Page 39 of The Trouble with Runaway Brides

“Yeah.”

“Is that, like, a Filipino tradition or something?”

“No. I just like it. You know it’s my favorite, right?”

Stop testing him, Kenzie. I lift my left hand and stare at my ring. Women would kill to be me, kill to have this ring on their hand and be engaged to a gorgeous man like Will with his bank account and status.

“Of course I do. Hold on a second.” He shifts the phone and I hear a woman behind him telling him he’s needed. “I’ll be right there. Thank you.” Then she giggles and he returns the phone to his face. “Sorry, I have to get to the next meeting. I’m glad the cake thing went well.”

“Wait.”

“Kenz,” he says with a sigh.

“What about your parents? Would lemon be okay with them?”

He huffs and it’s his annoyed one. The one that says he wants me to stop with whatever I’m carrying on about. That I should understand his busy life and how much I’ll benefit from it. I only know this because he’s told me that before and I told him I don’t appreciate always coming second.

“My mom doesn’t eat sugar, you know that. And my dad probably won’t even have a piece.”

“And the guests?”

“Kenzie. Who gives a shit? It’s cake. Half of our friends say they’re allergic to gluten, so they’re not going to eat it anyway. We’ll probably end up throwing most of it out.”

“I wouldn’t throw it out, that’s a waste.”

“I don’t give a shit what you want to do with the cake. I gotta go. I’ll call you tonight.”

“Wait, Will!”

“Fuck. What?”

“When are you coming out here? The meal tasting is tomorrow night.”

“I’ll try to be there. Maybe I can fly in and then leave.”

“Leave? Why would you leave?”

The woman in the background speaks again, telling him how late they’re going to be.

“Go ahead, I’ll be right behind you,” he tells her.

“Who’s that?”

“No one you know.”

“Okay, but what’s her name?”

“Please don’t do this jealousy thing. You’re the only woman for me. You know that.”

“Who said I was jealous? I’m just asking questions. You know, to be interested in your life.” I roll over on the bed.

“I’ll do everything in my power to get there tomorrow night. I’ll call you later.”

“Okay. I love you,” I say.

“Yeah, me too. Bye, babe.”

The line clicks off. I toss my phone away and bury my head in the pillows.

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