61. Willa
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
WILLA
I ’ve never been to something so fancy before.
The Reed Tech Gala is all swanky chandeliers and candlelit banquet tables, and I feel out of place, despite my black floor-length chiffon gown.
I fiddle with the pins securing my twists in a low bun and smooth a hand over the deep slit in my dress for the seventeenth time.
If I didn’t have this clutch in my hand, I’m sure I’d have a death grip on my fingers.
Trevor grabs my free hand and pulls me toward him. “You’re beautiful, Gem.” He smiles, his calm easing into me. Giving me a sweet kiss on the lips melts the rest of my tension away. The elevator opens, and we head to the main ballroom.
Trevor’s mom and dad are already at the table when we get there, beaming at him like he’s the absolute light of their life.
I can’t help looking at him the same way, considering he’s the light of mine.
Asa and Adele flew in last night and spent today catching up with me and Lyla.
All day, they gushed over how much she resembled Trevor when he was a kid.
Lyla spent the time laughing at Asa’s silly faces and cuddling with Adele.
I love how they’ve welcomed me into their family, but I can’t help but feel sad Lyla won’t get a double dose of grandparent affection.
Trevor pulls my chair out for me, and once he takes his seat, Asa starts with the jokes. “See, Adele? Being raised in a barn didn’t affect him at all. He’s wearing a tie and everything.”
“Asa, honey, if you embarrass our son on his big night, I’ll pinch the living daylights out of you.”
Asa leans to the side like he’s digging in his back pocket. “Well, just make sure you even it out on both cheeks, dear. Lord knows it’s the most action I’ve seen in weeks.”
My hand flies to my mouth to cover the cackle threatening to escape, while Trevor’s shoulders shake wildly next to me as he tips his head back and laughs.
Adele swats at Asa’s shoulder with her program, then quickly uses it to hide giggles of her own.
Asa Jones and his jokes are nothing less than a national treasure.
As the laughter dies down, we’re joined by Chase and Kayla, who look happily exhausted as they tuck into the chairs next to us.
“Hey, Willa!” Chase says with a wave. I give a little wave back as he passes behind me to greet Trevor and his parents.
The bright smile on his face never falters.
It suits him, but I’ve known Kayla long enough to know she’s not a social butterfly.
“He always like this?” I ask Kayla, who pulls her phone out of her clutch and sets it in her lap—a telltale new mom anxiety habit. I know because I did the exact same thing.
Kayla leans in her chair to give me a side hug. “Worse, usually. I don’t know where he gets his damn energy from. He was on baby duty last night.” She looks at me and offers a smile. “You look great, Willa. Happiness looks good on you.”
I nod and smile back. “Can you believe we’re here? From small town Fort Bender to a ritzy LA gala?”
“Better get used to it, girl. I doubt Trevor’s letting you get away.”
I doubt it, too. After we broke through my body image barrier last week, I’ve let myself completely give in to him, and he’s met me with the most enthusiastic protection. I can’t believe I ever doubted him wanting me. Ever doubted him staying.
Once the dinner plates are cleared away, the lights dim, and the excitement in the air makes me wonder how Trevor’s taking all of this.
I reach for his thigh under the table and squeeze to get his attention.
When he smiles at me with that dimpled grin, I know two things.
One: he’s not nervous at all. He was made for success like this.
And two: he has my entire heart. He presses a kiss to my cheek, whispering, “Thank you for everything.”
He’s thanking me ? After all the things he’s had to give up and adjust to over the last year, he’s smiling at me with gratitude like I’m the prize here. All my words scramble in my head as I gape at him in confusion. “What are you thanking me for? You did all of this yourself, Tre.”
“Maybe. But it definitely helps having you next to me.”
I want to tell him he’s crazy for putting me on such a pedestal.
That, if anything, I’ve made it harder for him to get to where he is now.
But the pure adoration in his eyes shuts down every conflicting thought.
Leaning forward, I press a soft kiss to his lips.
“I love you,” I whisper as silence washes over the room.
He smiles and gives me a quick kiss back. “Always will.”
After dinner and the award ceremony, we skip the dancing and head straight home.
Trevor seems just as eager as I am to have a night to ourselves.
He tucks in behind me as I unlock my front door, hands curling around my hips while he nips my ear.
My giggling is swallowed up by a gasp when the door swings open.
There’s a pathway of candles through my house.
He nudges me inside with a sexy chuckle in my ear.
“What’s all this?” I ask, turning to face him. He’s busy digging in his work bag, so my eyes sweep over the romantic setup again. Even on his special night, he planned all this for me?
“Willa…”
When I turn around, his fingers grip a small black box, and I shake my head as if it will make it disappear. “W-why do you have that?”
Trevor inhales deeply and steps toward me.
“Because I was offered a position in Germany, and I want you to come with me…” He takes another hesitant step, and my body forgets how to move, how to breathe.
“It’s a short assignment—just a year. I kn ow this all sounds crazy right now.
Rushed. Unorganized. But come with me, Willa.
” A hopeful grin slides across his lips.
“ Be with me. Traveling through Europe is your dream, and you’re mine.
Let me support your dreams, sweetheart. Just… let me come along for the ride too.”
Eyes wide, I glance at his hand. “That doesn’t explain the box, though.”
