After we fucked, I laid on Tara's shoulders, scrolling through the channels they offered here. I was sleepy, and I might sound mad childish for this- but it was past the time I usually started to go to bed. Tara was already starting to drift off, but by the little worry lines she had, I could tell that something was keeping her up.
"Gialla. You still awake?" she asked, her voice a little raspy from all the moaning she did.
Her water bottle sat by her side of the bed unused.
"Yeah. What's the deal?" I stopped channel surfing and glanced over at her.
"I have one last surprise for you. And," she paused for a long time, staring ahead, "it might ruin everything good that we've both worked for. So...don't hate me too much after this, please?"
"You cheated?"
"Gosh, Gi. Why the hell would that be the surprise?"
"I don't know," I sat up, pouting as I searched her face in the dimly lit room.
"I'm nervous. Gosh," she admitted, playing with her hands. She pulled out that box again, no bigger than my hand. What was in there? A trip to Hawaii? A necklace? Some money?
"Don't be nervous, Tee. I promise you I won't bite your head off about it," I assured her.
"Gosh. I just...I don't know," she mumbled.
"I know. You've said gosh like forty different times."
"What if she says..." her words drifted off underneath the loud noise of the air conditioner.
"Tara," I said her name sharply, snapping her out of it. I pulled the covers up further over my breasts, leaning back on her as she sat bone straight besides me, twirling the box around in her hands.
"You've been going on and on about deciding if you wanted to date me or not after high school," she started. "And I've been fine with that. But what about me? Why am I not the one who could step forward and decide if I wanna date you too?"
"Because I'm the one who was against us dating senior year. Not you. Therefore...it was my decision on whether we would date period. If it was the other way around then you'd be the one tossing and turning every night wondering if I was the girl for you," I stated.
"Hm. Right," she nodded, looking back down at the box.
I snatched it out of her hands, rolling it around in my own to see how to open this thing. "What's the big deal about it? Are all your life secrets in here? You don't have to be this nervous over a gift, Tara. And honestly...I'm very sleepy right now. I'd like to get to sleep. So either I open this," I held it out of her reach as she tried to make a grab for it, "or either you do."
"Wait. You- You have to get out of bed first," she instructed, nakedly moving off the mattress.
"Tara," I sighed, "Fine. Fine."
I held the box, sliding across the bed and standing at the foot of it as Tara slowly dipped down to one knee.
Suddenly, a billion and one things clicked into place as I froze and she gently took the box from my hands. The nervousness. The size. The knee. The devotion. The hotel. The sex. It all added up now.
"Tara," I gasped, staring down at her as she nodded at me, a little smile coming to her face. "You sneaky bastard."
I wanted to slap her so hard right now for leaving out all the signs and my dumb ass still didn't notice. Not until the last moment.
"You're not doing this right now," I covered my mouth, staring down at her with wide eyes.
She smiled warmly. "I am."
