Tapped (Totaled Book 2) (37 page)

            “That they’re your favorite?” he replied. “I had an inside source.” He walked around the bar top to rejoin me on the living room side and brought me into a standing hug. “The flowers are only part of the gift though,” he whispered into my neck as he laid soft kisses on my skin. I pulled away to look at him, puzzled. “The vase,” he said as he cut his eyes over to look at it.

            And that’s when I noticed it. It was a tall, hourglass-shaped vase, but instead of one single piece of glass, it was made of many tiny pieces of shattered glass. Bright marine blue shards intermingled with a deep jade green shade, arranged in a sort of mosaic layout. I remembered the notes and my eyes rose to meet his, full of sincerity and emotion.

             “That’s what I’ve been doing for the past two days.” He grasped my hands, running his glue-covered fingertips over my palm.

            “You
made
this?” I blurted, shocked at the time and effort that it had to have taken. It looked amazing, professional, and so unique. I released his hands to touch the vase with my own.

            “Guilty. You were right, Bree,” he admitted. “I thought that once something was so broken, it couldn’t be put back together and still work. But you knew better. You tried to tell me that you could glue it back and make it any shape you want.” I turned to face him with tears of happiness welling behind my lids. “I hammered the glass into as many pieces as I could and have spent the last few days and nights gluing them all together to make something new—something beautiful, even in its crude, sharp craziness.”

            “I love it,” I said as I leaned up to kiss him. “Thank you, Drew. It’s…it’s perfect.”

            “I found blue glass that matched the color of your eyes because I like the way you see me. And I got green to represent me,” he explained. “I mixed them together and sealed it with glue and grout and cleaned everything up so it’s like new.”

            He was so proud of himself and I was beyond impressed. The vase went beyond a big burly man doing something crafty. He
made
this…for
me
. It sparkled and shined and represented our new beginning. The meaning and thought behind a gift like it was enough to knock me over.

            “And as you can see, it has water in it. None of it is seeping out of any cracks because there aren’t any. I was an idiot,” he confessed.

            I grabbed his face in my hands, kissing him hard, trying to chase those thoughts out of his head. He returned my kisses, but was holding back and pulled away after a few seconds. I looked at him in confusion and began to speak but he placed a soft finger over my lips.

            “Please, Bree. I have more I want to say. Just let me get it all out.”

            I exhaled and pressed my lips tightly shut, allowing him to continue.

            “You have no idea how much it means to me that you to stuck by me through all of this. Anyone else would’ve run for the hills,” he said, fighting to keep his composure through it all.

            My head shook left and right, denying that I ever could’ve just left, and he took a few audible breaths before continuing. He pulled me gently to stand in front of the large living room window, which I suddenly noticed were covered by the blinds. He never had the blinds closed. He held my hands in his and spoke.

            “When my mother died…it left a wound, a huge gaping wound on my heart. My soul was broken then.” I tried to focus on every single word he was saying and not utter a sound or reaction; he just needed to be heard. “I didn’t allow myself to grieve. I didn’t know what I needed until I stumbled upon it.” His hands released mine and he brought them up to hold my hands in his palms. Looking into my eyes, brimming with tears, he sighed. “I needed
you
, Bree.” I let my tears fall, unable to hold them at bay any longer, and he answered with a tear of his own. Continuing with a shaky voice, he crooned, “I needed
you
and this place. I needed the wind of the sea to blow a little salt into my wound. And while it stung like hell, it’s what I needed to begin healing.”

            I watched the enormous man before me unravel and confess his love, laying it all bare. We both held each other and took turns wiping the tears that cascaded down our faces.

            “I don’t want it to be about me anymore,” he pleaded. “Close your eyes,” he requested.

            I returned a look of confusion and apprehension, my heart beating out of my chest and my stomach feeling like it was stuck in my throat.

            “Please?” he whispered.

            I did as he asked and felt him leave me. The sound of the Venetian blinds opening rang into the room and just when I thought I could open my eyes to see, he spoke.

            “Not yet. Don’t open them yet.”

            He gripped my hand in his and led me forward, the cool breeze of the ocean hitting me as he opened the sliding glass door. “Step down,” he instructed, and I followed. He positioned me by placing his hands on my shoulders and turning me to face the ocean head on. Standing directly in front of me, close enough for me to feel the heat from his body in my space, he spoke softly. “
Tá grá agam duit
, Bree.” He placed a chaste kiss on my lips and backed up slightly. “I love you, more than anything…and I want to spend every day for the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you. Open your eyes.”

            I let my eyes open and adjust, immediately seeing the lit up words in the sand before me. White paper bag luminaries were lined up in the shape of letters spelling “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” My right hand shot up to cover my gasping mouth. I couldn’t fight the onslaught of tears that followed. Drew cleared his throat below and I finally noticed that he was before me on one knee. He reached to hold my left hand in his and smiled the most beautiful smile.

