Page 82 of Vas

He caught a flicker of a smile before she hid it, throwing him the glare he’d expected earlier. “I should be a ten,” she huffed before putting him out of his misery. “But I’m not mad. I knew something smelled fishy from the get-go. It was all too perfect. But I was afraid if I pressed the issue or pushed too hard for answers, it would all vanish in a puff of smoke. So that’s on me. And while you went behind my back to do it—which stops right now, by the way…”

Vas didn’t have to see her glare that time to know it was back in place—he could feel it. He nodded and hoped she could tell he was dead serious when he said, “All deceit and lies stopped about two hours ago. I promise.”

Anya’s body relaxed back into her seat. “Then it’s settled. I can’t be mad at you when I share as much of the blame.”

The tension left his shoulders. “Was it the apartment that gave it away?”

“The apartment, the administrator being cagy, my advisor having never heard of the scholarship.” She issued a soft laugh. “Pick one. They were all suspect.”

“I wanted you out of that shithole apartment. A scholarship seemed like the easiest way to make that happen and get you back in school. Was it wrong? Yes. I should have included you in the decision, but I can’t be sorry. There was no way in hell I was going to take the chance you’d turn my offer down.”

“And I love my new apartment too much to bitch about it now.”

“So, we’re good?”

“That depends. Are there any other skeletons hiding in your closet?”

He reached over and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “You know all my secrets now. I can’t promise I’ll share all the details from my past, but I do promise I won’t hide anything from you in the future.”

She squeezed his hand back. “Then we’re good.”

Holding his girl's hand, the last of his secrets exposed, Vas's gut tightened as one last need consumed him. His desire to see his ring on her finger.

He’d picked up the two-carat solitaire when he’d first hit Vegas with the idea of asking Anya to marry him when he’d gotten home. The front seat of a car after they'd been to hell and back was not how he'd envisioned asking her. But after everything that’d happened, fuck if he didn’t feel like a winner. He'd beaten the odds in Vegas and he was going to try his luck one more time, ask the universe for one more miracle tonight.

Letting go of her hand on the pretext of adjusting the AC unit, Vas cleared his throat to settle his nerves, and asked, “Can you grab the black backpack that’s on the backseat? I need some of that ibuprofen I stashed in the front pocket.”

Anya reached back grunting with the effort. “What did you pack in this thing, rocks?”

“Something like that.” Vas pressed his lips together to hold back his smile at her unintentional joke.

From the corner of his eye, he saw her settle back into her seat with the backpack on her lap. Then heard the slide of the zipper.

“It’s at the bottom so you’ll need to pull everything out.”

“I’m not seeing it. Are you sure it’s in—” Her voice stopped short and then he heard a tentative, “Vas?”

Pulling to the shoulder and hitting the hazards, he turned in his seat as far as his injury would allow and took the blue Tiffany box from her shaky fingers, opening it to pull out the ring box.

From the glow of the dashboard, he could see tears well in her eyes, and he refused to acknowledge the sudden lump in his throat.

“Marry me.”

With a watery chuckle Anya replied, "Are you telling me or asking me?"

Working the box open and slipping the ring on her finger, he muttered, “Which one do you think it is?”

She laughed even as the tears brimming her lids finally gave way to trail down her cheeks. “Just as bossy as ever, I see.”

He reached over, brushing her tears away with a thumb. “I couldn’t take the chance you’d turn down my offer.”

She leaned in the distance that separated them, and spoke against his lips, “Well, just for the record. My answer is yes.”

The sound of the garage door jerked Vas to alertness. His eyes snapped open and a smile tugged at his lips.

His wait was over.

The door leading into the house made a sharp click as it shut, then footsteps approached. Vas reached over and turned on the lamp. A soft glow filled the room.

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