Page 40 of Best In Class (Savannah's Best #7)

Dom

T he sky is blushing itself into dusk, it’s the kind of sunset that makes you believe in second chances.

Luna walks beside me, barefoot in the soft Tybee sand, her dress fluttering around her knees like she was made to be wild and free.

The sounds of the party fade behind us. We can still hear the laughter and clinking glasses and music, but they’re softened by distance.

A few gulls wheel overhead.

The ocean murmurs against the shore like it’s telling us to listen.

I take her away to a secret place. It’ll be our place, I decide. And, hell, once I get that ring on her finger, we’ll get naked and swim as well.

She looks out at the horizon like she’s memorizing it.

And I look at her.

There’s no one else I’d rather see at the end of every day .

She bumps my shoulder with hers. “This is your secret place?”

“ Ours .”

“Good for skinny dipping,” she notes.

“And burying bodies,” I add.

She laughs, rolling her eyes. “You’re such a?—”

“I love you, Moonbeam.”

That stops her.

Not because she doesn’t know, as I’ve said it a hundred times now, but because something in my voice makes her look at me.

She’s aware of what’s coming.

I’ve warned her many, many times.

I reach into my back pocket and pull out the small, velvet box that Mama gave to me months ago.

Her eyes widen.

“Dom,” she breathes.

“I’ve been waiting for the moment I thought was perfect,” I admit. “But then I realized, it doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be us.”

I open the box.

Inside is Mama’s ring—the one that my father gave to her.

It’s vintage, delicate, and modest. Not flashy. Not new. But full of history. Like us.

“I don’t have a speech,” I say, my voice a little rough. “I don’t think I need one. Because you know who I am, Luna. You always have. Even when I didn’t.”

Her eyes fill with tears that catch the setting sunlight.

“I want every morning with you. Every argument. Every design review where you call my work too ornamental,” I say.

She lets out a shaky laugh. “I want the hard days and the soft ones. I want your hot temper, and your cold feet warming under mine. I want to build a life with you. No hiding. Only honesty. Just you and me—partners. Always.”

I pause. “Will you marry me?”

She stares down at the ring, then up at me.

She waits a long, endless moment before she nods, tears slipping down her cheeks.

“Yes,” she whispers.

“Moonbeam—"

“But you didn’t go on one knee,” she complains.

I arch an eyebrow. “You want me to go down on one knee.”

She nods vigorously. “It’s tradition, and it’ll be a good story to tell our kids.”

I sigh elaborately like it’s a lot of work, before I make a production of getting on one knee. “Happy?”

“Now, you have to ask me again,” she says primly, smiling wide.

“Bossy, bossy,” I murmur, my heart ready to leap out of my chest because I’m so happy. “Luna, the love of my life, the most beautiful and sexy and brilliant woman I know, will you marry me?”

She grins wickedly. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

“You gonna tell our kids that ? That you swore as you said yes? ”

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” she repeats and holds out her hand. “Put it on.”

I slide the ring on her finger.

It fits like a dream.

I stand. She throws her arms around me. Kisses me.

The waves rush up, cool around our ankles.

The sky glows behind her. And I know, we didn’t just get lucky, we earned this. Fought for it.

We stay wrapped in each other for a long time, her fingers brushing the back of my neck, my forehead against hers.

She grins at me, eyes still shining. “Can we go skinny dipping now?” she asks.

“Sure, why the hell not?” I say as if it’s such a chore. “Come on, Moonbeam, let’s get naked and get this done with.”

Then we get into the waves, splashing at one another like children.

I don’t think we’ve ever been happier.