            “I’m not going to pretend I don’t have more work to do,” he admitted, looking up at me from his kneeling position. “I can’t promise I’m not going to mess up along the way. But I promise… I swear to you, I will never hurt you again. I will make sure that every day, for the rest of our lives, you feel cherished, and safe, and loved.”

            Yielding to the sobs that racked my body, I gulped hard, blinded by my own tears. He reached into his pants pocket, producing a dark box. When he opened it to reveal the most magnificent ring I had ever seen, I almost fell, weak in the knees.

            “Brianne Abigail Murphy…will you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?”

            I let my hands fall to my sides and breathed a single word: “Yes.”

            He stood up, taking me into his strong arms and hugging me tightly. He kissed my lips, then kissed the tears away from my cheeks until I was brought out of our moment by the sounds of cheers below the deck on the beach. He brought me over closer to the edge of the railing so I could see Sue, Liam, and my father standing together off to the side of the luminaries. They were apparently hiding in the dunes prior to the proposal and came out to reveal themselves once they heard me say yes. The guys were all smiles and clapping as Sue hooted and hollered her congratulations. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I wanted to marry this man, but the fact that they were all in on the proposal solidified it for me.

            They ran through the sand and up the stairs to give us both hugs. I couldn’t believe they were all in on it. It was perfect.

            “Well, where is it?” Sue yelled, pulling my left hand up to reveal no ring.

            Drew looked embarrassed and quickly took it out of the box to place on my finger, sliding it on easily. It was just the right fit and I couldn’t have selected a more perfect ring for myself.

            Sue started up with her ragging saying, “Gahhh, I can’t believe you forgot to put the ring on! That’s the most important par—”

            “Hey!” I interrupted. “Careful. That’s my fiancé you’re insulting!”

            Drew brought me into his arms and kissed me reverently, despite being in front of other people. I kissed him back, swept up in the moment until they comically reminded us that they were still there.

            Liam and my dad helped blow out the candles and collected the paper bags after Sue took pictures. She insisted that I would want the memory captured on film. They soon left and Drew and I sat on the couch of his place entwined in each other. He told me all about his talk with my father when he asked for his blessing and I was so proud. It meant the world to me that he not only had the courage to do that but that having my father’s permission and respect was so important to him. I couldn’t stop staring at the diamond on my finger, twirling the ring around and around.

            “Are you happy?” he asked.

            “I can’t imagine being any happier. I can’t wait to be your wife,” I answered.

            “I meant every word of it,” he declared. “All I really needed to truly heal was you…your love.”

The End

Tapped Playlist

1.
     
Talking In Your Sleep – The Civil Wars

2.
     
Freight Train – Sam Jackson-Holman

3.
     
Dangerous (feat. Sam Martin) – David Guetta, Sam Martin

4.
     
Storm – Lifehouse

5.
     
Monsters – Timeflies, Katie Sky

6.
     
Broken Things – Dave Matthews Band

7.
     
All I Want – Kodaline

8.
     
3 Rounds And A Sound – Blind Pilot

9.
     
If I Go – Jake McMullen

10.
 
Everything’s Not Lost – Coldplay

11.
 
Trouble I’m In – Twinbed

12.
 
I Will Let You Go – Daniel Ahearn

13.
 
Stubborn Love – The Lumineers

14.
 
Feel The Tide – Mumford & Sons

15.
 
St. Jude – Florence + The Machine

16.
 
Walk Away – Ben Harper

17.
 
I Can’t Not Love You – Early Avenue

18.
 
Ain’t No Sunshine - Noah Guthrie

19.
 
Forever And Almost Always – Kate Voegele

20.
 
Slow And Steady – Of Monsters And Men

21.
 
Bonfire Heart – James Blunt

22.
 
Lullabies – Yuna

23.
 
Dust to Dust – The Civil Wars

24.
 
Lost+ (with Jay-Z) – Coldplay

25.
 
Together (feat. Childish Gambino) – Selah Sue, Childish Gambino

26.
 
My Body – Young The Giant

27.
 
Dead Sea – The Lumineers

28.
 
Run Run Run – Kelly Clarkson, John Legend

29.
 
Impossible (Acoustic) – Maddie Jane

30.
 
What Is Love – Kiesza

31.
 
Far More – The Honorary Title

32.
 
Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) – Hillsong United

33.
 
I Choose You – Sara Bareilles

34.
 
Earned It – The Weeknd

35.
 
Hold You in My Arms – Ray LaMontagne

36.
 
If You Want Me – Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard

37.
 
Ocean – Andreas Moe

38.
 
I Know You – Skylar Grey