She squeals, rising to her knees to take the box. “For me?”
“I mean, only if you want it. I can go ask someone else if you—”
Olive shoves me, laughing. If I’m not mistaken, her eyes are a little misty. She opens the box and slides her hand over her mouth when she sees the delicate band lined with a halo of diamonds, the emerald-cut stone cradled in the center. I’ll admit, I’m proud of myself—it is a pretty great ring.
“Are you crying?” I ask, grinning. Drawing intensely positive emotion out of this woman makes me feel godlike.
But of course Olive would never admit to happy tears. “No.”
I squint at her. “You sure?”
“Yes.” She valiantly works to clear her eyes.
“I mean”—I lean in for a closer look—“it looks like you might be.”
“Shut up.”
Gently, I kiss the corner of her mouth. “Will you marry me, Oscar Olivia Torres?”
Her eyes close and a tear breaks loose. “Yes.”
Smiling, I kiss the other side of her mouth and then slide the ring on her finger. We both look down at it. “Do you like it?”
Her voice shakes. “Um. Yeah.”
“Are you usually better at making conversation than you are with me?”
She laughs, tackling me. The sand is still warm at my back, and this little bundle of fire is hot all along my front and I burst out laughing, too. What a ridiculous, silly, mistake-ridden proposal that was.
It was absolutely perfect.
acknowledgments
Ahhh, what a fun ride this one was! No book is easy to write, but even if this one wasn’t easy, it was a total blast. One of the best things about writing as a team is the opportunity we get to make each other laugh. The Unhoneymooners offered plenty of such opportunities, and it meant our days drafting this were spent laughing at the computer screen. Not too shabby for a day job.
We always give ourselves permission to draft fast, edit later, and partly that’s because it’s easier to fix than create. But in reality, we have the luxury of working this way because we have fantastic editors. Kate Dresser and Adam Wilson—you two are so incredibly good at this. Thank you for always making sure our books are as strong as they possibly can be and for being hilarious and good-hearted humans in the process. We say it all the time but we feel very lucky to be able to do this with you.
Our agent is Holly Root and she is the best of the best—saavy, intuitive, level-headed, and totally loveable. Thank you, Holly, for the past eight years of ninjaness.
Thank you to our PR rep and precious, Kristin Dwyer. You did so good, girl is starting to feel like an understatement, but at the end of the day it will always remain true because you always do so good. Above and beyond, every time.
Thank you to our Gallery Books team: Carolyn Reidy, Jen Bergstrom, Jen Long, Aimee Bell, Molly Gregory, Rachel Brenner, Abby Zidle, Diana Velasquez, Mackenzie Hickey, John of the Mustache Vairo, Lisa Litwack, Laura Cherkas, Chelsea Cohen, the amazing sales force (we heart you), and anyone who has helped our books get into the hands of readers. We are so grateful for every single one of you.
Huge gratitude to our pre-readers Yesi Cavazos, Arielle Seleske, Gabby Sotelo, and Frankie O’Connor, and also to those in the CLo & Friends group for helping us in our goal to write an authentic Mexican-American family. Your feedback was so fantastic and we hope we made you proud. It goes without saying that anything we got wrong or any opportunity we missed is entirely on us. You are all so wonderful!
To all the booksellers and librarians out there, not every hero wears capes! (I mean, maybe you sell books while wearing a cape and that’s amazing, but even if you don’t, you’re still #1 in our book.) Books are life, they are brain food, they bring joy, and relief, and connection. Doing what you do, and getting books you love into the hands of readers is such a gift to the world, and we are grateful to you beyond words.
To the bloggers, reviewers, readers: what we have is a symbiotic relationship. We couldn’t do this without you, and there is not a day that goes by when we don’t think about this. Thank you for your support, encouragement, and time spent reading our words. Every time you recommend a book of ours to a friend, an angel gets their wings. Or a puppy gets tummy rubs. Or a hedgehog gets a mealworm. Bottom line: good things happen in the universe. We heart you.
To our families: we love you all so much but you know that. What you really need to hear is our thanks for putting up with us. Living with a writer often means you’re asking them a question and they’re staring off into space, trying to figure out what the hell comes next in the book. You handle that with grace and patience (and also it works out for you, too, because we’re working from home so there’s rarely an excuse why we can’t also throw some dinner in the Instant Pot).
Christina, this was your year. Your voice, your humor, and your ability to flesh out a story: it’s all back and ready to blast off into all the fun things we have coming up next. I know I say it all the time, but I’m so proud to be able to do this with you.
Lo, the way you put words together still astounds me. There are times I read something you’ve sent me and I find myself just staring at the computer, wondering where in the world you came up with an idea or phrase. If I didn’t also know you’re the most loving, generous, loyal friend ever I would really hate your guts. Ha! I kid. Mostly. Thank you for letting me do this with you. I love you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
* * *
ALYSSA MICHELLE
CHRISTINA LAUREN is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners/besties/soulmates and brain-twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 international bestselling authors of the Beautiful and Wild Seasons series, Dating You / Hating You, Roomies, Love and Other Words, Sublime, The House, and Autoboyography.
You can find them online at:
ChristinaLaurenBooks.com,
Facebook.com/ChristinaLaurenBooks,
or @ChristinaLauren on Twitter.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR:
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Christina-Lauren
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
Facebook.com/GalleryBooks
@GalleryBooks
OTHER WORKS BY CHRISTINA LAUREN
Love and Other Words
Roomies
Dating You / Hating You
THE BEAUTIFUL SERIES
Beautiful Bastard
Beautiful Stranger
Beautiful Bitch
Beautiful Bombshell
Beautiful Player
Beautiful Beginning
Beautiful Beloved
Beautiful Secret
Beautiful Boss
Beautiful
THE WILD SEASONS SERIES
Sweet Filthy Boy
Dirty Rowdy Thing
Dark Wild Night
Wicked Sexy Liar
YOUNG ADULT
The House
Sublime
Autoboyography
We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.
* * *
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Gallery Books
An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imaginati
on, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Gallery Books trade paperback edition May 2019
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Interior design by Jaime Putorti
Portland, Oregon, cityscape © JPL Designs/Shutterstock
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lauren, Christina, author.
Title: The Unhoneymooners / Christina Lauren.
Description: First Gallery Books trade paperback edition. | New York, NY : Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2019.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018021709 (print) | LCCN 2018024190 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501165863 (eBook) | ISBN 9781501165856 (paperback)
Subjects: | BISAC: FICTION / Romance / Contemporary. | FICTION / Romance / General. | GSAFD: Love stories.
Classification: LCC PS3612.A9442273 (ebook) | LCC PS3612.A9442273 J67 2018 (print) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018021709
ISBN 978-1-5011-6585-6
ISBN 978-1-5011-6586-3 (ebook)
The Unhoneymooners Page 27