Page 103 of Sweet Twins For My Brother's Best Friend

I smile back, tears brimming at my waterline. I feel unable to breathe until I look at her, and then the oxygen returns to my lungs as though she herself controls my breathing.

“No,” she whispers. “You’re not serious, Chris.”

“I am so completely serious, Hannah. I started thinking about this when you told me that I needed to confront Julie. It made me realize that…well…that I don’t.

“Because you are everythingng to me, and you’ve healed all my brokenness, even in the places that I thought weren’t broken. You taught me how to be myself in a way that was healthy, and I believe I have been good for you as well. I would be honored to live this life with you by my side as my wife.”

I take out the ring box, and Hannah’s eyes widen, the green bright and sparkling under the light, and she covers her mouth with two hands, her shocked expression peeking out from behind her fingers.

“I know this isn’t fancy, and if you want something different or larger we can change it and I’ll plan a candlelit boat ride. But Hannah, just now, thinking about what life would be like in Maine, I realized I want nothing more than for my life to be with you and our children. Wherever we are. Geography means nothing to me. You are the map, the key, and the compass.”

She laughs through tears, tossing back her head so that her tears momentarily sink back into her eyes. “You are seriously the nerdiest, corniest gym bro,” she says endearingly, looking back at me.

“Well, I guess I only have one more step then,” I tell her, swallowing hard as I lower down onto one knee on the filthy,diner floor. Something sticks to the knee of my pants, but I stay in position, holding out the ring box for Hannah.

“Chris,” she says, my name coming out in one long breath. “Get up, Chris.” She pulls up at my elbow.

Reluctantly, confused, I lean against the table to get back up to a sitting position in the chair. “Hannah, um, I just thought…”

“No, I know what you thought,” she says, looking down at her fingers while she talks. Her cheeks have a pinkish tinge to them, and her freckles stand out against the blush.

“But…you don’t feel the same?”

Bile rushes up my throat, and my vision tunnels. I wipe sweat away from my brow as I struggle to meet her eyes.

She reaches out for me, her facial expression apologetic.

“Chris, I love you, if that’s what you mean. It’s just…” she flags down a waiter, who bops up to us in all black, nodding already as though he can read her mind.

“Could I get a vanilla milkshake please?” The waiter nods and slinks away, gone just as quickly as he appeared.

“I think we should wait until Tyler is supportive of…us…of… everythingng. He’s my big brother. And your best friend,” she whispers the last part as though people in the diner might hear and judge her, already knowing the whole story somehow.

I nod silently and let her continue. “He’s important to both of us. Let’s just…see if we can’t fix things, OK?”

I fold my hands together underneath my chin and lean against them, watching her beautiful mouth move as she talks.

A shiver goes down my spine as I think of her lips wrapped around my cock. I see her tongue press against the back of her lower teeth, and I imagine that tongue licking at the underside of my mushroom head.

I sit up straighter and push the thoughts away so that I can focus on her words.

“I understand, Hannah. You’re right. I want it to be the best day of our lives, so if it can’t be that without Tyler…” I trail off, thinking of who exactly would be my best man if Tyler weren’t. She’s right, of course she’s right.

“I love you, Chris, and I will love you while you’re in Maine. You don’t have to propose to me to keep me. We can make a long-distance relationship work while you get everythingng set up on the east coast.”

“You wouldn’t want to come with me?” I ask her, pushing my salad away from me with a loud scrape that makes me cringe.

She tilts her head with a serious expression and pushes her own plate away as well.

“I can’t, Chris. I’m running a business here. I have clients that I’m still helping. I’m still helpingyou. You can’t really ask me to leave right now. I’m just getting this off the ground here. I mean, I still have over half a year left on my lease.”

Seeing my expression, which I’m sure reflects that I feel I’ve been kicked in the gut, she squeezes my fingers and whispers, “We will be okay, Chris.Iwill be okay.”

I deflate as her words kick in.

I believe her, that she thinks we could make a long-distance relationship work and that we could, but I can’t do it to her. I can’t leave her here pregnant, and she can’t leave here to help me.

She cups my cheek with her palm and murmurs, “Chris. I mean it. I will be okay here, and so will the babies.”

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