“You are never going to convince me that—” She stops in her tracks when she reaches our row. Her eyes are on the jumbotron.
Oh, God. She’s never going to forgive me if she realizes that Ryan was planning to propose and thinks that I screwed it up. Ironic, I realize, since I came here with every intention of doing exactly that. I follow her gaze to the big screen.
My jaw drops when I see Ryan and Oliver up there. Their arms are wrapped around each other, and Oliver is planting a kiss on Ryan’s cheek while the crowd around them goes wild. The proposal message is gone, so now it’s just the two of them up there putting on a show for the whole stadium.
“I can’t believe Ryan did the kiss cam without me!” Tina complains.
Both of us burst out laughing. I double over. “You better go kick his ass,” I tell her.
ChapterTen
Toxic Fumes
Ihave trouble falling asleep tonight. I keep thinking about the conversation I had with Oliver about getting Ryan and Tina to propose to each other at the same time. The idea that we could even pull off such a thing is absurd. I should have just brushed it off as a joke, yet here I am, my mind working in overdrive building a plan that will never happen.
I think about all of Tina’s ideas for her proposal. Ryan’s idea of proposing on the jumbotron was great, but it’s not quite on the same level as the flash mob, horse carriage, and fireworks that Tina has planned. Ryan would need to step up his game and get on Tina’s level if a dual proposal would ever work.
I roll over, forcing my eyes closed, but it does nothing to shut off my brain. I can see Oliver’s eyes at the stadium, green flecks on milk chocolate, the fine lines that form around his eyes when he smiles, and the dimples in his cheeks. I roll the other way, trying to get away from these thoughts. I make myself think about the way his shoulder pushed against mine when we were trying to cancel Ryan’s message and we went through the office door at the same time. Or the way he grabbed my arm and stopped me from walking with Tina when we got to the stadium.
The memory irritates me all over again. I want to throttle him.
This is better. I can deal with these thoughts.
I hear my phone buzz across the room. I open one eye to see the glow from my screen. I close my eye again, telling myself to sleep, but now all I can think about is my phone and who the hell is texting me this late at night—as if my thoughts about Tina’s proposal and Oliver’s eyes aren’t enough. I’m never going to be able to fall asleep if I keep wondering.
I throw the blanket off myself and pad across the room to my phone. I’m surprised when I see the message on my phone and who it’s from.
Oliver
Ryan is coming over tomorrow to drop off the ring.
I unplug my phone from the charger and carry it over to my bed. I climb under the covers and hold my phone over my face, staring at the message. It’s a very simple and straightforward message, yet here I am trying to find a bigger meaning, like why is he sending me this at such a late hour? I wonder if he just talked to Ryan and his first instinct was to tell me, not considering how late it is. Or maybe he talked to Ryan hours ago, and he’s been lying awake like I am. But that would mean that I’m on his mind and he made the conscious choice to send me that text, fully aware of what time it is.
I type out a reply.
Priscilla
See if you can get him to wait until the fair.
I wait, biting my lip. Three little dots pop up, indicating that he’s typing. I fully expect him to laugh at me and say he was kidding about what we talked about earlier. Then I’ll feel stupid for allowing these thoughts to keep me up tonight when I should have known it was never a viable plan to begin with.
Oliver
You’re up late.
Priscilla
You woke me up.
Oliver
And you texted me nicely instead of cussing me out? You must like me or something.
I stare at his message, annoyed at the idea that he might still think I like him. I guess I haven’t been clear enough. Before I can cuss him out like he suggests, another message pops up.
Oliver
I’ll try to talk Ryan into doing it at the fair. I’m guessing that’s what Tina’s plan is?
