Page 116 of Wrapped in Red

Holt:Shit. So is Ezra.

Maverick:Maybe Wyatt and Seth will end up together. Poor Noel will be left alone. That’s kind of sad now that I think about it. Noel’s nice. I want Andy’s future father-in-law to have someone.

Holt:I’m sorry, what? They’re fifteen.

Maverick:I need coffee. Blame it on the lack of caffeine.

Ezra:CC ASKED ME TO MARRY HIM!

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Ezra

Iwent through themotions on Christmas Eve with CC and his parents. I smiled as I opened the presents they gave me, and as always, it was too much. Gift cards to my favorite places, fabric to make clothes, candy, and a couple of new t-shirts from the Tavern. But my heart wasn’t in it. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up that CC was going to ask me to marry him. We hadn’t even been together that long. Maybe he wanted to wait a year or two. That’s what most people did. Only we weren’t most people.

“You’re mad,” he commented as I unlocked the door to my apartment and flipped on the light to step into the kitchen.

I shook my head. “No.”

I wasn’t. I was just sad. Heartbroken, maybe, was the correct word. Did CC want to marry me? Sure, he said he did, but when it came down to it, he was the one who would have to put the ring on my finger.

“Ezra.” CC reached for my hand and tugged me back against his thick chest. “I love you.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“Don’t you love me?” he asked, running the back of his hand over my cheek. “You’re so beautiful.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. The one that had been there since he told me he wasn’t going to propose to me. “Yes, I love you.”

“I’m sorry I upset you, boo.”

“You didn’t.”

CC sighed softly. “You’re lying to me now? It’s Christmas Eve, Ez. I don’t want you to go to bed mad at me.”

“I upset myself, Carson. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up for something I knew wouldn’t happen. I let the WAGS... Never mind.” I tried to untangle myself from his grip, but he held on tight. “I’m tired. I just want to go to sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow.”