Promises [coda series]

as I wrapped my hand around both of our shafts at once and slowly started to stroke us together. “You have no idea how much.”
    There were no more words after that. Just warm lips and his quiet moans, his pale skin against mine, legs tangled together, and slow burning passion that rocked me to my core. There was no way in the world I was ever letting him go. I knew that. I had always known it. But I wanted him to know it too.
    He didn’t say anything after that night, and it seemed like he had forgotten the entire incident. Maybe he had, but I hadn’t. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had failed him somehow, and I had no idea how to make it right.
    The following weekend, Jared’s mom Susan asked me to take her and my mother to Boulder for the day. Brian, Lizzy, and Zach all had birthdays coming up, and they wanted to go shopping. We parted ways in the mall, and I resigned myself to several hours of boredom. I was looking for a book store when I saw it: the jewelry store. And inside, several different couples, shopping for rings.
    The figurative light bulb in my head went on. I knew immediately that was what I was looking for...a symbol. Something that would show him how I felt. I felt a little stupid for not having thought of it sooner.

    I hoped I could shop without being bothered, but as soon as I started looking at the rings, one of the sales ladies came up to me. She was about my age. Pretty, but wearing way too much perfume.

    “Can I take anything out of the case for you?”
    I pointed out a couple of the rings, and she took them out for me to look at. I didn’t want it to be fancy, and it definitely couldn’t be too delicate. Anything too soft wouldn’t survive all the mountain biking he did. “I need it to be tough,” I told her.
    “In that case, I would suggest platinum or titanium. They’ll hold their shape better than plain silver.”

    I was able to rule out platinum immediately based on price alone. I chose titanium bands that were wide and unadorned. “Can you engrave these?” I asked her.

    She cocked her head at me, like she was confused, but said, “Of course.”

    “Perfect.”

    That same confused head-cock. “Are you looking for an engagement band in titanium also? Or do you want to consider white gold?” She pointed at the next case over, which was full of women’s wedding rings.

    I felt myself blush, and my pulse sped up a little. I hated myself for still being embarrassed by it, but I wasn’t backing out now. “No,” I made myself say. “I need two, just like this.”

    She wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. It actually took her a few seconds to process that. Then I saw comprehension in her eyes and she smiled. It seemed genuine, too. “Of course.”

    She pulled out a bunch of little plastic rings and had me try them on until she found my size, then asked, “And what about the other ring?”

    I had no idea what to say. Jared’s hands were not as big as mine, but definitely larger than hers. She saw my dilemma and said quietly, “Look at the others in the store.”
    I looked around at the other men. Specifically, I looked at their hands. It was one of the other employees whose hands were closest to Jared’s. I pointed to him, and she winked at me and whispered conspiratorially, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
I had to make an excuse to go back to Boulder a few days later to pick the rings up. She gave them to me in little grey boxes...the kind with the hinged lid that you always see in the movies, when the guy gets down on his knee and opens the box while popping the question to his lady. I didn’t know why, but the boxes bothered me. I took the rings out and put them in my pocket, then dropped the boxes in the trash on the way to my car.
    When I got home, I had a whole new dilemma...where to hide them. Not that I expected Jared to be snooping around for anything, but I was irrationally worried that he would find them. I finally tucked them inside a roll of socks and stuffed them in the back of my drawer. Then I had to figure out when to give them to him. We were past Valentine’s Day. His birthday was still months away. We hadn’t ever celebrated any kind of anniversary. If we had one at all, it would have been in November. Unless…
    I had to check the title on my Jeep. I had bought it from Lizzy the day after meeting Jared for the first time. We had immediately become friends. Of course, it had taken months for it to develop into