Dark Blue

The door of the Range Rover closed much louder than usual, and Sid’s mood had sunk as low as the front two tires. He didn’t say anything, only glared out the window as he pulled his phone out and called someone—probably Tanger, since he had the trailer that could tow Sid’s Rover back home.

“Fuck, Tang, are you busy right now?”

Though I could hear Kris responding, I didn’t actually know what he was saying. We’d probably be here a while, however, so I leaned my seat back some and got comfortable while watching a very upset Sidney try and speak calmly to one of his teammates.

“I really hate to bother you right now, but—well, not yet. Everything’s been going wrong. Apparently I ran over some nails because both of my tires are flat.” Sid paused, and his eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t know. Probably not. I mean—really? You think so?”

I now had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, and I didn’t like it one bit. Sid didn’t say anything while Kris apparently recited a monologue, but I was growing far too curious to just sit there.

Sid left the Range Rover on with his lights and flashers on to warn anyone who might pass us, and the heat was all the way up. He was a lot wetter than I was, so the heat needed to stay on. I slipped out of my soaked pea coat and turned to face him.

He noticed me move but tried to focus straight ahead. I could see his eyes look towards me, but he quickly turned them back towards the dark road ahead of us.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he sighed. “Thanks, Kris. I owe you. I’ll message you where we’re at. And—well, I mean, I don’t really care. My suit’s already ruined. Yeah . . . okay. Thanks, man. See you soon. Bye.” Sidney put his phone in the cup holder and looked over at me. “Kris will be here in about twenty minutes or so.”

Though I knew he wouldn’t go for it, I gave him a sexy smile and leaned towards him. “Hmm. What are we gonna do for twenty minutes?”

Despite how sour his mood had previously been, he seemed to have cheered up a lot. He actually smiled as he grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me. It wasn’t a kiss that implied we were about to climb in the back, but more of a loving gesture from the man I was gonna spend the rest of my life with.

“We could talk,” he murmured, and he took both of my hands in his. “I wanted this to be the best night of your life.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “Why? I get that five years is a big deal, but every time something goes wrong, you get so upset. Why was tonight so important to you?”

Sidney let go of one of my hands and used his thumb to rub delicate circles on the back of the hand still in his grasps. He wouldn’t look at me either, only kept his gaze on my hand as an adorable, very Sidney like smile came to his face.

“Because tonight’s not just our five year anniversary, Ari.”

This caught me off guard, so much so that I couldn’t actually form a response. The question was burning in my mind, but I couldn’t actually get it out.

What did he mean . . . ?

“I spent hours trying to figure out just what to say, but right now, with everything that’s happened tonight—and with some advice from Kris—I realized that you can plan your life to go one way, but life is unpredictable,” he said, and my eyes widened. Sidney talking about being unpredictable in a calm manner? “Sometimes, you just have to brace the unknown and follow your heart, and that’s what I’m doing right now, baby. I love you more than anything in this world. I fell in love with you the moment I laid eyes on you. It just took me a few days to realize it was love. You’re the most beautiful woman, inside and out, and I can’t imagine being with anyone else. You’re the only person I want to spend the rest of my life with, and Aris Noel Marin, I wanna ask you something.” He pulled a little black velvet box out of his pocket—a wet velvet box, but a velvet box nonetheless.

I was crying before he even opened it because no matter what it looked like, whether there was a ring in there at all, this was the most wonderful night of my life.

He opened the box to reveal something not so unexpected; a ring much more expensive than I was comfortable with shaped like the most beautiful rose. Made out of diamonds of probably the highest quality within reason—if I knew Sid, the price of this thing was gonna make me nauseous—the only stone that wasn’t clear was the center stone. It was the most beautiful aquamarine diamond nestled perfectly within the setting.

“Will you marry me?”

I couldn’t even get the answer out past the lump in my throat, but I was nodding as I threw my arms around him and held onto him . . . my fiancé.

Holy shit!

Sidney was as excited to hug me as I was him, though I don’t think he expected any other response. Still, to actually have it over and done with, to finally be able to call ourselves engaged . . . it was one of the most thrilling things I had lived to experience.

If the rain didn’t ruin Zarah’s hard work, my tears probably had the makeup running all the way down my face. I didn’t care much either because as I pulled away from Sidney to look, he grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me, very abruptly. The feeling of his lips on mine was something I would never get used to, but there was so much genuine love in this kiss that my frantically beating heart nearly malfunctioned completely.

Sidney pulled away from the kiss so he could slide the ring on my finger. He could take over the world with the smile he wore, a smile more radiant than a diamond in the brightest sunlight.
More tears fell down my face as I saw the ring on my finger. “Sid, I love you so much.”

He looked a little teary eyed himself as he placed one hand on my face and just stared into my eyes. “I love you, Aris.”

I got lost in the depths of his chocolate eyes and only noticed the outside world when he turned his gaze to my hand, only so he could very delicately place a kiss on each of my fingers.

In a rush of excitement, I leaned over and caught Sid’s lips with mine. I knew, in the setting, a quick kiss was all he was comfortable with, so that’s all I did. I wanted to linger . . . to feel his full lips against mine. They looked so warm and inviting, especially as the reality kept replaying in my head.

Those are the same lips you get to kiss for the rest of your life, Aris.

“So what do you think? Summer?”

Sidney’s words were soft as velvet, but it was hard to wrap my head around them as my eyes were still set on those pink lips. They were turned up into a huge smile, but I was just imagining the rest of my life . . . with Sidney.

I had to blink a couple of times to refocus and remember he said something, but in my state of mind, I couldn’t remember what he said. “What?”

The boyish laugh that Sid let out made my heart race as a cage of butterflies released into my stomach. After all this time, he still made me feel like I had the moment I laid eyes on him. Things never changed with Sidney. I still got weak in the knees, still felt it in my toes when he kissed me.

“What do you think about next summer?” he asked, and his eyebrows rose while a smug grin covered his lips. “You know, to get married?”

“Oh!” My cheeks flooded with heat as I gave him a sheepish smile. “I think that sounds incredible. With hockey and everything, that’d definitely be the best time.”

Sid nodded. “Well, if we make it to the end this year, we could have it at the beginning of July.”

My nose curled. “Yeah, but that’s close to my birthday. I guess it’s not a big deal. We can just have one celebration for both.”

Sidney shook his head. “Of course not, sweetheart. They’re still two separate things to celebrate.”

Even if I had known how to respond, I saw a rather large trailer backing up towards the Range Rover. Honestly, I hadn’t even seen Tanger get here, much less pull over to get the trailer in position.

I didn’t know how he was backing it up so well. I had trouble backing up bigger trailers in broad daylight, much less on a lightless street in Pittsburg in the middle of the night.

Sidney kissed me quickly before getting out. He didn’t say anything, only stood to the side and helped direct Tanger into the exact position he needed to be in.

That was how the rest of that night went. Sid and Kris mostly talked about the new change in Sidney’s life while loading the trailer, and I stayed warm in the running truck. Kris and Sid both insisted I stay in the truck while they loaded the Rover.

We got home closer to two than I guessed we would. It didn’t matter how late it was, however. Sidney was absolutely soaked, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one sore from having to run around the town in the cold rain.

Actually, I might be.

Sidney slid out of his jacket and laughed. “Maybe the air wasn’t such a good idea.”

I kicked off my heels and started pulling him towards his room. “Well, let’s get out of these clothes and warm each other up.”

Sidney scooped me up in his arms and let out a very husky breath. “Whatever you want, Ari. I’m all yours.”

“Forever.”