Twenty minutes and one lap around the block later, they stood in Cash’s kitchen, the ingredients for pancakes laid out on the counter. They were in the middle of hotly debating the merits of chocolate chips versus blueberries—clearly blueberries werethe superior addition—when Lyric and Cash stumbled into the kitchen holding hands and sporting matching grins.
Poppy squinted at Cash. She recognized that smile. Knew it all too well, as a matter of fact. It was hisI did a thing I know you’re not going to like, but fuck itsmile. The same cheeky, self-satisfied grin he’d worn when she’d confronted him about his Hail Mary tweet.
Rosaline must’ve picked up on the same thing because she set the bag of chocolate chips down on the counter and crossed her arms, pinning the suspicious-looking lovebirds with a scrutinizing stare.
“What are you two up to?”
Lyric tucked herself into Cash’s side. “What makes you think we’re up to something?”
“Yeah.” Cash rested his chin on the top of Lyric’s head. “Can’t a guy grab a cup a coffee from his own kitchen? Or is that not allowed now?”
Lyric turned her head to the side, hiding her face in Cash’s chest. Her shoulders shook and Cash’s smile broadened. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head and whispered something in her ear that made her laugh harder.
As adorable and clearly head over heels in love with each other as those two were, they were definitely hiding something.
“It would totally be allowed,” Poppy said. “If you drank coffee, which you don’t.”
Cash laughed. “You’re going to be so pissed.”
“Sopissed,” Lyric echoed, still giggling.
“Love that for me.” Rosaline scrubbed a hand over her face and sighed. “Okay, spill.”
Lyric and Cash stared at each other for a moment, not saying a word, seeming to silently communicate through waggling browsand quirked lips. He shrugged and she nodded, and they both turned to Poppy and Rosaline.
Lyric thrust out her left hand, showing off—oh. Holy shit.
A pear-shaped boulder of a diamond sparkled where it sat on Lyric’s slender ring finger.
“Cash proposed!” Lyric bounced giddily on her toes.
“She said yes!” Cash wrapped his arms around her, hugging her from behind.
“You knew I would.” Lyric tipped her head back and beamed up at Cash. “You could’ve proposed with a bread tie, and I’d have said yes, baby.”
Engaged.
Lyric and Cash were engaged.
To get married.
After three months of dating.
“Well.” Lyric tittered awkwardly. “Come on, you two. Say something.”
Problem was, Poppy didn’t know what to say. “Wow, you guys. That’s, um—”
“Have you two lost your fucking minds?” Rosaline asked.
Poppy winced. It was a fair question, but she wasn’t sure she would have posed it quite like that. “Um. I think what Rosaline’s trying to say is that this is very unexpected. You took us by surprise.”
“That’s quite the generous interpretation of my reaction, Poppy.” She was clearly agitated, her shoulders tense, practically up by her ears. “You’ve been dating for three months, Lyric. I have condiments in my refrigerator that predate your relationship.”
“My parents got engaged after three dates and they’ve been married for thirty years. When you know, you know.” Cash looked at Lyric like she hung the moon and stars, like it wasn’t so much gravity tethering him to the planet but her. “I didn’t want to jinx it, but I knew I wanted to marry Lyric after our first date.”
Lyric smiled dreamily at him. “I’ve got you beat. I knew after our first Zoom call. The screen went black, and I sat back and thought,I’m going to marry that guy.”
“Baby,”Cash whispered, voice brimming with awe.
