"You're crazy," Jesse says.

"Dude." Ben shakes his head.

"Uh…" Ethan stutters.

"Holy hell," Linc mutters.

"Interesting," Kennedy remarks. "Let's see it."

I pull out the small box from my inside suit pocket and hand it to Kennedy. He opens it and whistles long and low.

"Impressive. Your dad help you pick this?" Ethan inquires.

I nod. "Yeah. Him and Mrs. M."

Ben's eyes get wide as saucers. "You told them and they're okay with this? They're just as crazy as you are."

"Shut the fuck up," I sneer, giving his shoulder a shove.

"Yeah," Jesse agrees. "Shut the fuck up. This is Xan and Tera we're talking about. We already know they're all about happily ever afters."

I breathe out nervously. "I don't expect her to say yes, but I want her to know I'm serious. I'd marry her tonight if she'd say yes."

"My sister isn't that impulsive. Besides that, when we go out on tour, who the hell knows what's going to happen," Linc reminds me. "She's going to want to wait. I know her. No matter how much she wants to say yes, she'll be practical."

I sigh. "Sometimes I hate that."

Jesse laughs. "She's not going anywhere, man. Even if she doesn't say yes right now, she's going to eventually."

Kennedy nods his agreement. "That's a fact."

I look at the clock. "Shit. I gotta go pick her up. I'm taking Dad's Mercedes tonight."

Kennedy whistles again. "Smooth moves, Xan."

"She's worth the effort."

* * *

I can't take my eyes off of her. The dress she's wearing is a jade color that dips down low between her tits, giving me a pretty good show at what's underneath. The straps tie around her neck, and the length of it hugs her torso and hips, showing off her curves. I could drop to my knees. Under the flowy skirt her perfectly polished toenails peek out of black high-heeled sandals.

"You're staring again," she teases.

"I can't help it. You're fucking beautiful."

She laughs and points to her chin. "You have a little drool, right there."

I laugh with her. "I wouldn't doubt it."

"Your dessert," the waiter announces. He sets Tera's in front of her and mine in front of me, then quickly disappears. I asked for special service tonight and they've more than delivered. The double Benjamins I gave them might have something to do with it.

"Mmm," she moans.

"Baby. That's not nice."

"What? It's so good."

"That's the same sound you make when you suck my cock," I growl.

She lifts a brow. "That's really good too."

"You're trying to kill me. That's what's going on here right now."

Tera laughs. "You're crazy."

"Crazy about you."

She giggles.

"So crazy, in fact," I begin, pretending to pick up my napkin from the floor while pulling the ring box out of my pocket. I take a deep breath and sit up straight. "So crazy in fact," I repeat, "I think you should be my wife."

Her eyes go wide and she stills. "What?"

"I know I'm going to love you forever. You're it for me. I know I say that a lot, but I mean it with everything in me, Tera. I fucking love you so much that sometimes I can't even handle it. I want to be yours and I want you to be mine."

I hold up the box, opening it to reveal the emerald cut ring Dad and Rosa helped me pick out and Tera gasps.

"Xander! What are you doing right now?"

"What I know to be right."

"We're seventeen!"

"So? Do you love me?"

"So much."

"Do you think that's ever going to change for you?"

"No."

"I've already loved you most of my life and I know I'll love you for the rest of it. Tera Louise Ramirez, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Her eyes are wide, her mouth in the shape of an O, her cheeks flushed.

She looks from me to the ring, me to the ring, me to the ring.

"That's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen," she breathes.

"It's yours."

"Xander," she says, shaking her head. "What… how… why? I don't… give me a minute to wrap my head around this because holy shit." She laughs.

I smirk.

"Life with you is never boring."

"That's a fact, baby," I reply.

"Ca-can you just put the ring down? People are staring."

"Yep. Absolutely." Oh hell. I don't want people looking at us if she's going to say no. Hell, I don't want them looking at us if she's going to say yes. This is our moment. I should have thought this through.

I put the ring down and she takes my hand. I'm really glad we're sitting next to each other instead of across from one another. I turn to face her.

"Xan. Holy shit, I mean, we're talking marriage here. I figured we'd get married some day, but I didn't… we're seventeen."

"You keep saying that, but does it really matter? We knew when we were eight, the minute we saw each other, that we were forever. Why not make it legal?" I reason.

"You're right. You're absolutely right, but Xander, your life is just beginning. You're going to be out there rocking people’s asses off. You might want something different once you learn what all that is about. I can't go with you. It's not in the cards. I've got to finish my senior year here while you all get tutored on the road."

"We're only going to be gone for three months," I remind her.

She nods. "And then you'll go out on tour again for a few more months. Mr. Nichols said they want you to tour a lot at first. Get your name out there. Three months on, a month off, for a year. I can come visit, but I can only come on weekends or days off—and you may be traveling or have shows then having to move to the next place."

She looks down and takes a breath. When she looks up, there are tears welling in her eyes.

"I want so much to say yes. More than anything I want to be your wife, to be yours forever."

"But…" I prod with a lopsided grin that is anything but happiness.

"But… why don't we wait. See how these first three months go. Then, if you still feel the same about marriage and about me, ask me again. If you ask me again, I'll say yes," she says softly, trying to smile but failing.

A lone tear drips down onto her cheek.

