“Yeah?” he said, turning to give me a kiss on my forehead, a kiss I didn’t have to work for or beg for or be teased by the potential of, the kind of kiss that didn’t need announcing, the kiss that just announced itself.
I wiggled my feet and he looked. “We forgot to take off our socks.”
We took a shower, got changed, and walked outside, not to the garden, but to a beach just five minute’s walk from the inn, a beach where rain was normal and expected. We hadn’t been on a rainy beach since that day in June, after finals and before graduation, and so much had changed: we were living together, making plans for my future, figuring out what we wanted from each other, and actually dealing with real, adult problems like real adults. He’d been patient, and I’d been mature, but most importantly, we’d been loving, to one another, and understanding, of one another.
The rain was expected...but I didn’t expect for him to get down on one knee, his designer jeans in the wet sand, and pull out a small box from a plastic baggie in his jacket pocket. I didn’t expect for it to be small and robin’s egg blue with silver trim, and I didn’t expect for it to contain a perfect loop of white gold, without any flaws, the kind of ring that I could trace my fingers around for hours if it wasn’t for one little thing.
Or really, more accurately, one big thing. One big, shiny, expensive, unexpected, but totally amazing thing: a single large diamond, not white or pink or chocolate, but a gray-blue the same color as Lawrence’s eyes, and just as easily able to change color, even in the low light, as it reflected everything from the sky to the ocean to the tears streaming down my face.
“Kim Lee, I know that things haven’t been perfect. You and I have something that’s worth fixing, something that’s worth building, something that’s worth us. You’re the only woman I’ve ever felt this way about, I swear, and I don’t want to be known as the bachelor billionaire anymore. I know that it could take a long time to forgive me for what’s gone on, and, let’s be honest...to forgive yourself. But how does forever sound?” he asked.
“L-Lawrence, w-what are you saying?” I asked in kind, stuttering not because of the cold or the wet but because I didn’t know if this was real life or a dream.
“Kim Lee, will you take me, Lawrence Lamont, to be your fiancé, and, eventually, your husband? I promise to spend the rest of my days earning your trust, your love, and your happiness.”
“Of course, Lawrence!” I almost yelled out loud, and as he slipped the ring onto my finger before rising to kiss me, I knew that I’d given the right answer, and that my feelings for Lawrence would change, just as I’d changed over the past year: for the better.
Playlist:
Shatter was the hardest of the trilogy to write. It makes sense it has the hardest, most emotional of all the playlists in the trilogy. Some of these songs are more contemporary than others, and there’s definitely a huge influence from the realms of rap and rock.
“99 Problems” – Jay Z
“Applause” – Lady Gaga
“Artist in the Ambulance” - Thrice
“Better Than I Know Myself” – Adam Lambert
“Boom Boom Pow” – The Black Eyed Peas
“Brave” – Sara Bareilles
“Come And Get It” – Selena Gomez
“Criminal” – Britney Spears
“Fuckin’ Problems” – A$AP Rocky, Drake, 2Chainz
“Hall of Fame” – The Script, Will.i.am
“Hustler Girl” – Lil Mama, Mitch, A Dot, Shawn Marvel
“I Gotta Feeling” – The Black Eyed Peas
“If I Lose Myself” – Corey Gray, Madilyn Bailey (originally by One Republic)
“Last Resort” – Papa Roach
“Let Your Heart Hold Fast” – Fort Atlantic
“Little Things” – One Direction
“Lose Yourself” – Eminem
“Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off” – Panic! At the Disco
“Not Afraid” – Eminem
“Masterpiece Theatre I, II, III” – Marianas Trench
“Miss Jackson – feat. Lolo” – Panic! At the Disco
“My Goddess” – The Exies
“Party In The USA” – Miley Cyrus
“Party Like A Millionaire” – Millionaires
“Razorblades” – Story of the Year
“Scars” – Papa Roach
“Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites” – Skrillex
“SING” – My Chemical Romance
“Storm Warning” – Hunter Hayes
“Summertime Sadness” – Lana Del Rey
“Teenagers” – My Chemical Romance
“The Bad Touch” – Bloodhound Gang
“The Fox” – Ylvis
“The Monster” – Eminem, Rihanna
“The Time (Dirty Bit)” – The Black Eyed Peas
“This Is Gospel” – Panic! At The Disco
“This Is How I Disappear” – My Chemical Romance
“’Till I Collapse” – Eminem, Nate Dogg
“Too Close” – Alex Clare
“Why Can’t I?” – Liz Phair
About the Author:
Brooke Jaxsen. 20. Girl in college, majoring in English. I’m writing new adult romance novels, mostly contemporary, but expect some fantasy and paranormal in the months to come! I’ve always wanted to be a writer but never thought that people would actually want to read the kinds of stories I write: the ones about girls like me, who every day (and night) are one step closer to full adulthood, to full womanhood. In my free time, I read lots of new adult and young adult fiction, swim, shop, sleep, do my nails, and play video games.
“Shatter” is the third and final novel, in my “Club Grit” trilogy. Check out “Pulse”, a story about Emma, and “Throb”, a story about Becca, already available exclusively on Amazon, for $2.99 each, or, the bundle of all three, available for $6.99.
You can find me in a lot of different places.
My personal website:
http://www.BrookeJaxsen.wordpress.com
My Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/BrookeJaxsen
My Facebook fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/BrookeJaxsenOfficial
My Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/BrookeJaxsen
My Instagram:
http://www.instagram.com/BrookeJaxsen
My Tumblr:
http://www.BrookeJaxsen.tumblr.com
Bibliography
The Club Grit Trilogy
Pulse
Throb
Shatter
The Club Grit Trilogy Bundle
Shatter (Club Grit Trilogy) Page 15