"I don't get it," I said. "When you guys showed up, you seemed to be getting along just fine." Under my breath, I added, "Sort of."
"We were," Joel said. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna trust him."
I bit my lip, thinking of what Luna had told me during her recent visit. She'd asked me to tell Joel a secret, something that Joel should've heard years ago.
I glanced around. Wasnowthe time? After a long, jumbled moment, I decided that it probably wasn't. The plan was to tell Joel in private, not blab it while Jake could walk in at any time.
I tried to smile. "Let's talk about it later, okay?" I hadn't quite given up. It was more of a strategic retreat. In the back of my mind, I was still thinking. Maybe we talk upstairs for a few minutes?
Joel moved closer, and his expression softened. "Listen, forget my brothers, alright? There's something I want to ask you."
There were things that I wanted to ask him, too. But even though Joel and I were the only ones in the kitchen, it still didn't feel like we were alone. Reluctantly, I said, "Should we wait until later?"
"Probably," he said. "But I'm not gonna."
"Why not?"
"Because I've waited long enough." He leaned closer. "Fuck waiting."
I paused. "What?"
"I love you. You know that, right?"
Gazing up at him, a wonderful gooey glow settled over my heart. It wasn't the first time tonight that he'd told me that. But the way I saw it, he could tell me a million times over, and I'd never tire of it. I smiled. "I love you, too."
"That other night…" He glanced around. "…right here in this kitchen, come to think of it, I was an ass."
"You were not, at least not any more than I was."
Joel gave a slow shake of his head. "You weren't the one who messed up."
Now, I was shaking my head, too. "It was both of us." Even now, I was beyond embarrassed about the whole thing. "I guess I should've realized that you wouldn't just show up and propose out of the blue." I gave a nervous laugh. "I mean, who does that, right?"
Joel looked at me for a long intense moment. And then, he did something that I totally didn't see coming. He sank slowly to one knee.
I felt myself go very still. "What are you doing?"
He gazed up at me. "Funny, that's the same thing you said the last time."
My heart was pounding, but with what? Joy? Nervousness? Raw, unbridled fear? The last time, everything had ended so very badly, and the thought of a repeat performance was more than I could take. Suddenly, I could hardly breathe. "Seriously, get up, okay?"
"Sorry, not gonna happen." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, red velvet box. And then, he opened it to reveal a massive diamond engagement ring.
I felt my eyes widen. "What's that?"
"You know what it is."
Ididknow, but it looked well beyond anything that Joel could afford. And that wasn't even the point. For some reason, I thought of all that teasing from Steve. And before I could even process what I was saying, I said, "You know I'm not pregnant, right?"
"I know." His gaze locked onto mine. "But you're gonna be."
I sucked in a breath. "What?"
The corners of Joel's mouth lifted. "You told me you wanted ten kids."
"Well, yeah, but…"
His eyes filled with mischief. "What? You wanna wait?"
