Page 59 of Defending What is Mine

I pull out the chair across from him and have a seat. “I guess you could be right. It’s probably no big deal…for whoever pops the question first.”

Hank frowns. “Oohhh. So, you’re saying whoever goes second comes out looking like a wannabe? Shit...”

“Look, big picture this is a good thing, right? I mean, Mollie’s amazing. And Sam is…perfect.” My words trail off as glimpses of her capture my attention.

Her face.

Her smile.

Her lips.

I shake my head and refocus. “Anyway. Do you know how you want to do it? After all, they’re practically sisters. Maybe we could double up?”

Hank places his hand on my arm. “And I’ve always thought of you like a brother. Not a favorite, or anything. But, still.”

I jerk my arm free. “Screw you. I’m just trying to problem solve.”

“Yeah? Well keep trying.” Hank waves his finger at the boxes in front of us. “I don’t even want to think about how big the diamond there is compared to the one in here. It’s bad enough to know whatever I do, I’ll probably end up being upstaged by you anyway. I think I’ll pass on being there to witness it.”

I roll my eyes. “Okay, whatever that means. Do you have a better idea?”

“What if we both do it on the same night? Just not at the same place, ya know?”

The more I think about my idea of proposing together, the more I can envision Hank doing something stupid and ruining the moment for Sam and me. “Okay, but what if we plan everything out and then, for whatever reason, one of us needs to postpone? It wouldn’t be fair to the other to have to put the brakes on their plans, too. Especially at the last minute.”

Hank bobs his head in acknowledgement. “Yeah, true. But how many other options are there? We try and do this together, or we go back to doing our own thing, right?”

I can see it in his eyes. If we go back to planning to propose separately, Hank is going to rush ahead, just so he can be the one to do it first. Reluctantly, I nod my agreement. We’re in this together. “Alright, so when’s it going to be?”

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