Page 190 of White Raven
The bus station was busy.
She’d already thrown up her middle finger to an old lady, and some douche that tried to pull into the parking spot she’d been waiting on. Now it was a matter of keeping her temper in check while she looked for a head full of pink hair.
“Hey, you here?”
“Tell me again why you took a bus instead of an airplane? Grabbing you like a drive-thru would have been exponentially easier than this, Leigh. Jesus.”
“It was cheaper. And on the ground. Where you at? I’ll come find you.”
Wren looked around, trying to get a good description as a big bus passed by. She stopped dead when she saw Brent waving her down across the loading lot.
“Oh, this motherfucker…I’m at the ticket booth in the lobby. Hurry up, cause I’m about to commit murder.”
Brent stepped off the curb, clearly not catching her growing frustration, and she was just about to embarrass him publicly as an oncoming bus screeched its tires while another one sped by from the other direction, obstructing her view of him completely. Her heart fuckingstopped.
“Ahhhh!Brent!”
Holy shit…this didn’t actually just happen.
It was like moving in slow motion. Like trudging through deep water. That sickening emotion she’d warred off for so long was about to be the one thing that finished her off. All the times she’d told him she’d wished he was a speed bump, and that he’d get hit by a bus…she never thought in a fuckinglifetimethat it’d actually happen. Wren sprinted towards the lot, pushing past several shocked onlookers as the passing bus nearly cleared the lane. She never meant it. She never—
The taillights gave way, and instead of his bloody body lying on the concrete…Brent knelt on one knee in front of the other bus…with a black box in his hand and a knowing smile on his face. She stood frozen at the curb, wide-eyed and shaken.
“You just gonna leave him there? I’m still hungry.”
Leigh stood beside her, right next to her luggage—with airport tags on them.
“You—you didn’t take the damn bus,” Wren observed, voice hoarse.
“Nope.” Leigh gave her a vicious smile and nudged her. “Go.”
Oh, my God…Oh, my God…Oh, my God…
The bus driver leaned over his steering wheel with a grin, while all his passengers looked on, taking videos with their phones as Wren crept forward, crossing the bus lane.
“I got a hundred bucks saying you drove that yellow soup can up here with enough fury to end my life,” Brent grinned, waiting patiently. “You gonna get on that bus and push the gas?”
“Still deciding,” Wren stuttered, closing in on him.
“Well before you do…there’s something I wanted to ask you.”
Her heart pounded, and her cheeks felt like they were on fire. She glanced up at the driver, who nodded and smiled. He’d planned all of this. Everybody around her was in on it. Part ofher wished Sarah was here for this moment…but the other part felt heavy about the last time he’d proposed to someone.
“Brent, I—you’re—”
“In complete control. No second guessing. No schemes. Just me. And you…and the bus.” He opened the box, and the diamond gleamed in the headlight. “I know this is scary. Probly cringe…and you’re about to hold up a finger at me. But I hope it’s the one on your left hand. I’ve done this once already, and I knew it wasn’t the right thing, Wren. I know better this time. I told you earlier that I just needed to hear you say it.”
Her eyes stung, and she swiped a finger across her cheek. “You said you wouldn’t tell anybody, asshole.”
“I didn’t break any promises.”
She took a hard look at him. His ripped jeans…his bare knee pressed to the asphalt. The hoodie with busted piano keys. The glossy sheen of his hair as it fell over his brow. Thinking back to every argument they’d had, and every time she wanted to punch him in the face. Did she want this for the rest of her life?
Yes…
“Fine.”
Brent side-smiled and took the ring out of the box. “I love you. Make me the happiest speed bump, and let me be your bitch forever?”
