With Love, from Cold World

by Alicia Thompson

Asa held out his hand, and Kiki acted like she was removing more keys from her pockets, around her neck, tucked inside her socks, then reluctantly handing them over. Some of their inside jokes Lauren still didn’t fully get, but she was happy to see Asa grinning by the end of it.

“In this dream, we’re just two tourists, enjoying the Snow Globe. Packing snowballs to throw at each other when the kid guarding the place isn’t looking, maybe seeing how far we can push the MPAA rating depending on how comfortable the kid is with breaking it up—” “Hey,” Lauren interrupted. “I had it handled.”

Only then did it fully hit her, what he was doing, and when she turned back to find him on one knee, a ring box open in his hand, she couldn’t help it. She burst into tears. And not pretty ones, either—deep, snot-coming-out-of-her-nose hiccuping sobs.

“Warn me?” He gave her a crooked grin, and she saw that his eyes were shiny, too. “An ominous word for a marriage proposal, huh? I just meant that I know you don’t like surprises. But I also really like surprising you, so . . . I was trying to compromise. I promise if you say yes I’ll work on it.” Lauren laughed, hugging him tighter. “Of course it’s a yes. Sorry if I ruined your moment.” “Not possible,” he said. “But technically, I didn’t get to ask. Can I run it back from the beginning? Should I get back down on one knee?”

He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, looking down at her with such tenderness she almost started crying again. “Lauren Fox, will you marry me?” “Yes,” she said. “Yes, please.”

“I went to Cold World and all I got was this lousy T-shirt,” he said, pulling her toward him for a kiss. “And the love of my life.”