Page 52 of The One I Love
I shake my head. “I wish. But I can’t pawn the kids off again. They’re going to start getting suspicious.”
“Bring them,” he says. “Or, I can bring over a pizza. I’ve done that a hundred times. They won’t be suspicious.”
I lean in a little closer. “They will if you keep looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’ve seen me naked.”
A devious smile I’m starting to love comes out. “Sorry, beautiful. I’ll be looking at you like that for the rest of my life.”
Before I can say anything, I hear my phone vibrating against my desk. Shane also takes his phone out of his pocket, which can only mean one thing: the group text.
Oliver: Everyone come to my place for dinner tonight. Six. BYOB.
Wes: What’s the occasion?
Oliver: Do I need to have an occasion to invite over my best friends in the world?
“He does need a reason,” Shane says.
“Be nice.”
Amelia: You don’t, but when you’re inviting me and not just the guys that means something is up.
Simon: Once again, Amelia proves why she is the smartest in the group.
Oliver: Whatever, just everyone come, okay?
Simon: Is it thirty-four? It’s thirty-four, isn’t it? OLIVER PROPOSED AGAIN!
Oliver: It’s not thirty-four.
“Looks like no pizza tonight,” I say.
“Guess not. Though I was looking forward to breadsticks. Oh! Maybe he’ll make garlic bread?”
“Can’t hurt to ask.”
I swear the way to a man’s heart is really through his stomach.
Shane: I want garlic bread too.
Simon: Shane, focus.
Shane: I am, on food.
Oliver: Of course there will be garlic bread. Any other requests?
Simon: Yes. You owe me $20 because I was convinced you’d come back from Vegas with thirty-four under your belt. I’m kind of disappointed in you.
We put our phones down as we let Simon take the lead.
“Well,” I say. “We knew it was going to happen sooner or later.”
He nods. “I didn’t think it would be this soon. So the question is, how do we make it through a night with all of our friends without giving away that all I want to do is kiss you?”
“Well, that’s easy,” I say much more confidently than I feel. “We arrive separately. We don’t sit by each other all night. Or across from each other.”
