“Nah. FaceTime.”
I turn my head to rest my chin on his chest. “You just got here, and you want to talk about FaceTime.”
“Yeah. I’m fuckin’ sick of it, too.” His obsidian brows lift aggressively. “I’m done with fuckin’ FaceTime. And fuckin’ Facebook video calls. I’m really,reallyover this shit. And I don’t really want to call or text, or any of thatshit either.”
He’s become visibly agitated, which worries me a little. “I get that. I really do. Which is why I’m glad you’re here.”
“I didn’t want you to leave in the first place,” he goes on, “I have no use for a long-distance relationship. That shit doesn’t work.”
I shift my eyes. He’s angry. And I’m not sure why because I was under the impression we were going to deal with the distance as soon as I’m feeling a little better and the world gets a little more back to normal.
“Okay…” I prompt carefully.
Lucky doesn’t say anything and just stares at me for a second. His cobalt eyes are full of trepidation, and his throat pulses with a swallow.
“I mean, we’ll figure out something, right?” I add. “Like, that’s the plan. Right?”
“Yeah, I got a plan,” he clips. “I have a plan. I need to talk to you about this plan immediately.”
I squint. “Are you okay? What’s your plan? Is it bad?”
“I—” His eyes slide to the right and back to my face. “No…?”
I raise my eyebrows. “No? Is that a question?”
“No...I mean...yes, there’s a question, but that’s not it.”
I peer more closely at him. “So what’s the question?”
He aggressively pulls his lips between his teeth; so hard that it looks like he’s hurting himself. I can feel his heart rate going wild under my hands.
“You’re starting to freak me out, Lucky.”
“Well,I’mfreaking out, Ava.”
My eyes widen. “What are you freaking out about?”
He stares at me for a second then tilts his head back and closes his eyes. He exhales long and loudly, and then shifts me slightly on his chest as he starts fumbling in his pocket. A second later, while his face is still tilted toward the ceiling and his eyes are still closed, he holds his clenched palm in front of me.
I stare at his white-knuckled grip on whatever he’s holding out to me. “That better not be a spider or something.”
He looks at me and squints. “Why the hell would I hand you a spider?”
“I don’t know, you said you were freaking out. The thing that would freak me out more than anything else would probably be pranking someone with a spider in my hand.”
He gives me a deadpan look. “It’s not a spider, Ava doll.” He takes another deep breath and cuts his eyes to look away as he opens his hand. “And it’s not a prank.”
There’s a ring sitting in his palm.
A beautiful ring with an authentic, vintage art deco design. It has a large, bezel-set oval center diamond, surrounded by eight petal-shaped emeralds and outlined with a curvaceous border of smaller diamonds, all cut in a distinctly 1920s style. The platinum band is engraved all the way around with a sweeping, elegant filigree.
It is one-hundred-percent an engagementring, and that’s what he’s freaking out about.
As if I’m going to say no.
My brows knit together, and a smile forces its way across my face. “Oh,Lucky.”
“I’ll rent out the Jazz Manor if you don’t wanna live there,” he says hastily, still not looking at me. “I’ll move here if that’s what you want. Or we can find another place somewhere else. Like, anywhere you want. We could go to L.A. or New York. Y’know, like you were telling me. You always wanted to try to get into producing shows, and I know a lot of people in the biz on both coasts. We could make it happen if you want. There’s nothing holding back something like that.” He pauses. “I mean, except this fuckin’ pandemic.” He finally looks at me, his expression taut with urgency and anxiety. “But, I mean, after this is over, we can do anything or go anywhere. And I’m ready to do anything and go anywhere just to make you happy and help you make all your wildest dreams come true. I already had a dream and made it a reality. I just needed to get off the streets and make sure I never ended up there again. I did that already. So I’m ready to work on a new dream.” He sweeps my hair away from my face with his free hand. “Yours. Whatever it is. Because the only thing I’m dreaming of anymore is being yours forever. If you’ll have me.”
