He opens the door in sweats, groggy and yawning. “Harriet?”
“I’ve lost the ring,” I blurt, pushing past him into the apartment. My eyes scour the table where I last remember seeing it, but it’s not there. A cold sweat beads along my brow as I turn back to Luke. “I had it when I left and now I can’t find it.” My breathing is so shallow I feel faint.
Luke closes the door. “It’s okay, I’ve—”
“It’s not!” Hot tears sting my eyes but I don’t care. “I don’t know what to do, Luke. Alex—”
“Harriet, I’ve got it.”
“What?”
He crosses the room, reaching for me. “I’ve got the ring.”
My chest caves in. I suck in a faltering breath and my body goes limp as Luke gathers me into his arms.
“You left it here last night.”
“Oh my God.” A tear escapes down my cheek and I bury my face in Luke’s T-shirt. “I thought I’d lost it.” His palm moves in a gentle circle on my back, and I stay like that, nuzzled against him, letting my pulse slow and my hands stop shaking.
“I’m sorry,” Luke murmurs after a while, and I draw back to look at him, adjusting my wonky glasses. “I thought you knew you’d left it here. Plus, I wanted to surprise you.”
“Surprise me?”
“Yeah.” His mouth slants into an uncertain, lop-sided smile. “I have an old college friend whose wife is a jeweler, and I only thought to call her after you left. I dropped it off late last night and she promised she’d have it ready for me later today.”
“Are you… are you serious?”
Luke nods. His brow pinches as he examines my face. “Are you okay?”
“I…” I inhale slowly, feeling exhausted. I probablylookexhausted, too. “Yes. Fuck, I’m so sorry. I completely overreacted.” This is one of the worst parts of having anxiety. In the moment the panic feels so real, but others don’t see it like that. They just see you losing your shit, and then looking stupid after everything you worried about turns out to be fine. I dip my head, ashamed, but he tilts my chin back up to him.
“You didn’t overreact.” He presses a soft kiss to my mouth. “I know how much this wedding means to you, and you didn’t want things with us to get in the way.”
“You must think I’m ridiculous.”
“No.” He shakes his head, gazing at me tenderly. “I think you care about your sister and her wedding.”
“I just feel so guilty, Luke. Being with you when I know the others wouldn’t like it, keeping it from Alex…”
“I get it. I’m not crazy about keeping this from Mike either, especially with Dena coming to the wedding.” He grimaces. “But I can’t—”
“I know,” I say when I see the anguish line his forehead. I think of what he told me last night about Dena and his difficult relationship with his dad. “It’s okay. I know.”
“Look, do you want to stop?” He tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear, then takes a big breath and steps away. “I’ll understand if you do.”
I gaze at the man in front of me—the handsome, thoughtful man who took me to a board game cafe, who encourages my idea, who talks about games and books with me for hours, and gives me the greatest pleasure I’ve ever known. When I thought I’d lost the ring this morning, the only person I wanted to see was him. He felt like the only one who would know how to comfort me, how to make everything better, and he did. Even though he saw me for the anxious mess I really am, he’s still showing me nothing but kindness. Not just kindness—acceptance. Affection. Desire. He saw me fall apart and he still wants me.
And that makes me feel things that are well beyond my control now.
“I don’t think I can,” I whisper.
His eyes soften with relief and a rush of air leaves his lungs. Then he reaches a hand to the nape of my neck, stroking his thumb over my cheek. “If you’d said yes, I would have respected that and tried to make it work. But…” He pauses, and his voice is edged with emotion when he finally says, “I’m so glad you didn’t.”
I step forward, lifting my mouth to his. The tension in my body ebbs away as his lips brush mine and his hands slide up my back.
“We won’t let anything else interfere with the wedding, okay? I promise you that. I can’t stand seeing you so stressed out.” He rests his forehead against mine. “What do we still need to do?”
“We need to get the ring and collect mine and Alex’s dresses, as well as the tuxes. We have to make wedding favors for everyone, and put together some welcome gifts for people coming from out of town. Then it’s just setting things up in the reception hall when we arrive and making sure the day goes smoothly.”
