Page 126 of Gabriel's Salvation

I spit my beer out in shock, spraying it all over the two of us. “What?” I splutter.

“What did you say?” I cough out.

“I wanna ask Bella to marry me,” Nate replies matter of factly.

Why the fuck would he want to marry her? I know he's stupidly obsessed with her, always has been, but why would he want to commit to marriage.

My mind whips through all the unanswered questions. Why the fuck would he settle down and marry his first girlfriend? Heck, she's the only person he’s ever even fucked. Thousands of girls who would happily spread their legs for him, yet he’s gonna marry the first girl? Imagine being stuck with the same pussy for life. My mind shudders at the thought.

“Well? Aren't you going to say anything?” Nate asks, looking a mixture of sad and annoyed.

“Why?” I ask, unsure what else to say.

“Really Gabe? Why? That's all you have to say?” Nate huffs.

“Well, yeah,” I shrug. “Wait…” I draw out as it finally dawns on me, “...is she pregnant?”

“What?” Nate says, his face morphing into shock and confusion. “What makes you think she's pregnant? Did Riley say something? Did SHE say something?”

Nate reaches out and takes the beer from my hand, taking a drink, before handing it back to me. “Why do you think she's pregnant?” he asks again.

“I dunno, I just couldn't think of any other reason why you'd marry a girl.” So if she's not pregnant, which she clearly isn't from Nate's shocked response, why the fuck else would he marry her?

“You almost fucking killed me,” Nate laughs, as he takes deep breaths. “I wanna marry her because I love her, you idiot. I love her more than anyone else in the world and I want to spend my whole life with her.”

The shit-eating smile on his face as he says that takes me by surprise. How is he so calm? “Fucking idiot,” he mutters under his breath, shaking his head as if I’m the stupid one for not knowing the answer.

“Oh,” I reply. Because, what else am I supposed to fucking say?

“Do you have a ring and shit? I hear they're super expensive.”

“No, to be honest, I haven't thought that far ahead yet, but I am starting to save up. I wanna make sure I get her the perfect ring.” I look over at Nate and see that same, all too familiar, shit eating grin of his again. Seriously, how is he not freaking out? I am and it's not even me proposing.

“Well, if you need to borrow any money, let me know, I guess.”

“You’d help me? You're not going to try and talk me out of it? Say something nasty or sarcastic in response?” he asks, sounding kind of dubious.

“I'm not saying I understand, because I'd rather pour paint in my eyes, than spend my life with little Miss Perfect. And I think marriage is a complete mistake in general, but I'm not gonna tell you you can't. You're your own man. Plus I'm hardly the person to judge anyone else's life choices, am I?” I reply as I take another swig of my beer and light my smoke.

“That means a lot bro,” and I hear the sincerity in his words.

“I gotta help my baby brother right? Can’t have him getting his heart broken because he proposed with a goddamn Dollar Tree ring, can I?” I laugh, trying to distract from all the sappiness of this conversation.

“Thanks, Gabe,” Nate says as he wipes a goddamn tear from his eyes. One day I'm taking that kid to the hospital just to make sure he does, in fact, have a dick. No normal man should be as emotional as he is.

“You ain't gonna do it yet though, right?” I ask, holding my breath.

“I wanna speak to her grandparents first and get their permission, of course.”

“Wait, ain't it supposed to be the girl's dad you ask?” I'm sure that's how it works in the movies, not that I've ever paid much attention.

“Well yeah, technically, but her parents are idiots who treat her like crap. They break her heart constantly so they don't deserve a say in her happiness. No, it's her grandparents’ approval I really need. Without that Bella would never feel comfortable marrying me. So it's her grandparents I need to impress… I just hope they think I'm good enough for her.” Nate voices out loud and I can hear the self doubt evident in his tone.

“They’d be fucking crazy not to love you. If they don’t think you are good enough, that’s on them, not you. No one would or could love Isabella as much as you do. Plus if they don’t give their permission, they're old; they probably already have one foot in the grave, and I'm more than happy to give them an extra shove if you need me to,” I add, only half joking.

“Gabe!” Nate snaps, while trying not to laugh. “That's not even a little funny. You touch her grandparents and I'll kill you,” he adds with a forced frown.

“I'm just saying… you need help burying a body, I've got a shovel ready.”

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