No Strings Attached | ✓ 18+

bonus no.1 .ೃ࿐

The sun was warm on my skin and the breeze was gentle. One of the best things about summer was that the sun stayed up for what felt like forever, and when it was 8:00 PM on a Thursday in July, it was still kissing our skin as though it had just risen. 

I spotted him sitting on the blanket in the grass and I couldn't stop the grin spreading across my face. 

Clay and I had been together for two years now, and though there were many things that life threw at us, we remained close, our bond secured. We had successfully avoided many pregnancy scares, despite our friends begging us to have a baby. We simply weren't ready, and considering we had the rest of our lives to spend together, it didn't seem like a big rush. 

"My girl," his voice made my cheeks flush. Clay reached his hand out to me as I sat down on the blanket beside him. 

There was an assortment of snacks, crackers, cheese, fruits, and chocolates. Clay had made us coffee tumblers filled with sangria, with the wine he knew I loved. Everything was arranged neatly, waiting to be enjoyed. 

"How are you?" He asked, placing a kiss on my temple. 

"I'm good," I smiled at him. "You did a really good job here. I love the snacks you chose."

Clay laughed. "Thank you. I learn from the best." His eyes were playful, and he reached for a raspberry. I didn't take my eyes off it as I watched him pop it into his mouth, some of the juices still lingering on his lips. 

I took that as my opportunity to lean forward and kiss him, cupping his cheek with my hand as I did so. He smiled against me and proceeded to tug at my bottom lip. I let out a groan, pulling back from him. "We're supposed to be having an innocent date." I accused. 

"You kissed me first, love." Clay shot me a shit-eating grin. "If you want to have an innocent date, maybe we will have to sit across from each other so that you don't jump my bones right away."

Our bantering continued, and eventually, it ended with us sitting across from each other, with the snacks between us. Clay's smile had gotten impossibly bigger as he picked at the crackers, picking his favorites. He knew that this tortured me, especially because I was effortlessly turned on by practically everything he did. 

However, we promised that this date would be innocent and gentle, something for us to do to appreciate each other without having anyone else bother us. If I wasn't mistaken, I was almost certain that he was going to use this as an opportunity to propose to me. I know that the girl shouldn't know...but he's been relatively jumpy recently and he only gets that way around Christmas or my birthday. 

I haven't said anything to him about it because I don't want to ruin the surprise for him. I know how much this means to him, especially because we've spent so many late nights lying awake talking about it. 

It's still wild to me how a few years ago I'd been dating the woman I thought I would marry, only to be sat in front of this man today, wondering if he'll be asking me to be his wife tonight. 

Clay lifted his tumbler to mine and smiled, and we both drank. It was a silent toast, but I could feel the energy radiating off of us as we looked into each other's eyes. I felt clammy, almost nervous. I knew he felt the same way. 

It's crazy when you know you want to marry someone who loves you equally, but you're still afraid they're going to say no. I could practically hear the thoughts running through Clay's mind as he kept his gaze locked with mine. 

He stood silently, offering a hand to me. He pulled me up, then locked his fingers with mine as we walked toward a small wildflower patch on the grass, not far from our picnic blanket. 

The anticipation was building. My heart was beating rapidly, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through whatever would come next. I could feel the sweat in his palm as he squeezed my hand close to his and brought us to a stop facing each other.

"Adalyn," he began, taking a shaky breath. I could already feel the tears welling in my eyes and he hadn't even gotten down on one knee yet. "You are everything to me."

As he got down on one knee in front of me, I swore I stopped breathing. The breeze was still gentle, blowing through the wildflowers and my hair. The sun had gone down, but it let off a golden glow, one that shone off of Clay's messy hair which I loved so much. 

He took my hand in his and locked eyes with me. "I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. I know that two years ago when we met, it was never supposed to be this serious. But I couldn't stop myself from falling for you. You are everything that I aspire to be. I'm so proud of who you've become. Adalyn, I love you. Will you marry me?"

My nodding was frantic. The tears that streamed down my face were hot and quick, wrecking my mascara as they fell. "Yes, yes I'll marry you."

The engagement ring slipped onto my finger, and he swept me up in the tightest hug I've ever received from him. He kissed all over my face, my forehead, temples, cheeks, eyelids, and the tip of my nose. When he rested his forehead against mine, I realized then that he'd been crying too. 

We stood there together for a while until he finally pulled away from me and looked at me with his eyebrow raised. "You knew."

"What?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"You knew I was going to propose to you this evening," I didn't make eye contact with him, but I could sense his smirk. 

"Why do you think that?" I asked carefully, hoping he wouldn't catch the blush rising on my cheeks. Jokes on me, he was incredibly observant and obviously caught the way I tried to hide my face from him. 

He bumped my shoulder lightly. "I know that you hide your face when you lie. You didn't even make your genuine surprised face when I got down on one knee."

We banter back and forth as we walked back toward the blanket. He helped me sit down comfortably, and then he pulled out two mini cheesecake cupcakes from the basket. I accepted his offer, and we both clinked the cheesecakes together, as though they were champagne glasses. 

"Cheers to forever with you," I grinned.