Trevor turns back and grabs some paperwork from his bag, thumbing through it until he finds what he’s looking for.
I blink at the words on the paper. Spouse .
“The easiest way for me to keep my promise and give you your dream trip to Europe is if you’re my wife…
German visa guidelines are pretty strict about that.
I spent most of the morning trying to sort out all the rules.
” He chuckles nervously, but it doesn’t touch the fear in his eyes as he takes another step toward me.
“Willa, we’ve done all of this backward.
Every single part of our story has been out of order, but there’s no denying the timing has always been right.
” Another step, and he reaches for my hand, placing it over his chest. “You’re in here.
You’re a part of me in a way I don’t ever want to be without.
You’re the sound waves rippling across the ends of the earth and back, calling to that secluded place in my heart.
You’re the ocean that swept me up, molded me, gave me new purpose.
It’s you, and it’s been you for so long, I can’t remember a time before you.
” He places a soft kiss on my hand, then drops to his knee.
“Marry me, Willa. I promise we’ll work out all the details with the studio and anything else.
Just…marry me?” His eyes plead, and it breaks my heart that he looks so scared right now.
Scared of my answer. Scared that I’ll walk away from him.
My heart pounds in my chest, beating so fast I’m worried it’ll fly across the room.
Taking this leap with him is something I’ve considered multiple times over the last few months.
It’s terrifying to put all my trust in someone else when I’ve worked so hard to make sure I never needed to.
Scared shitless doesn’t even begin to cover it.
But as much as the old me wants to fight this, she’s wrong.
This is the next step for us, and it feels right.
“I’m trying to dig up the courage to say yes,” I whisper.
“Yeah?” His shoulders collapse, his face the picture of relief when I nod quickly.
A cautious grin slides across his face as he flips the box open, revealing a simple round cut, solitaire ring with a twisted gold band.
I stretch my left hand toward him, and the closer I get, the deeper those dimples go.
As I stand here in front of a man who I couldn’t stand a year ago, I know without any shadow of a doubt that I long to be his wife.
He pulls the ring from the box and hesitates before pushing it on my finger. “I’m gonna need some words, Gem.”
“Yes, Tre,” I say, tears falling despite the smile on my face. “Yes, and yes again. When do we leave?”
He slips the ring on my finger. Everything that happens next moves in warp speed and slow motion all at the same time.
Trevor pins me against the wall and kisses me with a tender passion.
I meet him with just as much enthusiasm, grabbing at the lapel of his tux to pull him closer.
We move slowly through the house, never breaking our connection on the way to the bedroom.
When we drop on the bed, fancy clothes rumpled all to hell, he brackets me with his arms. I slide a hand behind his head, finally giving myself permission to let go and rest in him completely.
“You’re sure?” Trevor asks. I prop my chin on his bare chest and smile at him as we lay together, feeling perfectly at home in his arms. Our gala clothes lay crumpled at the foot of the bed.
“Why do you keep asking me?”
“Because I know you didn’t ever envision yourself being married, and we were in the heat of the moment. It’s okay if you’ve changed your mind or you?—”
Stopping him with a kiss, he sighs like it gives him the answer to a million other questions. I pull back, my heart leaping at the crooked smile on his face. “I’m sure, Tre.”
He strokes my back with his fingertips. “I don’t want you to feel pressured. You didn’t want marriage before.”
“That was before you—before I knew what it was like to be yours. You’re the only one it could be, and there’s nothing I want more.” I hold my hand up, admiring my new ring. “You did good , Dimples.”
“Yeah?” He chuckles, pulling me closer. “Maya helped me pick it out over video chat… We’ll have to do it pretty soon—the wedding. They want all our paperwork in before November so everything hopefully goes through by the new year.”
“That’s okay. I don’t want a big wedding. I don’t even want a wedding. Or a fancy dress. I’d be fine at the courthouse.”
“Then let’s do it.” He smiles, tracing my lips with his thumb.
I give it a peck. “Won’t your family be upset by not being there?”
“Naw, not really.” He shrugs. “They’re used to my surprises by now, and they’ll just be happy I’m happy.
” Trevor’s phone chirps in the pants at our feet, and he cranes his neck to look at the time on the alarm clock.
He bites his bottom lip, which does nothing for the smile playing at his lips.
“It’s midnight,” he says, stretching to open the nightstand.
He pulls out a small blue velvet bag, identical to the one that held my camera necklace all those months ago.
Dangling it in front of me, he says, “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”
With a shake of my head and a smile on my face, I grab the bag out of the air. I should have known he’d do something for my birthday. “You remembered.”
“I remember everything about you. It’s kinda my thing.” He presses a kiss to my temple. “Open it.”
I untie the satin strings cinching the bag closed, and the skinny golden cuff that slides out makes my heart burst. My thumb swipes over the Always Will inscribed on the inside curve.
His fingers tangle with mine when he turns the bracelet around, revealing the etched pattern of sound waves.
“It’s just a way for you to remember my promise to you. I love you, Gem.”
Dropping the bracelet on his chest, I prop myself up to reach his lips, a kiss backed with all the emotions swirling inside. Excitement. Peace. Love. Happiness. I palm his jaw, hoping to convey how much this simple gift means to me—how much he means to me, as I whisper, “Always will.”