"Don't cry, T. I get it. I do. I won't say I'm not disappointed, but you're right. We'll both be eighteen when I get back, adults, and we'll know more. But, damn it all, I know nothing's going to change for me. I'll still love you so hard I ache and I'm going to want you for always," I defend.

She nods. "I think so, too… but we need to know for sure. Just in case. Because if I marry you, Xan, and we change, I won't recover from that. I don't doubt that we'll always be in love, for as long as we both are breathing, but circumstances change and then feelings change. You may not want to be married after you find out what touring entails, but we can still love each other."

"You suck. Why do you have to be logical?" I tease.

"I'm brilliant, that's why," she mocks, grinning through tears.

"Nothing is going to change. Not for me, Tera," I affirm once more.

She nods. "For me either. Let's just wait. It's only three months."

"I’m holding you to that," I warn.

"Good. I'm a woman of my word. You know that."

I close the ring box. "This will be waiting and so will I."

* * *

Two days later, we're packed and all loaded up. Nichols Records hooked us up with pretty luxurious tour buses—one for us and one for the equipment and crew. Nichols Records also hooked us up with the lighting kit we used when we performed We're Here. Big bucks.

I was expecting the tour buses to be shitty, like you see some bands on for their first tour. But Cage Nichols spared no expense. This dude thinks we're the next big thing. He believes in us so much, it's staggering.

Jerry, our tour manager, is handling the crew and all the other shit, but we were told if we have any concerns, to contact Mr. Nichols directly. He's a pretty fucking stand-up guy.

I hold Tera close, just breathing in her floral scent. Jasmine. That's what she says it is, but I always associate it with her. She gave me a pillowcase she sprayed with the scent and she slept on it for two days. I gave her a bunch of my t-shirts. I'd wear them for a few hours, then she put them in Ziplock bags. This girl, she's a genius… and she's mine.

"I'm going to miss you so fucking much," I admit.

"I'll miss you, too. But I'll be in Denver in two weeks. If anything changes and it doesn't work out, Xan, don't feel badly about it. Promise me," she demands.

"I promise, baby. How am I going to go two weeks without you?" I murmur.

"We'll make it. We can text and you can call anytime. I'll ditch class just to talk to you, you know that, babe. I can't imagine any of the teachers giving me shit for it. I've got a slack senior year," she informs me.

"I hate that you'll be there without me. Don't take any shit from anyone."

"I won't. I'm made of tougher stuff than they are."

"And they all know it, too," I say with pride.

She squeezes me tighter. We'd spent every second of the last two days and nights together being goofy, making love, and trying not to let reality crash in. The guys gave us a wide berth, knowing we needed it.

"Don't fall in love with someone else," I mutter.

Her head snaps up. "What did you say?"

I shrug a shoulder. "The guys are going to be all over you now that we're not there. They backed off because we were together, but before that they walked the line because they knew the guys were protecting you. Now they'll be able to get away with all that shit."

"No, they won't. I don't want any part of that or them," Tera tells me, her expression fierce.

I nod and swallow. I guess she's not the only one who's feeling a little insecure over this separation. The other night she asked about other girls. Fuck no. Just her. I can wait for her like I told her I would. If she comes to visit every couple weeks or whatever, that's enough for me. She's enough.

"Almost time to load up," Linc says as he walks up. "Gonna let me hug my sister goodbye?"

"No."

"The fuck," he huffs. "Fine." He walks around behind Tera and hugs her between us. He rests his head on top of hers as she laughs.

"You're crazy, Lincoln."

"I am, sis, but I'm gonna miss the hell out of you."

"I'll miss you too, but I'll see you in a couple of weeks," she says.

He grunts. "For all of ten seconds. You're going to be there to see this goofball, not me."

"Aww, Linc. I'll be there to see you all. I'll give you hello and goodbye hugs," she teases.

He grunts again. "That's what I thought. But I'm cool with it."

"Load up!" Jerry shouts and my heart thumps hard. I can feel the tears begin to form behind my eyes and I fight it hard. I'll be strong for her.

Linc kisses the top of her head. "Love you, T."

"Love you too, Linc."

The rest of the guys say their goodbyes and then it's just us.

"I'm not going to say 'goodbye'. It's just see you later, not goodbye," Tera murmurs against my chest, her voice breaking.

"Exactly. At least we have cell phones. If we'd been touring twenty years ago with no cell phones and Internet, that would've sucked. We can talk anytime, and there's Skype and text. Always message me. I don't want to miss anything that's happening with you," I tell her.

"Same goes. I know you won't have as much freedom to text as I do, but kinda keep a list of things that are happening so you can talk to me about them when we call or Skype," she requests.

"Done."

I tip her chin up, her face ravaged with tears; it hurts my heart to leave, but it kills me to see her hurt.

I lean in and kiss her lips softly. Just a soft pass across hers. When she opens, I slip my tongue inside, against hers, needing to take this last taste of her with me to help make the next two weeks easier. She moans and whimpers. I can taste her tears—or are those mine?

I don't know how much time passes, but we pull apart and our gazes hold. I brush her hair away from her tear-stained face.

"I love you, Tera."

"I love you, too, Xan."

I kiss her forehead once, then force myself to walk away from her.

"See you later, baby."

"See you later."

I don't look out the window as the bus pulls away. I don't look back. I let the music lead me where I need to go for now.

Then I'll go back to her.