“Keep your voice down.” I shake my head at him and check if Sage is coming, but she still isn’t in sight, so I turn back around. “I’m doing it at the end of our trip.”
New York had Fashion Week first, and we’re on our way to Milan now, but London is next, then–
“In Paris?!”
I tell August, once again to keep quiet and now I regret telling him because I’m not sure if he can keep a secret.
“Yes.”
My answer only excites him more, but when I look over at the stick in the mud, Sire doesn’t react.
“You guys haven’t even been together for a year.”
“Your point?”
Sire rolls his eyes at my tone, but I don’t say anything as he explains. “Don’t you think it’s too soon to propose?”
I try to figure out if he’s genuinely asking or if he’s just being an asshole because he doesn’t want me to marry her, but Sage is mine, whether he likes it or not.
“I didn’t think there was a timeline for when you should propose. I’m marrying her eventually. Why prolong the inevitable?”
Sire only watches me for something but I don’t add anything else and August speaks up from beside him. “Maybe you should talk to her first, are you sure she wants to get married?”
I let out a scoff before shaking my head at him. “You and I both know your sister wants to dress up in a huge white dress like a princess and get married in a damn castle.”
August nods but thinks of something else. “Well, what if you guys want different things? You should discuss that before marriage.”
“I want whatever she wants.”
“What if–”
“I don’tcare, August. I want to marry her. I want a private wedding, and I’m sure she wants a big one so she’ll have the biggest wedding known to man. I want kids now, and she wants to wait, so we will. I want her to take my last name, but she’stheSage Loana Hale, so I’ll take yours instead and become a fucking Hale too. Whatever she wants, she’s getting it so long as I get her in return.”
They both nod slowly before Sire turns his head to the side in thought. “Are you asking for our blessing?”
I roll my eyes at how full of himself he is. “Are you her father?” I don’t care for Sire’s blessing. I would’ve guessed he knew that by now.
He squints his eyes at me before a smirk reaches his lips. “Didyou ask our dad?”
“Yes.”
I can see the shock on his face even though he tries to hide it, but I’m not fucking with him. It took a little while for her parents to warm up to me, and I still think they aren’t my biggest fans, but they want their daughter to be happy, so when I asked her dad at dinner a few weeks ago, he said yes. Not that I wasn’t going to marry her if he had said no, but out of respect for their family, I let him think he had a say in it.
“Wait, so what’s the question you wanted to ask?” August voices now.
I get up and grab my bag before tossing them both boxes. They each catch one, and when they open it, August’s jaw drops, and Sire nods silently, but I can see he’s amused. They glance at the ring the other is holding, and both of their eyes slightly widen, more so August’s.
“You got hertworings?!”
“Shh!” Sire and I snap synchronously before they turn to me.
“I was indecisive.” I nod towards the rings in their hands. “I hate to admit it, but you guys know her a bit better–”
“Just a bit?” A smile plays on Sire’s face, but I ignore him.
“Just pick one.”
They glance back down at the ring, one pear-shaped and the other emerald-cut. My mom was adamant that I know whether or not Sage wears gold or silver, and while her jewelry is versatile since most of them were gifts, she’s a gold girl, so the rings are also gold and covered in white diamonds on the band with a twenty-seven-carat diamond in the center.
