Page 31 of The Proposal
I sigh dramatically. “Again, you weren’t invited to this party. You’re free to leave, and Ella and I can pursue our objective of making this a night to remember.”
Renn chuckles, sharing in my amusement. “How about this? Brock, why don’t you and Ella go back to the suite. Make up so we can have a fun day tomorrow.” He turns his attention on me. “And I’ll stay with Blakely. We’ll finish our drinks and maybe get some ice cream since we promised her that—”
“That’s not due until tomorrow,” I say, trying to point at him, but my finger hangs unsteadily in the air. “My birthday is tomorrow. Tonight is my birthday prelationship.”
Ella groans, holding her forehead.
“Yourwhat?” Renn asks.
“My birthday prelationship. It’s the stage …” My brain is too cloudy to make it make sense—even though I’m sure it does. “It’s the lead-up to my birthday where expectations are met. Or not. Or … something.”
I cock my head to the side and try to think that through.I swear it makes sense.
Brock looks at me warily. “Why don’t you go back with us?”
“BecauseI’mfinishing this drink,” I say.Because I don’t want to give up this night because you want to go fuck my best friend.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay with Renn?” he asks.
Renn’s leg moves beneath the table and brushes against mine. I shift in my seat, pressing my palms against my thighs in an attempt to quell the heaviness building in them.
“I think I can handle it,” I say smugly.
“I’ll take care of her.” Renn’s eyes are trained on me. “I promise I’ll get her back in one piece.”
“See, Brock? We all get what we want this way. Stop being a spoilsport and get out of here.”
Ella slides her hand onto Brock’s lap—and that does it. She looks at me and winks.
“I’ll get the bill tomorrow night,” Brock says, helping Ella out of her chair. They start to leave, but he pauses and turns back to the table. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“Oh, come on,” I say. “Stop it. What do you think we’re going to do? Go streaking down the Strip?”
“Hey, I actually haven’t done that before,” Renn says, impressed. “We could give it a go.”
I laugh. “No, becauseyousigned agood boy clause, remember?”
His eyes sparkle. My stomach tightens in a worthless attempt at rebuffing the trouble dancing in them.
Brock lifts a brow, lets it linger on both of us for a long moment as if to seal his point, and then follows Ella through the restaurant.
As soon as he’s gone, Renn and I laugh.
“I love him,” I say before taking a quick sip of Gerald’s concoction. “I really do. But I think I will always be a seventeen-year-old little girl to him.”
“That’s how old you were when your mother passed, right?”
“Yeah.” I set my glass down and release a breath. A heaviness settles on my chest at the reminder.I need a distraction. “Tell me about your family. I’ve gathered the basics over the years, but you neverreallysay anything about them. Just superficial, searchable stuff.”
“Do you ever look them up?”
I half laugh, half snort. “Um, no. Not taking anything away from you all, but it’s never occurred to me to look them up. Should I? I mean, besides Tate, of course.”
He lifts a brow. “I’m not talking about Tate again.”
“I checked out his Social,” I say in a sing-song voice. “He’s very …shirtless.”
Renn crosses his arms over his chest. “But you don’t follow him.”
