Page 48 of Size King

“Would you care for anything to drink or eat in the car while we travel?” I offer. “There’s supposed to be a bit of light traffic on the highway.”

“I’m good, thank you,” she says. “Where are we headed for lunch? I ate a light breakfast, just in case.”

“It’s going to be extremely corny, and you’ll probably think I’m the cheapest, laziest shit bastard on the planet,” I begin. “I’m taking us back over to my grandparents’ house for a late lunch. Now, hear me out. I know I’ve already taken you over there, and you probably thought it was really too early to bring you the first time, but they’re my family, and I love them, and I love you, and I want us all to be together.”

She stares at me with her perfect lips quivering, her face puzzled and her hands fidgeting.

“Even though my grandparents aren’t tech savvy and probably won’t hear about our engagement organically,” I say. “I want to be the one to tell them about us being engaged. I don’t want them to hear about it from the news or from some random person.”

“Aiden,” she says firmly. “We do not have to take it this far. I don’t want to lie to your grandparents. I already hated lying to my parents. I don’t want to crush them when… whenever this is over.”

“What if I never want it to be over?”

“Just now, you said you loved me,” says Kate. “Did you mean that?”

“Of course, I did,” I say. “I’ll say it again. I love you. I’m so madly in love with you it hurts. I can’t stress enough to you how scared I am of this. I’m sorry for acting like a schmuck before. I just want us to be together.”

She touches my face. Instantly, we melt together.

“I love you too, Aiden,” she whispers. “I don’t want this to end, either.”

“So, what do we do?” I ask. “Do we pretend we’re already engaged to maintain the lies we’ve been telling this last week?”

“I don’t want you to have to lie to them,” she reiterates.

“They’re both sharp, but I don’t think they’re going to follow our story or logic very well,” I suspect. “The only thing I could think of doing that would make the most sense to them and get them up to speed is if I did this whole ‘fake engagement’ thing right and actually proposed to you. I’ll do it when we’re all together tonight.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” says Kate. “You’re going to propose to me tonight?”

I nod. “Hopefully you’ll say yes.”

“Is it staged and part of our whole thing here?” she asks. “Or are youactuallygoing to propose to me for real?”

“Why don’t we find out?” I say with a wink.

* * *

When we get to my grandparents’house, I take Kate by the hand, give it a kiss, and escort her from my limo to the front door of the house.

The night is wonderful. Even with my grandparents breaking out the photo albums like they promised, we have Shepherd’s pie and steamed vegetables on the side, and I am again the quiet one in the group while anecdotes go around the room.

Before we got out of the limo that night, I had her give me the engagement ring so that they won’t see it right away and start asking questions. I used this opportunity to give her an ultimate switcharoo. Little did she know that I am going to be playing it real. How she responds to my call is entirely up to her.

“Everyone, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like the floor for just a few moments,” I finally say.

“What is it?” Nana asks. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything’s better than all right, Nana,” I assure her. “It’s been getting better every day. Ever since I met you, Kate.”

It’s still heartwarming for me, even though we both know what is coming. We can’t stop smiling at each other because I think we are both becoming aware of what kind of proposal this is shaping up to be.

“I’ve been falling so hard and so fast for you, Kate,” I say as I slowly descend onto one knee. “I feel safe and secure whenever you’re with me. I feel stronger, smarter, and better. I’m ready to share my life with someone I love.”

I pull out a jewelry box that Kate doesn’t recognize and extend it out toward her. Her look of rehearsed surprise is slowly morphing into sincere confusion.

“I’m ready for somethingreal.”

I open the jewelry box and reveal anewengagement ring. This one is completely different in size, shape, and design from the one I’d gotten years ago. She is literally stricken by what she is seeing. She immediately begins to cry.