“Isa.”
“No. Let me finish before Jace’s family starts selling tickets.”
He looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or panic.
I opened the box.
Inside was a ring.
Not an engagement ring.
Not flashy.
A heavy gold band, simple and solid, with one small star engraved on the outside.
Drew stared at it.
I took it out and held it in my palm.
“I know I’m nineteen,” I said. “I know you’re almost twenty-two. I know showing up in Colorado with jewelry and legal documents is unhinged.”
His brows shot up. “Legal documents?”
“Later.”
“Texas.”
“Let me finish.”
His mouth closed.
Mostly.
“I am not asking you to marry me tonight.”
Something flashed through his face too fast to name.
“Good,” he said roughly. “Because I might say yes just to be stupid.”
My heart kicked.
I kept going.
“This is not me asking for your money or your name or your father’s empire or your NFL future or whatever ESPN thinks you’re worth someday. This is me asking you to believe that when I say I want you, I mean Drew Travers.”
His eyes dropped to the ring.
“There’s an engraving inside,” I said.
He took it slowly.
Like it might hurt him.
His thumb brushed the inside of the band.
His face changed when he read it.
No midnight.
