Page 19 of The One I Want
“Oliver, we’ve talked about this,” I say, patting him on the back. “We wait at least a year until we propose marriage. And even then, you run it past us first.”
“I know,” he groans, his face still buried. “But I thought she was the one! I felt so right about it.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t call you,” Shane says to me. “He took her to Nashville and did it overlooking the river.”
“He knows I would have tried to talk him out of it,” I say.
They both laugh, and Oliver just points at me because I hit the nail on the head.
Oliver is one of the best guys I know. He always has a smile on his face and can find a silver lining in a shit storm. And all the man has ever wanted is to get married and start a family.
However, instead of waiting until he finds the woman who truly deserves him, he proposes to anyone who makes it past the six-month mark.
Or sometimes sooner. I believe he’s up to twelve proposals with no marriages. Or yeses.
“New subject,” I say, turning to Shane. “How about you?”
Shane takes a sip of beer, which I know means he’s trying to figure out how he can say the least amount possible. Shane isn’t exactly the sharing type.
“Oh no, who made Ollie cry? Taylor? Did you do this?”
I turn over my shoulder to see Amelia Evans giving me a look I know all too well. The one she used to give all the time growing up when I, or the four of us, did something she didn’t approve of. Which was a lot.
“In my defense, I didn’t know what I was asking when I asked it.”
I stand and open my arms, which Amelia steps into. Apparently, Shane sees this as an opportunity to avoid this conversation and heads toward the bathroom.
When I think of my best friends in Rolling Hills, I’m immediately referring to the three guys who have been with me through it all. The very next person I think of is Amelia. She was the sister I never had. She was the sisternoneof us had, and that includes Simon, who has four sisters.
Amelia was one of us. She still is. When girls were getting ready to try out for cheerleading, she was asking if she could be on the football team. She wore eye black instead of eye shadow. She was the best softball player to ever come out of Rolling Hills High School. To this day, I’ve never seen her in a dress.
She’s tough. Not afraid to speak her mind. But at the same time, she’s nurturing, and the person you can always go to if you just need an ear to listen. I think every one of us had some sort of memorable heart-to-heart with Amelia at some point in our lives. For me it was the night before my wedding.
I wasn’t having cold feet, but I was nervous as hell. I was just out of college. I had been drafted a few weeks before. And then I was getting married. It felt like a lot all at once. And hell, I didn’t know that we’d get pregnant with Emerson a month later.
I was freaking out. But Amelia was there like she always has been, telling me that everything was going to be okay.
Maybe I need to yell at her for not having a crystal ball.
“Good to see you, Wes,” she says, patting my chest. “But seriously, what’s up with Oliver? Oh no. Did you propose again?”
We laugh as Amelia walks over and gives Oliver a hug from behind. We might all be in our mid-thirties, but some things will never change. Case in point—Amelia comforting Oliver after a woman has left him broken-hearted. She’s been doing this since we were ten.
“What brings you here on a Tuesday?” I ask.
“Meeting my brother and Whitley for dinner. My kids are at practices, and I gave them money for dinner because there is no cooking happening in my house tonight. Speaking of…”
We turn to look at the door and see Jake and Whitley walking through hand-in-hand. I know they’re heading our way, but I’m not paying a lick of attention to them.
Betsy had sauntered in right behind Whitley, and as soon as I saw her, it was like everyone else in the bar disappeared.
Chapter8
Wes
“Ouch! What the fuck, man?”
I grab the back of my head where Shane just hit it. That fucking hurt.
