Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 124005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 413(@300wpm)
“Are you okay?” I ask.
Essie’s eyes are lit up with expectation, which makes me wonder what’s going on.
“Yes. No. Yes.” She looks over her shoulder at Tristan. “Can you hurry up, please? I’m bursting here.”
“I pulled a hammy. I can’t walk as fast as you. Plus, Nate is on his way in still.”
“How’d you pull a hamstring?” Essie asks with a smirk as she fishes her lip gloss out of her purse.
“You don’t want to know.” Tristan rubs his bottom lip. He waves his brother over. “Come on, man.”
“I’m coming.” Nate shoves his hands is his pockets and stands next to Tristan as we all wait in anticipation.
Rix laces their hands together and thrusts her left one into the center of the table. “We’re engaged!”
“Holy crap!” A chorus of feminine shrieks follows.
“Tristan just asked. Actually, he asked a few hours ago, but well—” She waves the comment away. “—and obviously I said yes, and look at how pretty my ring is, and oh my God, we’re engaged!”
We slide out of the booth as happy tears stream down her face and offer hugs and congratulations to her and Tristan. He’s beaming. Literally fucking beaming, like he just won the Cup. In all honesty, that’s probably on par with how he feels right now.
“I’m so proud of you,” I tell him. “You’ve come a long way in the past year.”
“I just want to deserve the love she gives me, you know? She’s my world.” He’s so earnest, looking at her with obvious adoration.
“I know.” I squeeze his arm. “And so does she.”
The guys show up, and suddenly it’s a full-on party. Hugs and congratulations flow, and Flip orders a round of drinks, then hands over his credit card and orders food and prosecco since they don’t have champagne.
“Tell us how he proposed!” Hammer says to Rix as the guys make Tristan do shots.
She slides into the booth beside Essie and begins with a little squeal. “It was so freaking romantic. He took me out for this beautiful picnic lunch on Toronto Island. He brought all my favorite foods, and it was just so perfect. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and I said yes, and we went back to the penthouse. There were rose petals all over the bed and champagne, and you can all guess what happened next, and now I’m here.” Her hands flutter in the air. “I’m just so excited.” She turns her wide, elated grin on me. “This must have been how you felt when Dallas proposed to you!”
I fight to keep the smile from sliding off my face. Because it’s not at all how I felt when Dallas proposed. I was shocked and angry. There hadn’t been any room for joy. “Yeah. Exactly. You must be so thrilled. It’s the beginning of your forever.”
Rix grabs my arm. “We can go dress shopping together!”
“We absolutely can,” I agree, even as my stomach flips.
“You’re all going to be in my wedding party. We can do all the shopping and planning.” Her smile is wide. “I’m so excited that we get to do this together!”
“It’ll be so fun.” And it should be. I should be ecstatic, and I am for Rix, but I’m missing that feeling for myself. Not because I don’t genuinely care about Dallas. I do. But I didn’t even like him when he asked me to marry him.
I glance across the room, feeling Dallas’s eyes on me. He smiles, but I see the tension in his shoulders, and I worry it matches mine. He probably felt the same way Rix and Tristan do when he asked me to marry him. And it hurts my heart to know I didn’t share that excitement with him. He was elated, and I was angry. How does that memory sit with him? Because right now, it makes my heart break.
Everything about us is backwards. Our engagement is a lie we’ve twisted into the truth.
Tristan raises a pint glass and shouts, “I have something I want to say!”
Everyone quiets.
He turns to Rix, his love written on his face. “Bea, you are the most incredible woman. I adore everything about you. I know I’m not easy, and I’m forever a work in progress, but I promise I’ll work my ass off to keep deserving you for the rest of my life. I want to give you the world. I want to be the person who makes you smile, and laugh, and who gets the honor of loving you more than anyone else. Even though it was a shitty situation that brought you into my world and my apartment, I’m so grateful that you rage-quit your job. I love you more every single day, and I can’t wait to make you my wife, so I can be at your side forever.”