“I need your fingers.” It sounded like he was covering his mouth as he spoke into the phone.
“Teddy,” I said, “you’re really coming on strong.”
“Not now, Sunny. I’m more stressed than the time I found that mole on my nut sack.”
“I told you nude sunbathing was dangerous!”
“Can you get to the jeweler on Twelfth and Silver Bells Lane? I’m what the kids call spiraling.”
“Me and all ten of my fingers are on our way. I’ll even bring Isaac’s too.”
Five Golden Rings was a tiny shop just off the square with wall-to-wall red carpet and glittering glass cases full of both new and antique jewelry.
When Isaac and I walked in, Teddy was standing with his arms braced on one of the cases like he was trying to decide between the red pill and the blue pill. In front of him was a black velvet tray displaying three astonishingly beautiful rings. He wore cargo sweatpants and a silk bowling jacket that saidcountryandwesternon the back. It was fashion with a capital F.
“I narrowed it down,” he said. “But how do you even buy a ring for a woman like Steph? What if she says no because the ring I chose is so insulting? Should I just not buy one at all and let her choose one for herself instead?”
The man behind the counter looked like he could be Stanley Tucci’s cousin, with his bald head, sweater vest, and smart-looking bow tie. He also looked like every last ounce of shits he could possibly give had been drained from him by Teddy himself.
“Teddy,” I said in my hostage-negotiation voice as I stepped up alongside him while Isaac hovered behind us. “Steph has an assload of money and can buy herself any ring she wants, but this piece of jewelry should be something that only you would buy her.”
He took a deep breath. “But what if I buy the Capri-Sun of engagement rings?”
“Take it back,” Isaac told him.
“If Steph hates it, she’ll tell you,” I told Teddy. “And then she’ll use it to upgrade to something else. Really, it’s a win-win. Either she loves it or you give her the opportunity to do her favorite thing: negotiate a better deal.”
Teddy bit down on his lip. “Can you try these on for me?”
I looked down at my fingers. “Um, I don’t have the most delicate hands.”
“She’s not wrong,” the sales clerk mumbled.
Teddy gave him a growly look and handed me the first ring, a gold band of diamonds with a nice, meaty teardrop diamond at the center.
I glanced over my shoulder at Isaac, who stood by the watches at the counter near the door as he typed something on his phone.
This was awkward. I didn’t really want to try on wedding rings in the same room as the guy who had just shut me down three days ago, but this was for Teddy and Steph, one of the few reasons I still believed in the possibility of love. Even if it was likely only for other people.
I slid the ring on and past the part of my fingers I always hated, where my knuckles stood out a little like knobby knees. “I like this one,” I told Teddy. “Really classic.”
Teddy held my hand so that the light glinted off the diamond. “What do you think, Isaac?”
Isaac barely turned around, attention still mostly on whatever phone-missive he was typing. “Shiny.”
Teddy scrubbed his hands through his hair. “Do I go for something timeless like this or something pink or—”
“Not pink,” Isaac called over his shoulder. “Steph is not a colored diamond person.”
“I’d have to agree,” I said gently.
Teddy nodded. “Let’s try the next one.”
“Sure thing, boss.” I slid the ring off my—FUCK. My stomach sank.
No, no, no, no. I yanked a little harder this time, putting some muscle behind it.
Panic bloomed in my rib cage and my mouth went dry.
