front of me had saved me.
That reckless boy with the messy hair and crooked smile and torn jeans and shirt had turned into the man who rescued me from that cold, doomed tower.
My knight in shining armor. The love of my life.
My past and future. My everything. My Bridger. I had never loved anyone so much.
This was it. Brightness, freedom, love, forever. Bridger Underwood was my destiny, and I was his. We were bound to each other. Always had been, always would be. There was a reason why we had found each other again.
Now we were here, on the beach as the sun warmed our skin up, with our home on stilts just behind us, and the sea before us that screamed the brightest, bluest of futures. And for the first time in my whole life, I was home.
THE END