“Yeah, with almost a decade’s worth of foreplay.”
That made her laugh harder. “Lila doesn’t want anyone else to get married.”
“Oh. Well, never mind then. My bad.” He made a show of struggling to his feet, his charges wriggling and meowing. Halfway up, Jazz planted her hand on his chest and shoved him back down.
“Uh-uh. You started this now you’re going to finish it.”
“Technically I can’t, because the ring’s in the store.”
God, his grin and those sparkling eyes were like a gateway into the past, before everything had gotten so messed up between them. For this instant, she could pretend not to see the spiderwebs of blood fanning out in the whites of his eyes, and the heavy bags that rimmed them. He was too skinny, his shirt bagging around his torso, his jeans hanging off his lean hips.
But right then, he was just her Gray, and he was perfect.
“You didn’t spend a lot, did you?” She nearly asked where he got the money, but the diehard romantic in her couldn’t ruin the moment. Maybe Lila had loaned him enough extra to cover his debts and the ring. He’d never been a wasteful spender so he might’ve had some money set aside other than what he’d gotten as an advance.
Unless he used it all for drugs and that’s why Lila had to bail him out.
“Shh. You can’t ask that question about an engagement ring. By the way, still on my knees here.” He flashed her a playful smile that erased the last of her questions and doubts.
“You haven’t asked me anything that requires a ring yet. Just sort of demanded it. Next time try adding a question mark at the end.”
“Okay.” He tucked one kitten on each hip and faced her without an ounce of mirth in his eyes. “I love you. Will you be my wife?”
“Aww,” someone said from behind them, but she didn’t bother to look. She was too busy internally saying “aww” herself. And sniffling.
“I love you too. Yes.” She gave him a broad smile in spite of the damp heat gathering in her eyes. Happy tears didn’t count as a sign of weakness, and by God, she’d earned these. “Easiest question I’ve ever answered.”
For a moment he didn’t move. Barely seemed to breathe. Then he launched himself at her, crushing the kittens between them while he pressed his mouth to hers. “Yes?” he breathed once he moved back to haul in air.
“Yes. On one condition.”
“Anything. What?”
She grinned. “That you fish the ring out of the vending machine for me.”
“Ah, baby, I think we can arrange that.” Laughing, he turned to the stunned silent kid. “We’ll take these to go.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Then
She was singing again, loudly and off-key in her adorable Jazz way. It wasn’t that she couldn’t hold a tune. Far from it. The girl was pitch perfect. But she loved making up new lyrics to her favorite songs—for some reason, she was currently slaughtering Elvis’ “Don’t Be Cruel,”—usually while booty-dancing around her room.
In his bedroom, Gray grinned and adjusted his bowtie. He hated the stupid thing, but he’d gone all out and rented a tux, intending to surprise Jazz. The school year had gone by ridiculously fast. Now it was spring again and it felt like they hadn’t spent any time together in forever. She’d mentioned a couple of times in her emails that she didn’t have a date for her birthday party, and the date coordinated well with his break from school. So why not?
They were friends. Friends hung out together. Friends also grinned at the sound of each other’s voices. And in his case, saved their friend’s emails in a special folder in their account.
Sometimes they even stopped bothering to date college girls for the last few months, because what was the point? He’d tried doing the full college experience during the fall semester, and every one of the girls had come up short in comparison.
But that wasn’t what tonight was about. After the kiss that wasn’t during their unforgettable San Francisco trip in August, he’d gotten the message loud and clear. She didn’t see him that way. He’d come up with and rejected a few theories why, but in the end, their friendship was the most important thing. He would never do anything to jeopardize it.
Tonight he intended to make sure his best friend had a fabulous time.
“Well, this is a surprise. Didn’t expect you to come home for spring break.”
Gray cringed inwardly. His brother. Great. Of course Brent wouldn’t have expected him to come home, because he didn’t think about anyone but himself and figured Gray was as one-track-minded. “Yep. Here I am.”