She heard the door close and then warm arms shifted her until she was facing him. He pulled her close.
“What’s going on?”
“I said no.”
“To what?” He gently pulled at her hands so he could see her face. “To what?” he repeated.
She flung herself at him and let the cries become sobs. Alex held on, rubbing her back, making soothing noises he no doubt made when his kid came to him in tears. Only after a couple of minutes she thought maybe she should stop dripping on his shirt, so she drew back and waved toward the sofa.
“Take a seat.”
She ducked into the guest bath and grabbed several tissues. After blowing her nose, she wiped her face, then went back to confess all.
Alex sat on the sofa, leaning toward her. “You said no?”
“To Dustin.” She sat on the chair opposite. “He came by my classroom and apologized for not proposing. He said he had the ring and everything when we went away, but he got nervous and chickened out. He said he loved me.” Tears threatenedagain but she ignored them. “He asked me to marry him and I said no.”
“Holy shit.”
“That’s one way of looking at it.”
“You said no? But you’re in love with him and you want to marry him. You’ve been waiting for this for months.”
“Six months. And yes to all of it.”
He stared at her. “This is huge.”
“I’m an idiot.”
“No, you’re someone who might not be as in love with her boyfriend as she thought.”
She rubbed her temples. “My head hurts too much for a third-person conversation. I love Dustin. I want to be with him.” But even as she spoke, she wondered if she was telling the truth. Because when the big moment came, she’d taken a hard pass.
“I don’t get it,” she said, coming to her feet and pacing the length of the living room. “I want all the things. I want to be married and have a family. That is my life goal. I have a great job and friends and my family, but it’s not enough and I thought Dustin was the one to give me the rest.”
Alex shook his head. “Except you don’t want to marry him.”
“I guess. I can’t believe I said no.”
“How’d he take it?”
“He went white then walked away.”
“You didn’t talk about it?”
She sighed. “I don’t have a lot of experience from the male point of view, but I’m guessing when the woman who claims to love you turns down your marriage proposal, it’s kind of a walk-away moment.”
“Good point. Poor guy.”
She spun to stare at him. “You’re taking his side?”
Alex held up both hands. “Never. Team Ryleigh. I’m getting T-shirts made tomorrow. It’s just gotta suck to be him right now.”
“And me.” She returned to the chair and sank down. “I’m never getting married. I’m never going to have a family. I don’t understand what happened.” She pressed a hand to her very upset stomach and wondered if she was going to throw up.
“I was engaged before,” she said, not looking at him.
“What? You never told me that.”
