Winning the Right Brother(66)

Will’s eyes widened. “Maybe I’m hallucinating. I think you should repeat that last thing.”

“You heard me.” Her smile faded. “Or at least, you’ll be able to have a chapter where your mother proposes to your high school coach. I’m not so sure he’s going to say yes.”

“You’re such a dope.”

“You know, Alex says the same thing. If I’m such a dope, why would he want to marry me?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe he thinks you’re cute.”

Holly ran a hand through her tangled hair. “Not right now, I’m not. I think I should wait a few days before I make my move. If my looks are all I have going for me…”

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Will said, looking stern. “Look, they’re going to kick you out of my room before long, and, anyway I need to rest. I do have a concussion, you know.”

“A mild concussion.”

“Okay, fine. The next time I want a little sympathy I’ll break both my legs. The point is, you could sit out there in the waiting room all night, or you could go to Alex’s house and ask him to marry you, so we can wrap this thing up and move on to living happily ever after. I expect to see the two of you here at my bedside tomorrow morning, hand in hand. I’ve waited long enough, and so has Alex.”

Holly raised one eyebrow. “Since when do you tell me what to do?”

“Since now. This is it, Mom. You’ve taught me everything I know about guts and courage and going after what you want. It’s time to practice what you preach.”

“All joking aside, Squirt, there’s a chance Alex will turn me down.”

“I suppose there is. Are you going to let that stop you?”

He was looking stern again, and Holly couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “No, I’m not,” she said, bending down to tuck the covers more closely around him and straightening up again. “Got any ideas on how I should propose?”



When she pulled up in Alex’s driveway, the only light in his house came from his bedroom window. She slipped in through the front door as quietly as she could, turning on one small lamp and moving silently through the living room as she looked for the CD she wanted.

Before she played it, she gathered all the candles she could find and lit them, scattering them around and lighting a pathway from the living room to the stairs. She looked terrible, her jeans and Wildcats sweatshirt stained and a little damp, her hair wild and her eyes still red and swollen, but she couldn’t help that. And, after all, Alex had seen her look even worse.

She took a deep breath. Okay, she was ready. She walked over to the stereo and hit the play button.

And then Marvin Gaye’s voice was filling the house.

She stood in the middle of the living room and waited, and before long Alex was coming down the stairs, past all the candles she had lit, until he stood just a few feet away from her.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his voice carefully neutral. He was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants, barefoot and bare chested, and it was so good to see him again she felt tears pricking behind her eyes.

She took a deep breath. “Will sent me here,” she said, and then shook her head. “No, I mean, I wanted to come. I wanted to tell you—to tell you—” She paused, biting her lip, while he just looked at her.

Damn him, anyway. Why couldn’t he back her up against a wall again? Make her say it? What if she didn’t have the courage to say it on her own?

She took another breath. “What I mean to say—what I want to say—”

Alex folded his arms across his chest. “You’re terrible at this.”

“Shut up. What I want to say—what I mean to say—okay, you’re right, I suck. Dammit, Alex, I—I love you. I want—that is—will you dance with me?” she asked, holding out her hand.

Alex was still for a moment. “That depends,” he said finally, and Holly’s hand dropped to her side. Alex took a step closer, and then another, until he was right in front of her. For a long minute they stood like that, and then Alex took both her hands in his. “Will you marry me, Holly?”

She took two quick steps backward. “What? No! I mean, I was supposed to ask you! I thought I’d ask you to dance first, you know, to sort of work up to it, but then you jumped the gun and—”

Alex was grinning now. “Will you marry me, Holly?”

She came close again, her eyes meeting his. “Yes,” she said, and joy flooded through her, unadulterated by any doubt or fear. She knew Alex could see all that joy, burning through her like sunlight, and then he was kissing her and that burned too, and Holly wondered how she’d ever been able to walk away from this. At least that was one mistake she’d never make again.