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His footsteps move toward me, and he pulls my hand from my eyes. I force them open to see him holding a damp cloth. He dabs it around my mouth and glides it along my collar bone.
My eyes get too heavy to keep open, and they slowly shut, despite my efforts. The damp cloth runs over my chest, and it’s the only thing I can focus on.
“Colter…”
“Shhh.” Colter pushes my hair back and my skin chills with the cloth gone. “Go to sleep, Abi.”
A soft blanket drapes over me, enveloping me in warmth and making it even harder to stay awake. I adjust my left hand, and the heavy weight on it shifts.
“Your ring.”
“It’s cubic zirconia. You can keep it… Keep the jacket too.”
Cubic zirconia.
My lips pull into a smile and a drunken laugh belts from me. I don’t know why I find it so funny, but my chest rumbles with a giggle as I turn on my side and snuggle my head into the couch pillow.
Cubic fucking zirconia. Every time I looked at the thing tonight, all I could see was my old ring haunting me, my old marriage. And it was all in vain.
Devin would never be caught buying something like that. Even for a fake fiance.
My smile falls and my breathing grows heavy. “It’s a little ostentatious for a fake ring, don’t you think?”
“Only the best for you,” he teases.
“I hate it.” I open my heavy lids and hold up my hand to look at the giant rock. “It’s too flashy. I like simple.”
“I’ll keep that in mind next time.” He chuckles and I wonder just how drunk I sound.
I take off the ring and let it fall to the floor. My body sinks into the couch like an anchor, and my eyes drift shut on their own accord.
He picks up the ring and carefully places it on the small table next to the couch.
The last thing I feel before I fall asleep is a pair of warm lips pressed against my forehead.
“Goodnight, Abi.”