“What elephant?” I say, looking over my shoulder dramatically.
Tay points her finger at us through the camera. “You’ve been getting that good D.”
“Taylor,” I hiss, while Preston busts out laughing and buries his face in my hair.
“You do look satisfied,” Miller tacks on, breaking into a fit of laughter too.
“Well, honey, you do look pretty guilty snuggled up on the couch with Mr. Baseball,” Gabby adds.
I see my face turns beet red on the little box in selfie mode at the bottom of the screen.
“Well, is it good?” Taylor wags her eyebrows.
“Taylor!” I admonish one more time, burying my head in my hands. Preston’s chest rumbles at my back.
“It’s better than good,” Preston murmurs loud enough to set off the group again. I elbow him in the gut. “Ouch.”
“Don’t egg her on.” I slap his thigh.
“Why not? She seems fun.” He tugs on my hair.
“I am fun,” Tay declares.
“So is this little video call to tell us something?” Gabby asks.
“We actually just wanted to catch up with our friends and thought it would be fun to introduce you,” I say, unconvincingly.
“Suuuure,” Tay responds.
“It’s partially true,” Preston backs me up. “We were talking about our friends and thought you would all get along, hence the group call. With the added benefit of filling you in on the good news all at once.”
“My man is trying to lock it down.” Miller offers a high five to the camera. “Atta boy.”
Preston returns the gesture.
“He is.” I look up at Preston. The warmth in his eyes penetrates my heart.
“And I’m really happy about it,” he murmurs close to my ear. Goosebumps erupt at the feel of his breath on my neck.
“Then that’s all that matters.” Gabby offers a reassuring smile, “Right, Taylor?” She raises an eyebrow to punctuate her rhetorical question.
“If you’re happy, I’m happy. I just worry about you. What happens when you come home?” Taylor tries to go into protective best friend mode. I raise a hand and cut her off.
“I understand your concern, trust me. That’s why it took so long for me to give in. But, I didn't want to fight it anymore.Preston means something to me.” He hugs me closer, rubbing his hand up and down my arm.
“And Ivory means a lot to me. We don’t know what will happen, but we’re taking it one day at a time. I don’t want to lose her when this is all over. I’ve made that clear. She’s important to me,” Preston openly admits his feelings to my friends. He lets them see what I see.
Turning, I give him a soft kiss, so he knows his words affect me. So he knows how much it means to me that he will defend us to our friends.
“I’m happy for you guys,” Miller breaks in. “This man has had it bad for you for a long time. I’m glad you took your shot, dude.” Miller is clearly the clown of the two men. I like him though.
“Does your dad know?” Gabby asks, genuinely curious.
“Oh, he knows,” Preston huffs out.
“Yes. He saw the story I posted and called,” I explain.
“Woof, what did Daddy Mike say?” Tay
