Chapter Chapter Twenty Seven
Amy
The end-of-year celebration was one of my favorites.
All twelve grades were celebrating at the same time.
The elementary school kids were running around to the left of the backyard.
The girls were wearing flowers in their hair, and the boys had one pinned on their chests.
They were extremely cute. The middle schoolers mostly stayed to the right, and the high schoolers hung around everywhere.
All the teachers were gathered around, and we’d even invited some of our high schoolers’ favorite speakers from career days.
My man had given a speech just as the celebration started, and everyone had hung on his every word.
I was biased, of course, but I found that he was the best of all the speakers we’d had. Over the past few months, I’ve made a lot of headway with my project. Knox and his brothers had offered internships at all of their companies, but I also brought three more sponsors on board.
Knox came up to me as I was arranging plates at the snacks table.
“So, how long do we have to be here?” he asked.
I elbowed him. “We can’t bail.”
“It’s not about that. But the Sterlings are calling.”
I laughed. “Really? Where’s the party today?”
“At our house.” He smiled at me.
I waited for the punchline, then jerked my head back. “Wait, you’re serious?”
He nodded. “Yep. Dead serious.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Why didn’t I know anything about it? We’re completely unprepared.”
“Nah, we’re not. There’s plenty of food in the fridge, and I’ll order some pizza.”
I considered this for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, why not? We rarely have the group at our house.”
“I love that you’re so easygoing.” He put an arm around my waist and kissed the side of my head. “I just love you.”
My entire body went soft. I wouldn’t ever get tired of hearing him say he loved me.
My phone beeped just as Knox let me go. I glanced at it quickly.
Mom: I might be late today.
I frowned. “That’s strange.”
“What?” Knox asked, then glanced at my phone. “Fuck.”
I elbowed him again as I noticed some of the younger kids heading our way. “The kids will hear you.”
“I’m meeting Mom today and forgot about it,” I said.
Knox cleared his throat. “She’s coming to the house too.”
That made no sense. Since Knox and I had been officially together, they’d met maybe two times. She liked him well enough, but she wasn’t the type to hang around that much. It was odd that he just invited her over.
“You spoke to Mom?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“Knox, what is going on?”
He sighed and looked at the trio who approached, nodding.
Lisa immediately nodded in return, her little face exploding in a grin, and then she stepped in front of the other two, Alex and Gio, turning to them.
They stopped in their tracks. I couldn’t hear what she was telling them, but a second later, the two boys ran in the opposite direction.
Lisa came to us and winked at Knox. Winked. I looked between the two of them, trying to decipher what was happening. Had they been plotting or something? Then again, Knox seemed to have plotted with everyone today.
When she reached the table, she looked around once. It was just us here under the willow tree. The rest of the teachers were scattered at the other snacks and crafts tables.
“Miss Amy, I have something for you. You’re my favorite teacher, you know that?”
I was also her only teacher at the moment until Francine returned, so there was that, but it still warmed my heart.
She looked at the snacks table, then back up at me and said, “Thank you for taking care of me every day and bringing me lunch as well.”
“I always pack too much, Lisa,” I explained. “Thank you for eating my extra lunch.”
She nodded, but I wasn’t totally sure that she was still buying my explanation. Kids her age developed quickly. Maybe she’d put two and two together by now.
“I have something for you.” She handed me the lunchbox I always packed for her.
“Lisa, you didn’t have to get me anything.”
She shook her head. “It’s not from me. Open it.”
I wondered if it was from her parents. Maybe they’d wanted to send something in return. I took the box from her and moved it a bit. It thumped and seemed to have something small inside, like a cupcake. Yeah, that could be it.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Open it.”
I opened the plastic lunchbox, revealing a smaller velvet box.
“Lisa...”
Was it jewelry? I hoped her parents didn’t overspend or something.
I opened the box and nearly dropped it. Inside was most definitely an engagement ring.
Lisa squealed and clapped her hands. Then she looked at Knox before turning around and running toward the center of the yard, where two other teachers were gathering the kids in a circle.
I started to shake lightly and then turned to Knox. He was looking at me with the biggest smile ever—before getting down on one knee. He grabbed both of my wrists. I was holding the ring box with both hands tightly, as if I was afraid that someone might steal it.
“I love you, Amy. And I know we haven’t been a couple for a long time, but we’ve been friends forever, and I know with utmost certainty that you’re the one for me.
I want us to spend the rest of our lives together, married.
