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I gape, trying to find words. The box on my knee might as well be a thousand pounds, pinning me in place. I can’t speak, I can’t move…I can’t think.What is this?
“Nathan, I?—”
“Let’s not do the awkward dance of you refusing them, me insisting, you refusing again, me threatening your job. We’ll still get to the same end result.”
His domineering assholery sobers the moment. “Being?” I ask.
He grins. “My way.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re like a defective Sour Patch Kid. Sour on the outside, and then just more sour on the inside.”
“Maybe so. Just wait until I leave before you open those.”
“Why?”
“So I don’t have to see the disappointment on your face if you don’t like them.” He turns to leave.
“Nate, wait.” I scoop up the flat box, cradling it to my chest. “No one has ever bought me jewelry before.”
“But you said you were engaged.”
I shake my head. “No ring. Just promises.Brokenpromises.”
“You’re kidding me,” he almost whispers. Returning to my side, he kneels down in front of me. He gathers the box from me and opens the lid, revealing a pair of beautiful pink diamond studs. “I’m glad you left him. Don’t settle for a guy who tells you he loves you. Choose one who shows you.”
He leaves me speechless. Not just because of these precious earrings, probably worth more than I’ll ever care to know. But it’s the thought behind it. Is this Nathan showing me…more? Does he think about me as much as I think about him?
“Thank you.” I can barely manage the words. I think I said them. If nothing else, I screamed it from my mind.
“I could’ve gone bigger, but I thought these would fit you better. I know you’re not into ostentatious things. Sometimes the rarest beauty shines brightest in subtlety.”
“You should go. It looks borderline gory when I ugly-cry. I don’t want you to see me like that.” I sniffle hard to convey my point.
Nathan laughs lightly. He slowly rises, as if reluctant to leave my side. But when Charlie shouts, “Ready!” at the top of her lungs from the living room, the moment’s over. All the unspoken words fall between us as the spell breaks and the haze is lifted.
He pauses one more time near the door, looking over his shoulder. “And just to clear the air—when it comes to fishing, I’m a catch-and-keep kind of guy.”
Disappearing from the doorway, Nathan leaves me confused for the briefest moment. Then, it dawns on me. It wasn’t arestless Spike I heard earlier. It was Nathan entering the house. He must’ve heard every word, including when I told Charlie,on Mom, how much I really do like him.
27
Nathan
Charlie and Spencer have been living with me for almost two weeks, and sharing the internet, so now my entire social media feed is guinea pig advice. It’s a living nightmare. All the hairy pigs on my screen, I mean. Not the part about having company at home. That’s been heaven.
Since Spencer and Charlie moved in, I’ve been treating every night like it’s an eleven-year-old’s birthday party. We’ve done pizza by the pool almost nightly. Crumbl cookie deliveries every other day. To my great pleasure, Spencer actually ate with us. She’s smiling more. Her sass has skyrocketed, but that might just be because we’re getting more quality time with each other. I think snark is her native tongue. My favorite part is the earrings she hasn’t taken out of her ears since I gifted them.
She keeps saying she loves how beautifully understated they are. In a way, I agree. They are a subtle pink, each earring barely over a carat. What she doesn’t realize is these are natural pink diamonds from one of the most revered rare-jewelry providers in the world. There’s about fifty thousand dollars sitting in each of her ears. It’s probably best she doesn’t know that. She’d have a heart attack.
Charlie’s also a freaking riot. She has a sharper mouth than her sister, but a heart just as sweet. We have a standing cereal date every morning before she goes off to school. We’ve become cereal connoisseurs, ranking all the top contenders by flavor, crunch, and most importantly, sog-resistance. Well, important to me. Charlie likes her cereal to look like pig slop.
After glancing over to Spencer’s empty desk, I check the time. Almost nine. She drops Charlie off by seven fifty-five. Her school is about ten minutes away. We’ve been drinking coffee at home together. This morning, after telling me she felt extra exhausted, she downed three cups, so I know she’s not on a latte run.Where the hell is she?
Me
I have some concerns about Spike’s rodent ball.
Spencer