“You’ll mess up my lip gloss,” I complain.

He smirks then lowers his mouth, kissing me wet and deep before pulling back slowly, leaving me panting.

“Now, what were you going to say?” He leans back, and my fingers go to his mouth, where I wipe my lip gloss off his lips.

“I…” I clear my throat, feeling nervous all of a sudden. “I have something for you,” I say, taking a step back, needing to have a little space between us. “I just want you to know you can always say no or that it’s stupid—”

“Myla,” he cuts me off, pulling me closer. “What is it?”

I bite my lip and step away from him again. This time, I go over to the dresser and open the top drawer, pulling out the small, black box I placed there earlier.

I realized this morning that the ring Kai had given me tethered me to him. I had a constant reminder of him with me, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted him to be tied to me in a way that could be seen by anyone who happened to be in his presence. I could lie and say that I wouldn’t be disappointed if he told me he wouldn’t wear the ring I was about to give to him, but I knew deep down that this was going to be one of the moments that defined us and where we were going.

I turn towards him, and his eyes drop to the box in my hand. When his gaze comes back to mine, his eyes are filled with confusion. When I’m finally standing in front of him, I hand the box to him and he opens the lid.

“It’s okay if you don’t wear it,” I whisper, unsure of what to say because I can’t read his face as he removes the ring from the confines of the box.

“Put it on me,” he says, lifting his eyes to meet mine.

I take a deep breath then take the ring from him, feeling the ridges from the design and the weight of the heavy metal between my fingers as I take his hand and slide the ring onto his finger.

When the idea about getting Kai a ring came to me, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I went to the jewelry store and was escorted to the gold wedding bands most men wear, but none of them seemed like Kai. I gave up and was leaving the store when I noticed a ring in one of the display cases that held some pieces of traditional Hawaiian jewelry. The large, silver band with a black design engraved into the metal looked like the tattoo on his arm, and I knew it was something I could see on him.

I’m so caught up in my own head that I don’t realize I’m moving until the backs of my knees hit the bed and I’m lying down with Kai covering me.

“You bought me a ring,” he growls.

I can’t read the look on his face, so I just nod.

“Thank you,” he whispers, kissing me on my lips then down my neck to the tops of my breasts.

“Kai,” I whimper.

“Yes, makamae?” He licks back up to my mouth, kissing me again.

“The party,” I whisper as I feel myself falling deeper into the moment.

“I’m going to make love to my wife,” he grunts, causing moisture to flood my center.

“Okay,” I whisper then hear him chuckle as his hands go to the back of my dress.

“Come out here right now!” is yelled as someone bangs on the bedroom door.

“Fuck!” he roars.

I hear giggling outside, and then Kai’s soft eyes look down at me.

“After this, you’re mine,” he says quietly, placing a soft kiss on my jaw.

“Yes,” I agree immediately.

He smiles, gently kisses me, gets off the bed, and then pulls me up with him.

“So, is the ring okay?” I ask him, looking at the ground, feeling unsure.

His fingers go to my chin and he lifts my face towards his. “It’s perfect.” He kisses me again then searches my face. “You’re perfect.”

I bite the inside of my cheek to avoid saying something stupid or pushing him back over to the bed. “I just need to fix my lip gloss,” I tell him, and a smile appears on his face.

“It won’t last long.” He kisses me again, making me laugh.

“Good thing I have a whole tube of it,” I say, stepping away from him and into the bathroom.

I hear the door to our room open and his sister come in, and I smile and look at myself in the mirror, seeing a look of almost-blinding happiness in my eyes.

“Ready?” Kai asks, walking into the bathroom after a moment.

“Yep.” I smile as he takes my hand and leads me out of the room.

When we make it down to the party, I’m astounded by the number of people who have shown up. One hundred and fifty people sounds like a lot, but seeing that many people is overwhelming.

“We were wondering if you guys were going to show up,” my dad says, walking up to us, carrying a glass of wine in one hand and a beer in the other.

“I don’t think Mom would let me skip this even if I wanted to.” I smile, taking the glass of wine he holds out to me. Then I give him a hug.

“You look beautiful, honey.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I whisper and then lean against Kai when he pulls me back into his side.

“Kai.” My dad smiles, shakes Kai’s hand, and then hands him the beer. “You’re going to need that,” my dad tells him.

Kai’s lips tilt up as he mutters, “Thanks.”

“I’m going to go find your mom. I’ll see you soon,” Dad says and walks off into the crowd.

I take a sip of wine and look around then up at Kai. “It’s going to be a long night.”