Page 50 of All Twerk, No Play

When I didn’t reply, he murmured, “Grace was pissed at me for asking you to move here, you know.”

“Working with the ex-girlfriend probably wasn’t her dream scenario."

“No, not like that. She thought it was unfair to ask you to move to Saratoga. Especially when Mallory bragged about your impressive resume … Grace was angry that I expected you to put your dreams on hold for mine.”

“I didn’t expect you to agree. This is a step down for you, you belong somewhere more important.”

“So why did you ask?” I said, feeling an odd combination of annoyed, impatient, and intrigued.

“I was scared to strike out on my own, and you were going to leave Hamilton & Houghton anyway. It was selfish, wanting you here. And I guess …” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe you needed somewhere safe to land while you figured out what comes next. And when it’s time for you to move on, I understand and I’ll support you.”

He looked me straight on, not hiding behind our wine glasses, the warm glow of the heat lamp and street lights casting shadows over his face. “But I’m staying here. I love it here. And I think if you let yourself, you could love it too.”

Heat crept up my neck and into my wine-flushed cheeks as the full weight of his declaration crashed into me.

He was staying, no matter what.

If I left, if I moved to New York … I went alone.

I finished the glass of wine, staring at the chipped paint along his railing, not wanting to betray myself with a look that would be too telling.

“Victoria,” he said, drawing my attention. His eyes were tinged with anxiety. “I asked Grace to marry me, and she said yes.”

I tried to disguise my shuttering breath as a cough. “When?”

“Last weekend,” Alexander said with a satisfied smile. “I didn’t want to have this conversation at the office, but I’ve been dying to tell you, to ask you … ” His leg bounced enough to make the porch shake. My shoulders drew up, tense and tight, bracing for a blow I couldn’t avoid. “We want to keep the bridal party small. Grace is asking her brothers, Mallory and Kate. And I’m asking the two people I trust most to stand up beside me: you and Nick.”

I held my breath, cold air squeezing tight in my lungs, hoping the tension would pass if I waited it out. This was important to him, but I hadn’t anticipated this—not when he’d only known her a few months.

Not when he didn’t ask me after seven years.

His voice was strained. “I understand if you can’t—”

“Of course I will, you idiot,” I snapped.

He startled before his eyes met mine. My stomach twisted, but I ignored the fluttering as I forced a smile. And then, as he returned his own smile, mine softened in reaction.

He swooped me into a tight hug, my stomach lurching at the sudden movement. I felt stiff, but as he squeezed me in a warm embrace, my muscles loosened.

“Thank you,” he murmured into my ear. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

He let me go shakily, then stepped into the house's foyer. I heard the echo of his whisper, “She said yes.”

I moved to the top of his stairs, gripping his porch's column, my fingernails carving into the wood to stop myself from running home ... though I didn't know where that was. My condo, Dad's Manhattan penthouse, our apartment in San Francisco?

The wind whispered through the snow-covered trees. I faced the Adirondack mountains in the distance, imagining an avalanche of changes, moving more rapidly than I could adjust. Stevie Nicks' raspy voice echoed in my mind about building her life around somebody, then realizing that her fear of change was holding her back.

A landslide of emotion, uncovering the need to move on.

“I told you she would say yes,” Grace replied from inside. I released my hold on the pillar as they emerged from the house together, each carrying champagne flutes. She cinched a jacket around her slim frame, and I swallowed down my spite. She was fucking delightful, it was no wonder he chose her.

“He’s been a mess all week, waiting for the right time to ask you.” Grace nudged him with her hip. “I thought he would chicken out.”

Alexander handed me champagne, and my fingers clutched the crystal stem. He slid his free hand around her waist, lifting his glass. “To the two most important women in my life.”

“Cheers,” I said, my vision blurring as I blinked away the tears.

"The Winner Takes It All," ABBA

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