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These thoughts bounced around my head until the saleswoman rung us up. When I saw how many digits were on the screen, my stomach sank.
“Levi,” I said lowly, grabbing his arm. “Are you sure about this?”
He turned to me with a smile. “Surer than anything else.”
After the ringwas sent off for resizing, I desperately needed to be somewhere thatwasn’tfancy, which was how we ended up at Prince’s Hot Chicken.
I loved bringing people here. I loved to suffer with spicy food, and it usually broke any barriers whatever person I was with had. This time, though, I just craved the familiar burn.
We were at a different location on the south side of Nashville. I’d been to them all, and each of them had the same flavorful chicken I’d come to know and love. I remembered when I brought Lily to the original location, and she’d been horrified when she saw how spicy my chicken was.
In the boom of Nashville’s housing market, I was happy to see that Prince’s grew in the same way everything else had. This location was more spacious and even had live music on the weekends.
“I’ll have the extra-hot breast quarter.”
I was sure the woman at the front had heard people fly too close to the sun with their hot chicken. “We don’t do refunds if it’s too hot.”
“It’s fine. I know what I’m getting into.”
“I’ll do the same,” Levi added.
“Oh, that’s—” I tried to warn him, but he put his card down before I could say anything else.
Oh well. It was his funeral, after all. I knew about his little competitive streak, but seeing it was totally different.
Hopefully, he learned his lesson.
“You do realize that they’re serious about the no refund thing, right?” I asked.
“Do I look like I care about the price of one meal?”
I shrugged. “Some rich people are penny-pinchers. Though after how much money you blew on a ring for afakemarriage, I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Took the words right out of my mouth.”
“Still, when they say it’s hot, they mean it.”
“I like spicy food.”
“Hot chicken is on another level.”
“I’m sure I’ll survive.”
“I’m just saying. Most people start with the mild and work their way up.”
“Is that what you did?”
“No, I jumped straight into the hot and regretted everything. It’s taken years to get where I am now. Years and tears.”
“If you cry while you eat this, I won’t judge.”
“Ifyoucry while you eat this, I definitelywilljudge.”
He laughed as we filled our drinks. We sat in the corner.
“All right, so we have a ring,” I said lowly. “All we need is a dress and to go to the courthouse.”
“We’re not going to the courthouse,” he said. “I said we weren’t eloping earlier and I meant it. We’re having a wedding.”