Chapter 34
thirty-four
CAMILLA
Of course, Greyson chose our favorite restaurant to celebrate our three year anniversary. Instead of sitting in our usual spot, he’d paid for private dining, which didn’t raise any eyebrows, since he always did extravagant things on a whim. There was no need to look over the menu; I always ordered the same dish. Greyson decided to be spontaneous and ordered the most expensive wine on the menu.
“That bottle is a thousand dollars,” I whispered across the table when the waiter left us alone.
“Only the best for tonight.” His smirk disarmed me the same way it had for over a thousand days. Even though my mind was somewhere else after I came back from Willow’s Cove, every time I looked at him, my future became more and more clear. I wasn’t sure how I got so lucky.
When the waiter came back with the bottle, Greyson adjusted his tie that matched his black suit, and ran his fingers through his slicked-back hair.
“To us, and you, for securing another book deal. I’m so proud of you, Cami.”
I smiled. “Who would have thought we’d be celebrating an anniversary after being paired up during freshman orientation?”
He was the most unlikely person I thought I’d fall for—we came from two different worlds, and I pegged him as someone who could break my heart into even smaller fragments, but ironically, he was the one to patch it back together. I wouldn’t have made it in the city as long as I did without him, college would’ve been a disaster, and I wouldn’t have known that I was capable of loving again. The moment he entered my life, he lit it up.
“I did. I was just waiting for you to give me a chance.” I thought for sure he would have given up after the first dozen times I turned him down, but thankfully, he had an inability to fail and persisted for another four years. “I love you.” All I could do was admire him fondly as I said the words.
He reached across the table and entwined our fingers. “I love you more.” I always knew the words came from the depths of his heart just by the way his smile brightened as they slipped from his lips.
When the waiter returned to the table, not only did he have our plates of food that looked delicious, but he placed an extravagant bouquet of red roses in the middle of the table. When I looked up at Greyson, his breathing turned heavy as he knelt down to the floor on one knee.
“Greyson…” I could barely get his name out before he opened a velvet box and revealed a beautiful marquise diamond that made me lose my breath. We’d stayed up so many nights talking about getting married when the time was right, but when the moment came, I froze.
His hand trembled as he grasped mine for dear life.“Camilla Vega, from the moment we met, you made me see the world in a different light, and I want to see it that way with you forever. Will you marry me?” My eyes darted from him to the diamond, then back to him again.
After coming back from Willow’s Cove, I was riddled with confusion about whether my life in New York was still the life I wanted, but the answer was in front of me the entire time. Wherever Greyson was, that was where I was supposed to be too.“Yes,” I choked out as tears ran down my face. His grey eyes lit up as he slipped the ring on my left finger and swooped me out of the chair. His big arms wrapped around me as he smiled. “It’s you and me forever now,” he whispered before wrapping his lips with mine.
When I said yes, I meant it with every bit of my heart, which was why I was confused on why the second I said it, I pictured the way Julian looked under the sun next to the cove.