Page 37 of The Wingman

It’s placed gently on top of the tiramisu, sitting there innocently, sparkling in the warm restaurant lighting. It’s similar tothe one Kit gave me, with a big center diamond and a white-gold band.

Marry me?is written in chocolate syrup along the rim of the plate, and all the happy feelings and enjoyment I collected throughout the evening scatter like marbles.

In my mind, I’m back in the bar on New Year’s Eve while Kit kneels in front of me, and everyone stares, waiting for my answer.

“I’msosorry.” The server reappears, looking sheepish as she reaches for the plate. “I got the tables mixed up.”

“Can we get our bill, please?” There’s an authoritative edge to Hayden’s tone I’ve never heard. “As soon as possible.”

“Of course.” The server takes one look at my devastated expression and winces again. She probably thinks I’m disappointed the ringwasn’tfor me.

“Are you okay?” Hayden’s hand covers mine as the server hurries away.

“Yeah.” I try to clear my head and bring myself back to the present. Back to the fun we were having just a few minutes ago. “I’m fine. That was just weird.”

His hand is so warm, and without thinking, I flip mine over so we’re palm to palm, craving more contact. The light scrape of his callouses against my skin anchors me, and I draw my gaze up, meeting his.

The tension behind my ribs releases, and I exhale. “I’m okay. Honestly.”

“I know.”

His gaze is so gentle and caring. I know him holding my hand is just because he’s worried, and it doesn’t mean anything, but the intimacy makes my breath catch. Every nerve in my palm tingles against his. I bet a scan of my brain would show it lighting up like a firecracker.

“I tried to break up with Kit in December.” Idon’t know why I’m admitting this when I told myself I’d keep my mouth shut about it so it wouldn’t affect their friendship.

I want to explain my weird reaction to the engagement ring, though, and I don’t want to risk Hayden thinking I was careless with Kit’s heart.

Hayden’s gaze sharpens and his hand flexes around mine. “What?”

“Remember that charity skate event where you dressed up like an elf?” I rub my free hand over my stomach, over all the knots tightening at the memory. “And he brought up having kids and getting married and stuff?”

Hayden’s jaw tightens and he nods once.

“I broke up with him that night.” My face falls. “Or, I tried to.”

“Tried to?” he repeats in a low, deadly voice.

I blow out a tight breath as the memory of Kit’s crushed expression floods my head. “He wanted to focus on hockey for the next month because he had a lot of big games. He said we should talk about it in January.”

Hayden’s expression is unreadable. “And what did you want to do?”

“I wanted to break up.” The words come out with more force than I mean. “I wanted to break up with him back in August, but it was his birthday, and you can’t break up with someone around their birthday, and then the season was starting and he was away a lot…”

“So you waited until January.” His jaw ticks again, expression hard.

“That’s what we agreed on.” I swallow past the rocks in my throat, frowning down at the table.

“And then he proposed on New Year’s in front of everyone.”

I nod, chewing my lip.

“Fuck,” he mutters, letting out a heavy breath and tightening his hand around mine. “Fucking hell, Darce.”

“I don’t want you to blame him.” I shake my head, wincing. “I think he thought it would solve things?—”

“Don’t make excuses for him.” His eyes lock on mine, sharp with intensity. “That was a really fucked-up thing for him to do.”

“I don’t want to come between you guys. I just wanted to explain why I freaked out.”

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