Likely feeling me watching him, Keno glances in my direction, giving me a grin. “Want to stop for frozen custard?”
I nod.
“We’re stopping here,” he calls to the others. Hector waves in acknowledgement and Keno drags me into the shop.
There are three dozen flavors to choose from. I have a hard enough time choosing between three. Something Keno notes right away. I haven’t even gotten down half the line of options yet when he pushes a dish into my hand with a grin.
It’s little things like this that add to the growing list of reasons I think it could work between us. I could marry my best friend. Compatibility isn’t an issue. We clicked as soon as we met.
With our cold treats in hand, we head back onto the sidewalk and continue in the direction we were walking before we stopped for dessert. We’re quiet, looking around as we eat our treats.
Well, I eat and wonder what he’s thinking. I wonder if he’s thought at all about the joke he made. I wonder if I’m going to fuck everything up by bringing it up.
No. I’m not going to say anything. That would be stupid. Wouldn’t it?
We lost track of the others ahead somewhere as we mosey down the sidewalk with our frozen custard. I chew my lip as I consider whether I’m really going to suggest this. Would it be all that different from how our life is now?
The short answer is no. But the longer answer is maybe a lot. The question is whether it’s worth the risk. Is it even worth the discussion?
“Hey,” I say before I can talk myself out of it. Here it goes. Keno looks at me. I study his face, trying to determine whether he even suspects where I’m going with this. I did say, ‘Hey.’ That’s totally giving away what I’m thinking. “So… remember the other day when you jokingly said you’d marry me?”
Keno laughs. “Yeah.”
“What if we change the tone of that and maybe… consider it?”
He tilts his head as he stares at me, taking another slow lick of his custard, distracted by what I just suggested. There’s a hint of a smile on his lips. He’s amused and not at all convinced I’m serious. “What do you mean?”
“What if we do that?”
“Get married?”
“Yeah.”
“To each other?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes. To each other. Who else could I be talking about right now?”
Keno lowers his frozen custard to stare at me. Our steps have come to a stop, and I move us under an awning and out of the way of other pedestrians. My heart races as I hold his stare. “Really?”
I’m not sure if he’s horrified, surprised, curious, or… what. Hopefully, he’s at least intrigued. “Yeah. I’ve been thinkingabout what you said—marrying your best friend and why there are so many benefits to it. I might have thought it was… unromantic or whatever before, but…” I shrug. “As far as longevity goes, I agree.”
His mouth opens, but he doesn’t speak. And he doesn’t get a chance to either because Noah calls, “There you are!”
Keno and I turn to look at him. He waves from the shade of a shop half a dozen doors down. “Come on,” I say, grabbing his wrist to get him moving. “Just think about it.”
He definitely thinks about it because Keno is almost entirely absent for the rest of the day. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. For the rest of our outing, my heart doesn’t stop racing.
I really hope I didn’t just royally fuck up our friendship.
CHAPTER 6
KENO
It would bea lie to say I wasn’t completely thrown off my game by Etna’s… proposal? Was it a proposal? Did he ask me to marry him?
Or did I and he answered?
I have been absolutely consumed by this. I’m sure he has, too. We’ve lost the last two games. I’m not going to fault myself or Etna, but I’m sure our distraction didn’t help the situation. Bottom line, this is all I can think about yet haven’t been brave enough to bring it up.
