I couldn’t believe it was already December. This past year felt like it flew by.
When I entered the shop, I glanced around at the jewelry displayed in the cases. I walked over to one in particular, staring down at the array of diamonds and gemstones, their facets glittering beneath the case lighting.
I heard the bell above the door ring and looked over to see Lucas step inside, offering a smile when he saw me. “Hey,” he said as he approached. “Thanks for meeting me.”
“No problem. Planning on buying out the place for Callie for Christmas?” I quipped.
“No.” He chuckled sheepishly. “I, uh…I wanted your help designing something for her.”
“Oh,fancy,” I said with a grin. “What are you doing? A necklace? Bracelet?”
“A ring.”
Chapter 26
“I still can’t believeyou’re proposing.” I shook my head, staring down at a photo on Lucas’s phone of the ring he was having designed for Callie.
Lucas chuckled. “Can’t believe it in a good or bad way?”
“A good way,” I replied with a grin.
“I’m surprised your cynical ass isn’t trying to talk him out of it.”
I looked over to meet Blake’s dimpled grin. “I am notcynical.”
“Sure, my guy,” he said sarcastically, clapping my shoulder.
“If you weren’t so big, I’d kick your ass.” I couldn’t finish my statement without laughing, earning one from him, Lucas, and Gabe. He may only have an inch of height on me, but he outmatched me in every other way. “Seriously, what the fuck are they feeding you there?”
“Nothing,” Blake answered with a chuckle. “I just have more free time to hit the gym now that I’m not in residency.”
“Yeah, well, you can definitely skip a few days…orweeks.”
Blake came into town for New Year’s and was staying through the weekend before heading back to North Carolina. Callie and Morgan were in Charleston that night celebrating an old high school friend’s birthday, so we decided to do Friday night poker at Gabe’s, complete with shit talk, pizza, wings, and beer.
“Let me see that,” Blake said, gesturing for Lucas’s phone. He looked down at the screen, smiling as he let out a low whistle. “That’s gonna be a hell of a ring.”
“When are you doing it?” Gabe asked.
“I think around March,” Lucas answered as he took his phone back from Blake. “The ring won’t be ready for another few weeks. And I want a little time to plan something out.”
“You think she’s gonna say yes?” I teased as I dealt out the cards. Lucas shot me a look, and I laughed. “I’m kidding. Calm down.”
“I think it’s safe to say that after everything you two have been through and finding your way back to each other, she’s going to say yes,” Blake said.
I chuckled. “And Gramps is probablyecstatic.”
Lucas laughed, shaking his head. “The old man is beside himself. He’s already called dibs on hosting the engagement party.”
I listened to Lucas as he continued to talk about the details of the ring and toss out some ideas he had for the proposal while we played cards. The man was practically vibrating with excitement.
It was strange to think of one of us taking that plunge. Sure, we were in the last year of our twenties—Gabe nearing thirty-five—and it was probably high timeoneof us got our shit together, but it was still odd to think about it actually happening.And hewantedit. He didn’t hold a single sliver of doubt about going through with it and spending the rest of his life with her.
And suddenly, those foreign thoughts started to creep up on me again. What would that be like? If I ever did want something like that…what would that person look like for me?
I reckon they would have a feisty personality similar to mine—they’d have to in order to put up with me.
Someone who wouldn’t be afraid to put me in my place because, if I were being honest, I needed that now and then.
