Page 84 of Vegas Heat: The Expansion Team Complete Series

The day drags. I left the stadium around five, went home, and changed, and it’s only six. I have two more hours to be nervous. Two more hours to let the tension build. Two more hours to wonder why my father would possibly want both Cooper and me at dinner.

There’s only one possibility.

He found out. He’s going to confront us.

I’m not sure why he’d pick his favorite restaurant to do that, but maybe it’s because he wants a good meal after he blows up at the two of us.

Our relationship is still relatively new. My father hasn’t had to discipline me. He hasn’t had to show disappointment in me. In the few years we’ve gotten to know one another, I’ve been an adult acing my college classes. The worst he’s had to deal with was a few drunken nights, and even then, I wasn’t exactly out of control.

But this…this is something different. This is something he surely disapproves of. This is something I’ve done that might disappoint him, and I’m not sure how to handle that.

I take a shot of vodka to calm my nerves, but it doesn’t help. And wouldn’t you know it? Cooper walks into the kitchen as I slam my shot glass down.

He chuckles as he watches me. “Nervous?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Both the shot and the shaky hands give you away. Need me to do something to calm you down?” He eyes me salaciously, and I set my hand on my hip as I purse my lips and cock my head at him. He chuckles. “Not that , although now that you mention it…”

I smack him in the arm.

“I meant some deep breathing exercises. Or you could just, you know, get drunk. I’m sure that’ll help.”

“Cute, smart guy.” I roll my eyes. “Why do you think he wants both of us to be there?”

He shrugs. “We’ll find out in a couple hours.”

“Aren’t you nervous?” I demand.

He shakes his head. “Not really.”

“Dude, you’re the one who ended things with me because you didn’t want him to know. And now I think he might know and you’re not freaking out?”

He chuckles. “I’m not freaking out. What good would that do? We already agreed we’re going to tell him tonight anyway, right? So maybe he found out first. Either way, we should get ready to celebrate. We won’t have to hide this anymore.”

Maybe he’s right. I blow out a breath, slam another shot of vodka, and stare at the clock until eight inches closer.

We decide to go together since we’ll certainly be leaving together, and I spot my dad’s Bentley in the parking lot. Cooper pulls in beside it, and I draw in a deep breath as I wring my fingers together.

“Hey,” he says quietly. He reaches over and squeezes my hands. “It’ll be fine. Whatever happens, it’ll be fine.”

I blink a few times and nod, and then we get out of the car, my heart pounding in my chest.

The hostess takes us to the table where my dad and Joanie are already sitting. It’s a booth, and the two of them sit on one side while Cooper slides onto the other side and I’m forced to sit next to him.

A table with four chairs might’ve served us better. Now we’ll be stuck beside one another once we break the news, and he’ll surely stare us down as he contemplates his next move.

Why am I so scared of him?

Oh, right. Because he’s a big, powerful man, and he’s my dad, and I’m terrified of disappointing him the way I’ve disappointed my mother my entire life.

He’s not like her , a tiny voice in my head reminds me.

The hostess takes our drink orders, and as she walks away, I see my dad is grinning at the two of us.

“I’m so glad you’re both here,” he begins warmly. He glances over at Joanie, who’s also smiling. Does she know, too? I mean, I had my suspicions that she knew, but this would confirm it.

I clear my throat, and I open my mouth to just get on with it, to get the words out, to confess so we can move forward, but my dad continues before I fully get the words out. At the same time I begin, “Cooper and I—” my dad announces, “I asked Joanie to marry me, and she accepted.”

I gasp, my hand flying to my chest. “You…you what ?”

Joanie holds up her hand to show off a huge, sparkling, pear-shaped diamond set in a platinum band .

I gasp again, my heart racing as recognition dawns.

I’ve seen that ring before. It was in the back of Cooper’s underwear and sock drawer. I shouldn’t have been looking.

It wasn’t Cooper’s ring.

It’s my dad’s ring.

For Joanie.

Cooper was holding onto it for him.

Holy. Shit.

Seeing that ring in Cooper’s drawer was the cornerstone of my decision to move things along with him. I decided I was ready for marriage, ready for kids, ready for all of it if it means I get to have it with him even though I fully realize I’m young to be making these sorts of decisions.

But the ring wasn’t even for me.

It was for Joanie.

The ring wasn’t even Cooper’s.

It was my dad’s.

My jaw hangs open as these facts plow into me.

How close are my dad and Cooper, exactly?

“I wanted my baby girl and my best friend to be the first to know,” my dad says.

Oh. So pretty damn close, then.

“Gabby, I’d love for you to be my maid of honor,” Joanie says.

“Oh, of course!” I manage, still reeling from the shock of it all. I slide out of the booth to give them both hugs.

“And Cooper, I’d love for you to be my best man,” my dad requests. Cooper slides out of the booth, too, and then it’s hugs and congratulations and handshakes and I’m definitely starting to feel the whiplash of the last few hours as the truth dawns on me.

He still doesn’t know.

That’s not why we’re here tonight.

I exhale a long, calming breath as Cooper and I hug, too.

“Not tonight,” he murmurs softly in my ear, and I nod discreetly in agreement.

Not tonight.

But if not tonight…then when?