9
One year after the festival, Keon asked me to dress up for Tavron’s business dinner.
“Why am I attending your cousin’s business dinner?” I asked while applying lipstick.
“He invited you.”
“Tavron once held a staff meeting at a bowling alley because they had half-price wings.”
“He’s evolving.”
“Into what?”
“A man who needs us to arrive on time.”
That should have warned me.
Keon drove me to the rooftop lounge where I had ended our almost-relationship.
I recognized the building immediately.
“Why are we here?”
“Tavron reserved the rooftop.”
“At the scene of the crime?”
Keon placed his hand against my lower back.
The elevator doors opened.
The rooftop was empty except for strings of pink lights, candles, and a table set for two.
A saxophone version of our song played softly through the speakers.
There was no Tavron.
There was no business dinner.
I looked at Keon.
“You lied.”
“I redirected you.”
“That is lying with project-management language.”
He smiled. “Come on.”
He led me toward the center of the rooftop.
The skyline stretched around us, bright and restless. The Empire Tower glowed pink in the distance. A warm breeze carried the scent of summer rain and food from the restaurant below.
Against the brick wall, a neon heart had been installed where the old Maybe Someday sign once hung.
Inside it were the words:
NO MORE SOMEDAY
My heart began pounding.
“Keon.”
He reached into his pocket.
“You spent two hundred and eighty-seven days waiting for me to choose courage,” he said. “Then you loved me while I learned how.”
His voice shook slightly.
I had never loved him more than I did in that moment—not because he had created a beautiful rooftop or planned a speech, but because he allowed me to see that he was nervous.
Keon Maddox, who once hid behind silence because fear embarrassed him, stood in front of me with his heart visible.
He lowered himself onto one knee.
I covered my mouth.
“Page Carter, I can’t promise life will always be easy. I can promise you’ll never have to guess whether I’m in it with you.”
He opened a velvet box.
The diamond sparkled beneath the city lights.
“I want the boring days, the hard conversations, the Friday dinners, and every thermostat argument we have left. I want to keep building a life where both of us get to be brave.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
“Will you marry me?”
“You brought me back to the same rooftop?”
“I wanted to correct the introduction.”
I laughed and cried at the same time.
“Yes.”
Keon’s eyes closed for half a second, as though relief had moved through his entire body.
“Say it again.”
“Yes, Keon.”
He slid the ring onto my finger and stood.
I wrapped my arms around his neck.
He kissed me as the skyline glittered behind us.
Then the door to the rooftop burst open.
“Did she say yes?” Tavron shouted.
Jessa shoved him from behind. “You were supposed to wait for the signal.”
“What signal?”
“The kiss!”
“They’ve kissed before.”
Behind them stood our families, several employees from Maddox Restoration, the Margin Notes staff, and Inspector Bluford, who somehow looked annoyed to be attending a celebration he had voluntarily entered.
I stared at Keon.
“You invited Wilburn Bluford?”
“He approved the structural repairs.”
“That does not make him family.”
Inspector Bluford lifted a glass of champagne.
“The rooftop occupancy permit is current.”
Jessa rushed toward me, screaming before she even reached us.
I held out my hand.
She examined the ring.
“Oh, he did good.”
Keon folded his arms. “You sound surprised.”
“I’ve seen your early work.”
Tavron slapped him on the back.
Music rose from the speakers as everyone surrounded us.
Somewhere below, a car horn blared. Laughter floated across the rooftop. Riverton continued moving around us, loud, beautiful, and imperfect.
Just like love.
Keon slipped his arm around my waist.
A server approached carrying a tray of champagne.
She smiled at us. “Congratulations. How do you two know each other?”
Keon looked at me.
I lifted one eyebrow.
His smile spread slowly.
“This is Page Carter,” he said. “My fiancée, my best friend, and the love of my life.”
I leaned closer.
“You forgot community resource.”
“I retired that position.”
“Good answer.”
He kissed my forehead.
Keon Maddox had spent two hundred and eighty-seven days as my almost boyfriend.
He spent every day after that making sure almost never touched my name again.