Foolish Summer | ✔

30 • EPILOGUE • 💖

"Nope. This thing took weeks to plan."

"Weeks?"

"Weeks." He grinned, enjoying teasing me way too much.

He leaned in for a kiss and I covered his mouth with my hand. "If I can't know about the date, you can't have my lips."

I could tell he was pouting, even with my hand covering his mouth.

"Fine," he said, his voice muffled. Then he kissed my palm and left me there to think about what he had planned for the next day.

• • •

I was showered and dressed by seven in the morning. Stephen never specified a time and he only replied to my texts with winking emojis.

Then, around nine, the doorbell rang.

"Close your eyes," Stephen said the second I opened the door.

"Why—"

"Close 'em."

I huffed, but closed my eyes. Stephen took my hand in his. Five months and he was still causing that flutter in my belly with just his touch.

He put something in my palm and told me to open my eyes.

"A bookmark?" I stared at it trying to figure out its importance. It took me way too long to realize that the illustrated girl on bookmark was actually me. I felt myself smile. "It's me."

"Wow. It only took you thirty minutes!"

"Shut up!"

He chuckled. "You ready?"

I barely had time to shout to my parents that I was leaving before Stephen took my hand and lead me to his car.

"Can I at least get a hint?" I asked once we were in the car.

"What do you think the bookmark is?"

I examined the bookmark again as he pulled out of my driveway. It was me, surrounded by books. No quotes or anything. "This means nothing to me."

He laughed at my frustrations and continued to drive.

• • •

After almost two hours in the car—thank you LA traffic—Stephen told me to open the glove compartment. Inside there was one of those eye masks people used to block out light when they slept.

"First a bookmark and now a blind fold?" I eyed the guy in the driver's seat. "What do you have planned?"

"Have you read 50 Shades of Grey?" My face must've mirrored my internal panic because he began cracking up. "It's a joke, Waverly. Put the blindfold on."

My face began to cool off. "You never know with you." I removed my glasses, replacing them with the blindfold. "You know, I'm practically blind without my glasses, so the blindfold is kinda overkill."

"The blurry shapes you see could give away the surprise." He took my hand and kissed my knuckles. "I know you're afraid of the dark. We're almost there."

"I am not afraid of the dark," I said defiantly. He scared me one time and then refused to let it go. "I'm afraid of people creeping around in the dark, like you were doing that night."

"Whatever you say." He was smirking, I could feel it.

A few minutes later the car came to a stop. Stephen climbed out of the car and I called out a million different questions that got zero answers.

He opened my door and took my hand. "Hint number two: You said you wanted to visit this place one day."

"I say I want to visit lots of places," I pointed out as he led me down what felt like a sidewalk.