I’m already so proud to call you my girlfriend, but I’d love to change that to my fiancée, and one day my wife. ”
“Knox,” I whispered. This was so cute! He’d asked my favorite student to bring me the ring. I licked my lips. “I’d love to.” My voice trembled. “I’d love nothing more than to build a life with you, so yes, I want to marry you. Yes, yes, yes!”
Knox let out a breath of relief. Did he actually think there was a chance I’d say no? Oh, this silly man.
He took the ring out, putting it on my finger. It was a huge rectangular diamond, and I loved it. It was boisterous and ostentatious, and I was going to wear it every single day forever.
He rose to his feet and first kissed my temple, then the corner of my mouth.
“Knox, we’re in the schoolyard.”
“Yeah, I should have planned this better.”
“No, it was actually perfect.”
The school was my happy place. We were surrounded by the sound of laughing kids and good vibes.
He pulled back and splayed his fingers wide on my cheek, brushing his thumb over my lips. “I want everything you want, Amy.”
“Knox.”
“I mean it. The three kids, the—”
I shrieked. “Oh my God. You’re serious?”
“Hell yes.”
I narrowed my eyes as I put my hand over his, pressing it against my cheek. My heart raced in my chest. I was a little nervous, you could say.
“Why did you change your mind?”
“I don’t know.” He smiled. “Does it matter? I just know life with you will be fucking amazing no matter what we do.” He groaned. “Damn it. Why did I think about proposing here? Now I can’t even kiss you. Although...”
“No ‘although.’” I cleared my throat and took a huge step back.
“Come on, no one will see.”
I laughed. “Want to bet everyone’s staring at us?”
“No.” He frowned and then glanced around the yard.
Granted, not everyone was looking at us, but Agnes was coming toward us with very quick steps, as was Ms. Adams.
“I figured this willow tree would be a good spot to give us privacy.”
“You get kudos for trying,” I informed him.
Agnes arrived first. “Did you just propose?”
Ms. Adams came just in time to hear Knox say yes.
“Goodness. Congratulations,” she gushed.
“I figured something might be going on.” Agnes looked at me with a huge smile.
I’d ended up telling her about Knox the week after she’d suggested setting me up with her brother. She was surprised but pleased. She also started dating Gregory soon after, and things were going really well for them.
“Congratulations, you two,” Agnes said.
“Thank you.”
Before long, the whole school was upon us.
Poor Knox seemed a bit desperate. Clearly, he hadn’t counted on this.
I was so happy that I feared I was going to tear up any second now, but I held it together for about two more hours until the flower celebration was over.
Then I got teary-eyed as we got in the car, and I kept looking at the ring.
“All right. I’m going to text the group that we’ll be there in an hour, give or take.”
Then it dawned on me. “Knox, are we having an engagement party at the house?”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “Yes, we are.”
“We’re not really ordering pizza and serving leftovers, right?”
He chuckled. “Obviously not, babe. We’ve got a catering team at the house. Why do you think I chose this day?”
“Oh, I figured... I don’t know. I figured this was just so Lisa could bring the ring.”
“That, too, but the team needed the whole day to prep the house.”
I was surprised and curious at the same time. “I need more information. What should I expect?”
“You’ll see soon enough.” He took my hand and kissed it.
I looked at this gorgeous man, barely keeping myself from jumping his bones. Oh yeah. I wanted to get my paws all over him and never stop kissing him.
My jaw dropped when we arrived at the house. When he’d said the catering team, I imagined that I’d see some chafing dishes and whatnot, but he’d transformed the whole house. There was an arch of roses at the entrance.
I immediately recognized other elements from my wedding vision Pinterest board. There were roses all over the gate too.
“Knox,” I said after we stepped out of the car. My voice was hoarse. “What is this?”
He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear and kissed my forehead. “I figured I could fulfill both of your dream wedding scenarios—one at the engagement party, the other at the actual wedding.”
I swear, my heart stopped. I smiled from ear to ear. “I can’t believe you did this. God, you are amazing. You’ve...” I blinked. “How did you even memorize all those scenarios?”
“I didn’t. Your mom helped a lot. She knew the details.”
I laughed and rose onto my toes, kissing his chin. “I spammed her with my ideas over the years.”
He pressed his mouth against mine. The kiss was so deep and shameless that my lady bits instantly turned hot as hell. Then he pulled back and groaned.
“Nah. This will have to wait until later.”