Page 37 of The Hang Up
I’m simply living.
SIXTEEN
Holden
“Damn, you sound like you’ve been hit by a truck,” Wade says, voice heavy with amusement.
I drop onto the couch like I’ve run a marathon. “More like a storm,” I mutter. “An emotional, beautiful, life-altering storm.”
A pause. Then, “Oh shit. What happened now?”
I rub a hand over my face, still reeling from everything that’s gone down over the last twenty-four hours. Lena moving in. Her mom showing her true colors. The tears. The hope. The sheer gravity of it all.
“Lena moved out of her mom’s place,” I say quietly. “For good.”
Wade whistles. “About damn time.”
“Everything was a lie. The severity of her mom’s condition. The way she manipulated Lena into staying. All of it.”
“Holy hell,” he mutters. “Is Lena okay?”
I nod, even though he can’t see me. “Yeah. I mean, she cried. A lot. But she’s here. With me. And I think… I think she’s starting to believe she can have more. That she deserves more.”
“She always deserved more,” Wade says firmly. “She just needed someone to remind her.”
“I’m trying,” I whisper. “God, I’m trying.”
He’s quiet for a second. “You love her.”
It’s not a question.
“Always have,” I admit. “I’ve been in love with her since she looked at me across a homeroom desk and handed me a purple pen because mine exploded.”
Wade chuckles. “Romantic beginnings.”
“I’m thinking about asking her to marry me,” I say before I can talk myself out of it.
Another beat of silence. “About damn time,” he repeats.
I laugh. “Thanks for the support.”
“Anytime. You going to use that ring you carved?”
My heart squeezes. “Yeah. I think it’s finally time.”
He clears his throat, suddenly serious. “She’s going to say yes.”
“I hope so.”
“She will.”
I hang up a few minutes later, my chest tight with nerves and anticipation.
I find Lena in the kitchen, barefoot in one of my sweatshirts, humming quietly as she leans against the counter and eats a spoonful of peanut butter straight from the jar.
She looks up when I walk in, and the sight of her in my space, her presence softening every hard edge, knocks the breath from my lungs.
“Hey,” she says, smiling. “I was wondering where you went.”
