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He nods. “I could never bring myself to get rid of it. And now I know it’s because we were always going to find our way back to each other.” His fingers bite into my hips and he pulls me to the edge of the couch. We’re eye-to-eye with my thighs cradling his hips. “I’m yours, Nora. I always have been. Always will be.”
I’m struggling to find the words to convey the gooey mushy center of my heart. I wish I could just give him a peek inside; it’s exploding with color and confetti. There’s sprinkles and glitter. It’s a mess.
Instead, I smile with tears in my eyes and lean forward to nip at his bottom lip. “Mine,” I whisper before pulling away so I can slide the ring onto my finger. It’s a perfect fit.
Derek ruins the moment by grimacing down at my hand. “Damn, it’s small. I forgot I didn’t have money back then. We can get you a new one tomorrow,” he’s saying while reaching for my hand, but I hold it away from him.
“No way! I want this one.”
He goes for it again. “You can wear this one on your other hand. Let me get you a new one.”
“Absolutely not. This one is perfect. And if you take it, I’ll scream.” I scramble away, standing on the couch to evade him, but he stands too—nearly eye level with me without having to stand on a cushion. He’s laughing.
“I can make you scream if that’s what you want…but I’d prefer it be my name over and over again.”
I gape. “What a dirty mouth you have, sir.”
He leans closer to lace kisses up my neck and I secretly eye my ring over his shoulder as he does.
A minute later, as Derek has me pinned to the couch and is just about to remove my shirt, the front door bursts open. He groans and drops his head into the crook of my neck as the song “Kiss Me” plays loudly over someone’s cellphone.
“Y’all thought you had the evening all to yourselves to make luvvv, didn’t you?” Jamal laughs one loud laugh and points to our position on the couch. “Wrong!” His wife, Tamara, just waves as she takes an armload of snacks into the kitchen along with Lawrence’s wife, Cora—clearly already used to the way things are done in this friend group.
“Get out!” Derek yells, but no one listens.
Instead, Nathan comes up to the couch and smiles. “Sucks being interrupted, doesn’t it? Payback is a bitch. Where do you want me to put this cake? Bree had us stop and get it at the store on the way here. Said you’d probably propose. And…” He peeks over Derek’s shoulder at my hand. “Bree Cheese!” he yells back at his wife. “You were right. He gave her the ring.”
We hear Bree’s squeal before we see her. And then she’s running into the house and jumping on the couch with us like it’s a dog pile.She wraps her arms around both of us and squeezes. It’s delightful. “Ah! I knew it! What a good day.”
Price and his wife come through the front door next, kicking off their shoes and setting the car seat with Jayla inside on the floor.
“Maybe if we stay very, very still, they won’t see us and they’ll all go away,” Derek mumbles in my ear—his voice still dark with unresolved desire.
Bree pops over his shoulder with a wide smile and whispers, “Not a chance.” But then she pushes off the couch and stands with a wicked gleam in her eye when she sees her husband and waves him toward her.
“Besides,” she says as Nathan walks up to her and wraps a possessive arm around her waist, pulling her up close to him for whatever she’s planning to say next. “Since it seems like the perfect day for big revelations and truth bombs, I thought I’d go ahead and share with you all that…I’m pregnant.”
Derek and I both sit up quickly, ready to cheer for them with the rest of the group when we all seem to notice Nathan’s face at once. His shocked face. And that’s when we realize…Bree hasn’t told him yet.
“Surprise,” she says, looking up at him with so much love and tenderness it feels as if the entire room has just been blanketed with sunshine. “We’re having a baby, Nathan.”
“Bree…” He blinks and looks for all the world like he’s just been crowned king. His jaw flexes and his nose wrinkles, as he tries and fails to keep his emotions at bay. And then he’s taking her face in his hands and kissing her as they both cry. We’re all crying. Even Derek is rapidly blinking back moisture.
“Aw—hell no!” says Jamal, wiping his eyes and then taking his wife’s hand and pulling her toward the front door. “We gotta go, love.”
I blink at the door after they disappear through it. “Where are they going?”
“I’m guessing to make a baby,” Derek says with a grimace. “Jamal hates to be left out of group events.”
“Group events?” My eyes widen at Derek, and I scoot away from him meaningfully. “Don’t get any funny ideas, Pender.”
“Oh—I’ve got ideas,” he says, pulling me from the couch and hoisting me over his shoulder. “But all of them include protection, don’t you worry.” He carries me to the stairs.
“Derek! All our friends are here! You’re not being a hostess with the mostess!”
His laugh rumbles through my body as he continues carrying me up the stairs. “And those friends have exactly sixty seconds to get out of my house if they don’t want to hear some things.”
And approximately sixty seconds later, we hear the front door slam—leaving Derek and me alone in our home.
