Connor's POV
I was almost certain Kimo would say yes, but as I watched the tears running down his cheeks and heard his voice caught in his throat, I was starting to wonder if these weren't tears of joy.
Before I had more time to wallow in doubt, Kimo threw himself into my arms and screamed, "'ae, yes, of course I want to marry you! Yes!" I swayed under his sudden weight but steadied us, shifting so that both of my knees were planted on the sand.
Kimo lifted his head, and I was awestruck by his beauty. The luscious, curly mane which framed his face was now completely windblown and frizzy, only making him look even cuter. His skin, the deep colour of sand dunes under a setting sun, was soft and smooth to my gentle touch. The love of my life stared up at me through thick eyelashes as the tears glistening in his eyes made his dark brown eyes appear bigger.
"Nau ko'u aloha, my love is yours, Connor, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You mean the world to me, always have and always will. Just your smile or hearing your voice is enough to brighten up my day. You're right, as long as we have each other, nothing can phase us. Aloha no au ia 'oe (I truly love you)." The smile on his face was wide and as bright as the morning sun.
My heart fluttered at his words, and my joyous smile matched his as I stroked his hair. The big curls of his hair glided through my hand and felt like what I imagined a cloud would feel like. My hand came to rest on his nape, my thumb tenderly stroking his cheek while my other hand was wrapped around his waist, still clutching the jewelry box.
He reached up with one hand to caress my ear, the other resting against my chest. His gaze that was trained on me, was like he was looking at a priceless art piece which he couldn't believe was his. It filled me with more happiness than I could possibly have imagined because I felt exactly the same way about him.
I'd admired Kimo from the first day I met him, he was strong, confident and outgoing, everything that I wasn't. Over the years, Kimo had coaxed me out of my shell with his patience and love. He helped me find my confidence, my passion and my voice.
No one had cared about what I wanted to say or do, so I had stopped trying to tell them, but then I had been sent to a new foster home and consequently started going to a new high school. That had been where I met Kimo and made my first true friend.
He hadn't noticed me initially, I had been invisible to him, just another scrawny kid who hid inside baggy hoodies. I had watched him from afar and marvelled at his smile, beauty and kindness, falling more and more in love with a guy who hadn't known I'd existed.
That had been until one day when he witnessed the senior kids, who had picked on me from my first at that school, beating me up. Kimo had rushed to my rescue, his presence alone had been enough to get them to retreat.
His father had been the first Black councilman of that small city, and on top of that, had been very wealthy, so that had made Kimo's family extremely well known and Kimo the most popular kid in school.
I had been badly bruised from the attack and hardly said a word, but Kimo had taken me to the hospital and waited with me through the night since I refused to call my foster parents. Since that day, Kimo had stuck by my side, repelling my bullies and taking care of me. After a few months, I had started to open up, letting him see past the baggy clothes and quiet demeanor.
Now seven years later, and I had the courage and confidence to ask the love of my life to marry me. I had come a long way from that scared, moody little boy, and that was largely due to Kimo.
"I love you so much, Connor," he murmured, releasing the cutest little giggle before crashing his lips into mine. I smiled into the kiss, nibbling on his lips and swirling my tongue just the way he liked it. I was rewarded with a string of quiet moans which only spurred me on.
After making out as if our lives depended on it, our lips finally parted as we gasped for air.
"Give me my ring please!" Kimo demanded, peppering my face with kisses.
"Okay, okay," I said through laughter, thoroughly enjoying his affection.
When he finally stopped his kiss attack, I pecked his lips a few times before bringing the jewellery box in front of him. He giggled and stuck out his hand. "You're not mad that I proposed to you with a ring pop?" I inquired.
I had ordered a pair of basic stainless-steel rings for us from a shoddy website, but the shipping had been delayed. So, this morning, I had popped to the grocery store and bought the candy, transferring it into an old jewellery box that we had lying around.
"Of course not! What's important is that I want to marry you. I think it's cute, and I absolutely love it! Now give me my ring!" He giggled and wiggled his hand, and I took out the ring pop and slipped it onto the hand of my waiting fiancé. Judging by the smile on his face, anyone would have thought that I'd put a massive diamond ring on his finger.
I smiled as I watched him admiring his candy ring like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. The tiny voice in my head of the scared teenager I once was echoed that I would never be good enough for Kimo. That voice used to be a lot stronger, but was now only a whisper and one that I rarely heard.
Refusing to let it ruin this joyous occasion, I started to tell Kimo about his engagement gift. "I finally received an email from a new talent agent and you have to reply and set up a time to meet with them."
Kimo's head snapped up, his confusion evident by his furrowed brow. I watched his lips curve up into a bright smile when he fit the pieces of the puzzle together. "That's why you asked me so many questions about what would be an ideal agent!"
"It is. All I had to do was pay the lawyer and submit your completed application to the new agent. They replied to the email today and want to meet you." I leaned backwards and rifled around in the plastic bag, pulling out a flimsy paper folder that held all the documents. "Everything is all here."
"Oh my god!" Kimo exclaimed, tackling me into a tight hug, the force of which caused me to sway backwards before I steadied us. "Thank you so much, Ko'u aloha (my love)!"
Kimo had been stuck with a crappy agent since he graduated university about a year ago. We always thought that hiring a lawyer could help with getting him out of the contract, but we didn't have enough money to pay for it.
Despite Kimo saying that he was fine with the agent he had, I knew it wasn't true, so I started putting aside a little extra every month until I had enough to pay the lawyer. I always knew I wanted that to be his engagement gift, so when I got a reply to the application, I was certain that today would be the day I proposed to him.
Kimo raised his head which was buried in my chest and a brilliant grin lit up his face before a mischievous glint shone in his eyes.
It was much darker now, the sun having almost set, but it was impossible to miss the lust in his eyes as he very slowly brought the ring to his lips, giving it a feather light kiss, before seductively licking and sucking on the ring pop. He grinned and offered it to me, causing my cheeks to grow hot.
I tentatively licked it, and Kimo released a sinful moan as if it was him I had licked. That sent heat rushing downwards and soon our lips connected, and we tumbled onto the blanket, hoping that the night sky would conceal us from any prying eyes.
"We never went into the water," Kimo murmured now that we were once again wearing our swim trunks. "Should we go now?"
I hummed a response before scooping him up bridal style and running towards the water. He burst into a fit of giggles, squirming and wriggling to free himself from my grasp. Once I'd padded far enough into the water, I launched him forward, and he splashed into the water. A few seconds later his head popped back up, and he giggled as he moved his hair out of his eyes.
"Oh, it's on!" he exclaimed, throwing all of his body weight towards me, sending us both under water.
We played and laughed in the water until we got tired and decided that it was time to head home. We still had a long drive back.
"Where's your script?" I asked once we'd packed everything back into the car. "I can run lines with you on the way back."
Kimo grinned and pecked my lips before swapping the script for the car keys in my hand.
Slamming the car door shut, I poked around in the glove compartment until I found a flashlight. We buckled up, and my fiancé drove us home while I helped him prepare for his audition tomorrow.
A/N
Thank you for reading! ❤
What did you think of the chapter? And Connor's gift to Kimo? We also got a little backstory on how they met, what did you think?
If you have any feedback or questions or spot any grammatical or spelling errors, please let me know!
If you liked the chapter, please vote and/ or leave comments!