Bass pounded through the open industrial space, multi-colored lights shooting across the floor.

One hand against an ear, I turned to Paige. “I feel like I’m in a rave.”

“What?” she shouted back.

Or maybe it was something else she said. I couldn’t really hear her over the music.

She took a sip from her beer bottle and smoothed her hair. On the other side of the bar a blonde guy eyed her. I shot the guy a look and he quickly turned away.

I put my mouth close to Paige’s ear. “You look great!”

She smiled and nodded, though maybe still had no clue what I was saying.

Indeed, she looked amazing. Delicious, really, what with her tight, thigh length dress and black high heels. I appreciated dressed down Paige as much as any other Paige… but damn it if the tight dresses and red lips didn’t do something to me.

“Come on!” Nodding my head at the other end of the party, I took her hand and led her through the crowd. We wound around a group of Franko and Tre’s buddies, some girls dancing, and over to the far corner.

Sophia and Lia sat perched in a windowsill. They’d cracked the window to get a bit of fresh air.

“What’s up?” Lia asked, taking a drink from a red plastic cup.

“This is quite the party,” was all I could say.

She just laughed. Really, what more were we to expect when our little brother announced he was throwing a New Year’s Eve party? Franko loved coming to New York to party. Give the kid a holiday and some cash to blow and he was bound to go crazy.

Sophia adjusted her miniskirt and crossed her legs. “Just wait till the strippers get here.”

Paige’s eyes went wide.

“She’s joking,” I explained, looking over at the two other women. “Right?”

Sophia shrugged.

“With Franko?” Lia asked. “Who knows?”

“Who are you guys kissing at midnight?” Paige asked.

Lia rolled her eyes. “No one in here. The guy selling pretzels down on the corner looks more appealing than any of the frat boys here.”

Sophia shook her beer bottle. “Probably my drink.”

I tightened my hand around Paige’s. There was something I’d been looking forward to doing all night… Well, all week, actually. I’d been waiting for the perfect moment. At the moment, I was beginning to feel that maybe there was no such timing.

I turned to her. “Hey. Let’s go up on the roof. I want to show you the view from here.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Now? It’s almost midnight.”

“We’ll come back down in time if you want to.”

She glanced at the other two and shrugged. Sophia wagged her eyebrows at me as we walked away. I ignored her.

The rooftop was only a couple floors away, making it a swift elevator ride. The second the door opened a harsh wind swept across the rooftop.

“Yikes!” Paige cried, pulling her coat tighter around herself.

I opened my coat and pulled her into it. “Sorry. I forgot about the wind.”

“It’s all right,” she said, her teeth already chattering.

Wrapped together in my coat, we shuffled behind the small, elevated roof. The tiny structure blocked the wind, giving us a bit of a reprieve.

“Wow,” Paige said.

I followed her gaze to the view of lit up Manhattan. Green and purple, the color choices of the Empire State building for the night, added a special touch to the picture.

“It’s beautiful,” she sighed. “I missed it, you know. Even just for a few days. As great as Christmas was, I’m still happy to be home.”

I tightened my arms around her stomach and pressed my face into the top of her head. “I know the feeling.”

Shouting came from down on the street below.

“Hey!” Paige said, breaking free of my embrace to spin around and face me. “I almost forgot. We should go back down for Midnight.”

“Unless you want your kiss up here.”

She eyed me, her pupils just visible in the dim light. “Maybe. It depends. What else is in it for me? Just a kiss?”

I shoved my hand into my pocket and felt for the little box there. Keeping my eyes on Paige’s face so I wouldn’t miss a second of her reaction, I pulled the box out and opened it.

The whites of her eyes popped in the gray light. “That’s not what I was thinking,” she breathed, sounding like she was in shock.

A little bit of panic got to me. “It’s not?”

“No, I was thinking second base or something.”

I laughed, trying to lighten the mood, but that was all nerves. It came out sounding dry. It turned out the moment of proposing to someone was more nerve wracking than I would have thought.

“Will it do?”

If she’d just give me an answer, I could breathe a little easier.

Someone began shouting out an open window across the street. “Ten!” came their cry into the night.

The person’s friends joined in. “Nine!” the group yelled altogether.

Paige licked her lips. “I… I.”

“Eight! … Seven! … Six!”

“Paige?” I asked. The way she had frozen made me nervous a panic attack might be on the horizon.

“Five! … Four!”

“Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you!” Paige shrieked. “What, are you kidding me?”

“Three! … Two!”

She flew into my arms. The joy that filled me up couldn’t be contained. I lifted her off her feet and spun her around.

“One! Happy New Year!”

The block erupted in shrieks, hoots, and whistles. The noise went on and on, a never-ending stream of jubilation.

I pressed my lips against Paige’s and kissed her with everything I had.

And I never stopped.