Page 57 of Revelation (The Josh & Kat Trilogy #2)

Jonas suddenly looks like he’s been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Uh.” His face turns bright red. “Fuck. Josh is gonna kill me. That’s supposed to be a surprise.

” He runs his hand through his hair. “Just pretend I never said anything. My name is Blane. You look even better than your online profile. I don’t drink.

I’m a professional baseball player. I’m boring. ”

I squeal. “Josh is so sneaky-freaky-deaky. I thought he was coming into town on Saturday , did he tell you that? He’s meeting my family.” I squeal again, overwhelmed with excitement. “He’s such a sneaky little fucker.”

“Shit. Kat. Stop it. He’s gonna kill me. I’m Blane. I’m boring. You look better than your online profile. Gah.”

I put out my hand, laughing. “Nice to meet you, Blane. I’m super-duper excited about our boring date.

Let’s go.” I step outside and lock my door and we begin walking down the pathway toward the front of my building.

Well, actually, Jonas is walking—I’m careening down the walkway a good five paces ahead of him, my heart exploding with joy.

“Hey, Kat. Real quick. Hang on.”

I stop sprinting.

“Before I’m stuck being Boring Blane for the rest of the night,” Jonas says, “can I be Boring Jonas for a minute? There’s something I wanna ask you about.”

“Sure, Boring Jonas—bore away.”

Boring Jonas takes a deep breath and pulls a ring box out of his pocket. “Do you think Sarah’s gonna like this?” He opens the ring box and I’m blinded by the most spectacular rock I’ve ever seen. “Or should I have gotten bigger?” he asks.

My knees literally buckle. “Holy shitballs, Jonas. It’s flippin’ gorgeous! ”

“You think she’ll like it?”

“ Like it? She’s gonna sob like a baby with overflowing love for it! It’s jaw-dropping. Glorious. Fabulous. Beyond .”

“But would you go so far as to call it ‘ magnificent ’?”

I laugh. “Absolutely. That’s exactly what it is. Magnificent .”

“Phew. It’s big enough?”

“Jonas, any bigger and her knuckles would drag on the ground.”

He exhales in obvious relief and shuts the box. “Okay. Thank you.” He runs his hand through his hair again. “I’ve been losing my mind lately, thinking about getting this right. Josh says this is the story Sarah will be telling her grandchildren one day so I’d better not fuck it up.”

“Josh said that?”

“Yeah.”

“Josh said, ‘This is the story Sarah will tell her grandchildren’ ?” I ask, my chest tight.

“Yep. That’s exactly what he said.”

“Wow,” I say. “That’s an incredibly romantic thing to say.

” I clutch my chest, trying to get ahold of myself.

“I didn’t know Josh was capable of saying something so.

.. epic .” My heart is suddenly slamming against my chest bone, banging mercilessly, trying to lurch out of its cage.

I can’t fathom Josh assuming children and grandchildren for Jonas and Sarah.

That’s so... futuristic of him. “Well, yeah, Josh is right,” I manage.

“Sarah will most definitely be telling your future grandchildren about your proposal one day.”

Jonas grimaces.

“But the good news is that you can’t fuck it up no matter what you do. As long as you speak from your heart, whatever you say will be grandchildren-worthy, I promise.”

We begin walking down the pathway toward the street again.

“God, I hope you’re right,” Jonas says. “I’ve been making myself sick, planning this whole elaborate speech in my head, trying to get it exactly right.”

I wave my hand in the air. “You’re overthinking it. Just tell her how you feel and she’ll be thrilled. All that matters at times like these is that you tell the one you love how you feel, straight from your heart. Keep it simple.”

We’ve reached Jonas’ car on the street in front of my building. He opens my door for me and I settle myself inside the car .

“Thanks, Kat,” Jonas says. “I think you’re right. I’ll keep it simple and straight from the heart. Nothing too elaborate.”

“There you go. That’s all any girl could ever hope for in a marriage proposal—a simple declaration of love from the man of her dreams.”

Jonas shoots me an adorable look that clearly says, “ Oh my God, I’m really gonna do this. ”

“You’ll do great,” I say.

He shuts my door and walks around the car to the driver’s side.

I think this is the first time I’ve ever chatted with Jonas alone, just him and me, with no one else around.

No, wait. That’s not true. This is the second time.

The first was at Jonas’ house the morning after The Club broke into my apartment—the morning after I first laid eyes on Jonas’ sexy-as-sin brother.

Wow, that feels like a lifetime ago. What did I say to Jonas that morning, standing in his kitchen?

“Sarah thinks you’re in love with her, Jonas.

Don’t crush her .” I roll my eyes at myself.

Yet another whiz-bang example of my amazing ability to sense a man’s true intentions.

Jonas settles into his car seat and turns on the engine.

“So, I gotta tell you, Blane ,” I say. “I don’t have high hopes for a second date. It’s a really bad sign when a guy asks for advice on how to propose to another girl on a first date.”

Jonas laughs. “Sorry. From here on out, I promise to focus all my energy on boring you to tears.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate that.”

Jonas pulls his car into traffic. “In fact, you know what I’ll do?” he says, grinning. “ I’ll bore the pants off you .” He snickers.

My stomach clenches. “Josh told you everything, didn’t he?” I choke out.

Jonas laughs gleefully. “Nope. Josh gave me absolutely no details, just like I said. But I’m not a complete idiot, Kat, despite appearances.

If me showing up at your apartment and handing you a fucking poker chip doesn’t somehow lead to you and Josh fucking in the bathroom, then I don’t know what would be the fucking point. ”

I cover my face with my hands.

Jonas laughs again. “Aw, come on, Kat. It’s just me—and I’m a huge fan of bathroom fuckery, believe me. Besides, what do you care what I think? I’m Blane . I’m the boring guy you’ll never see again. ”

I laugh and look out my car window for a long moment, letting the blush in my cheeks subside. “So where are we going, Blane?”

“A bar near my house called The Pine Box. Are you familiar with it?” He’s got a wicked grin on his face.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I am. My best friend and I once went to The Pine Box to spy on this guy she really liked.”

“You spied on him, huh? What was he doing?”

“Hitting on another girl.”

“Ooph. Sounds like an asshole.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. But I’ve since learned he’s a total sweetheart. Best guy, ever. And a perfect match for my best friend, too. I couldn’t be happier for them.”

I look over at Jonas and he’s absolutely beaming with joy. God, he’s such a cutie, I can’t stand it. I wanna roll him in glitter and glue and hang him on my fridge.

He looks at me, his face bursting with happiness. “You’re definitely way cooler than your online profile, Kat.”