Page 226 of Staying Selfless

“Thanks, Maddison.” She connects her hand to mine.

“Ali, honey, you’re still coming over for dinner tonight, right?” Mary asks, giving my brother a pointed glare.

She better be. I will kill Marc if what he did last night with Ali’s sister keeps her from being able to celebrate with us tonight. Tonight is too important for either her or Marc to be absent.

“Of course.” Ali’s gaze falls to Marc, the tension thick between them. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Are you bringing your family?” Logan asks, the only one oblivious to tonight’s plans.

“Uh, no. Just me,” Ali hesitates.

“Don’t you want to spend time with your family, too? They should come and celebrate your graduation.”

Ali’s eyes dart to mine, trying to figure out a way out of this conversation. It’s not that Ali’s family isn’t welcome, it’s just that we don’t really know them, and tonight is more than just a graduation dinner at the house. Trev and Stacey are driving down with the boys. In fact, we will probably cross paths with them on the road, and Zanders’ flight lands any minute, but Logan doesn’t know any of that yet.

“I’m moving back to New York,” Ali reminds her. “I’ll see them all the time.”

“Don’t remind me,” my girl pouts.

“Come take some pictures with me,” Ali demands, pulling Logan’s hand away from mine. “We need to document what we look like while we’re still young and hot.”

“Her fucking sister, man?” I ask Marc once they are a ways away.

“I didn’t know!”

Cam bursts into a fit of laughter. “You can’t catch a break with that one,” referring to Ali. “I’ll see you guys tonight. Good luck, Maddison.” He smacks my shoulder before taking off.

Marc leans in close, his voice quiet. “When are you going to do it?”

My eyes find Logan as she poses for some pictures with Ali. She looks like pure perfection today, the same as always, and I can’t wait to give her my last name.

I’ve been itching to do it ever since I got back from Texas last year. I bought the ring during those six weeks I was away from her, but she wanted to wait until after she graduated to get engaged.

She graduated ten minutes ago. It’s time.

“Right now.”

Chapter 56

Logan

“What are we doing out here? We’ve never been out here when it’s this warm.” I take a deep breath as the pond comes into view, the fresh air filling my lungs. “I’m not sure if it’s more beautiful now, with the sun reflecting off the water, or when it’s frozen over, and there’s a fresh dusting of snow on the trees.”

“Well, you’re not bundled up in a hundred different layers.” Eli comes up behind me at the water’s edge, snaking his arms around my middle. “So, for my own personal reasons, I’d say the pond is more beautiful right now.”

We’ve come out to the pond countless times this year, and I still love it just as much as I did the first time Eli brought me here. Another perk of Eli signing with Minnesota is that we’ve been only an hour away from our favorite place. We took advantage of any free time we had during the winter out here, spending time with Eli’s second family. And Ian has become quite the skater after another year of lessons on the ice with my guy.

Eli finally introduced his family to Trev, Stacey, and the boys this past year and told them about the pond and how it had become his safe place during college. He’s gotten better and better about opening up, even to the people closest to him, and I couldn’t be more proud.

“I think this is the first time I’ve worn a dress out here,” I note, looking down at my graduation dress that I didn’t have time to change out of before Eli rushed me into his truck and started the drive. “Two winters down. Your girl is becoming a true Midwesterner.”

“So proud,” he laughs, kissing the side of my head. “Come here.” He takes my hand in his, leading us to the small wooden bench on the edge of the embankment. The same bench where my heart became his.

I take a seat next to my favorite guy, noting the nerves that are covering his expression.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course,” he nervously smiles. “But I want to talk to you about something.”

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