Next to me, Joel said, "If you want, tell him yes. Not a big deal."
I blinked. "You don't mind?"
"What I mind," he said, "is seeing you worry about it."
At this, I had to laugh. "Of course I’m worried. The last time I asked, you practically flipped out."
"Yeah. And you wanna know something?"
"What?"
"If he sends you anywhere dangerous again, I'll domorethan flip out again. The guy's an idiot."
"He is not," I said. "He graduated with honors."
"I don't care if he's a brain surgeon," Joel said. "Sending you to that fight alone? Makes him dumber than a box of rocks."
I bit my lip. "So you're still mad about that?"
"Hell yeah."
"But you'dstillbe willing to give him an autograph?"
He reached out and ran a finger along the side of my cheek. "I would if it made you happy."
Even as I leaned into his touch, I couldn’t resist pushing my luck. "And what about the cheeseburger thing?"
He grinned. "Now, you're pushing it."
"Is that a yes?"
He gave something like a laugh. "You're lucky I love you."
It made me think of Jake and Luna, and I couldn’t help but smile. "Yeah," I said, "I amlucky."
"You know who else is lucky?"
I was still smiling. "Who?"
"Him."
My smile faded. "You mean Mike?"
"Hell yeah."
"You mean to get your autograph?"
"Nah. That's nothing. What I mean is, he's lucky that nothing happened to you that night." His voice softened. "And he's not the only one."
Smiling again, I pulled up my voicemail and listened to Mike's message. Sure enough, it was exactly what I expected. Eager to seal the deal, I called him back and gave him the good news. The next time he was in town, he could swing by, and I'd make good on all of my promises.
Maybe it was a little thing, but it was a big deal to Mike, and an even bigger deal to me, because it was just one more sign that Joel and I had finally put all that confusion behind us.
And soon, we'd be married. Throughout the day, we'd been discussing lots of possibilities – ranging from a big formal affair to a quick getaway in Vegas. Either way, neither one of us wanted to wait.
Joel was especially eager, which made everything that much more wonderful as we began planning for our happily-ever-after.
I was so happy, I felt like telling the whole world. And first, I was dying to tell Cassie. But when I did, her reaction was nothing like what I'd been expecting.