Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 114211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
“Hey, guys!” shouts Pete.
“Hey,” I chuckle at them, then give Bridger a look across the table. “We just talked to them earlier today. Why are we buggin’ them again? To torture my pregnant friend who’s probably been craving this ice cream for months now?”
“I wanna fuck that sundae,” moans Juni, salivating.
“I just think they oughta be here with us,” says Bridger.
Too innocently.
I’m onto him at once, but I don’t know what for. “What’s goin’ on here?” I notice Juni’s eyes turning sweet. Pete is gnawing on his lip. “The hell’s goin’ on with all of you? Why’s everyone actin’ so dang—?”
Bridger takes my hands.
Both of them.
I stare ahead at him, wide-eyed.
“Anthony. From the moment I came to this town, I’ve been—”
“Here it goes,” mumbles Pete excitedly—and perfectly audible through the phone.
“I’ve been looking for peace. It’s the only reason my neurotic, wound-up, agitated self tagged along with Pete in the first place. Because my life lacked peace.”
“And ABBA,” adds Juni under her breath—again, very audibly.
“I could never have thought that what I found instead … was a total hurricane of a man …” Bridger’s tight lips crumble away into a smile. “… who would teach me more about myself in a week than two tours in the Army did. You showed me what I needed wasn’t peace and calm … I needed to be woken up. I needed to be broken apart and put back together. I … I needed to feel alive.” His fingers squeeze mine. “Anthony, I’m a better person when I’m with you.”
I glance at the phone again—Juni and Pete’s faces squeezed together—then back at Bridger. “I’m … I’m a better person with you, too, Bridge. Way better. Look at me. I’m fuckin’ thriving.”
“And I want it to be my life’s mission to keep you thriving. I’m gonna be the guy you can depend on. The guy your parents trust to take care of you.” He takes a deep breath. “I asked your father’s blessing tonight. He gave it.”
I can’t close my mouth.
Not anymore.
“B-Blessing …?” I barely choke out.
Juni squeals for half a second before Pete’s hand covers her mouth, his wide eyes glued to us through the phone.
Bridger lets go of my hands, reaches behind him, and brings forward a ring—a silver band with artful ribbed markings along it.
My stunned eyes drop to the ring.
“Anthony, please do me my life’s greatest honor of letting me be your husband and taking care of you for the rest of your life.”
The breath of the world is held. Pete and Juni. Whoever is working the front counter, probably Angie, Angela, whatever her name is. Bridger’s breath.
Mine.
Suddenly I can’t stand it. “I’m gonna take care of you, too,” I blurt out. Bridger blinks. “You overthink everything without me,” I go on. “And if it weren’t for me, you’d probably still be in Kansas bein’ a stuffy-ass school principal instead of pursuin’ your dream of savin’ lives in the medical field. So someone’s gotta take care of you, too. Keep you on your tippy-toes.” I swallow hard. Pete hisses at me to say yes. Juni just keeps eyeing the ice cream. “And yeah.”
Bridger lifts his eyebrows. “Yeah?”
“Yes, you gorgeous man, I’ll marry you.”
Then I grab the ring, stuff it on my own finger, and reach over the table to take hold of my man’s stunned face, bringing our lips together for a kiss.
Juni and Pete roar, whistle, and squeal with delight, hooting and hollering from the screen of the phone. It feels like the whole town of Spruce erupts into applause for us, just from the powerful noise of celebration our closest friends make. We apparently can’t get close enough to each other, our kissing intensifying, and when Bridger shifts his grip on the table, the phone is knocked down, and with it, the muffled noises of Juni and Pete cheering us on.