Clarissa: True. See you tonight. Fill me in then.
She put her phone away and stepped out of the elevator with the group. Before she could hunt for Roan, he was already at her side.
Then he held out his hand to hers without a word, his eyes searching her face.
Worth it.
She took his hand, and off they went.
CHAPTER 20
Later that evening, Roan was concentrating on being the best boyfriend ever and not destroying her birthday party by dragging his girlfriend to the bedroom.
Thus far, only one set of his guests had arrived: Willow and her boyfriend, Drew Crozier. Simone had turned him down flat since she ‘avoided couple events like measles.’ Lillian Hernandez and her boyfriend were running late, and Abigail and her husband said their babysitter hadn't shown up, so they'd be late too.
Post-call, he hadn’t had an opportunity to touch Clarissa because Willow and Drew had arrived around when she’d woken up. The two women had secluded themselves in his bedroom with infuriating giggles. Willow had said a few words about epic party style before closing them out.
This new arrangement left Roan and Drew setting up food for the party.
Drew was bustling around the fridge, removing the label from the cupcakes, and opening a container of humus. “Did you ever think we’d be doing this?”
“Double dating? Quadruple dating?” Roan laid out brightly colored pink and turquoise napkins on the dining room table next to the cake Drew had brought from Giant Eagle. Kosher diary so the Mollas could have some.
He glanced down the hallway, hoping Clarissa and Willow would reappear soon.
“Paired up and domesticated.” Drew opened a package of crackers to go with the humus.
“Domestic?” Roan started to make a joke, until he saw Willow and Clarissa emerge from the hallway.
The ladies wore giddy smiles, phones in hand, but Roan only saw Clarissa, dressed in a pink blouse with turquoise sock-hop inspired skirt with tights. She’d gone the extra mile by adding pink ribbons to her pigtails, and the surge of emotion temporarily robbed him of speech as she did a slow twirl.
It wasn’t the clothes. For a moment, he was back in the NICU, where she’d been holding that baby. She’d radiated sweetness and contentment, the culmination of what was superimposed on the limitless future of what could be.
Had Willow and Drew not been in attendance, he’d have thrown her down and made real his overwhelming urge to faux put a baby of his in her belly.
Roan was trying to pay attention to what Drew was saying but was distracted by the careless way Clarissa flipped her pigtails over her shoulders while talking animatedly with her roommate. The two women had their phones in hand, texting and chatting about something.
Drew pushed him on the shoulder. “You’re doing it again.”
“What ‘it’?” Roan forced his mind back to the task of finding plates.
“Being dazzled. Whenever she’s in sight, nothing else exists. For a guy as stoic as you, it’s adorable,” Drew told him.
“Adorable? You’d better watch your step.” Roan raised his eyebrows, pretending to threaten Drew with the cake knife.
“Not adorable. Aspirational.” Drew picked up the wrapped square box on the other end of the table next to his and Willow’s present. “Does this have a ring and a bended knee?”
His suggestion made Roan's heart do a weird little flop. Probably premature arterial contraction.
“It's been two months since we filed papers.” But Drew wasn’t wrong. Roan was fixated, and he couldn’t even find a shred of embarrassment for his constant staring.
Like she’d sensed his gaze, Clarissa glanced up, her brown eyes drawing him in.
Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine, his inner monologue chanted.
Whatever it took. Whatever ring of hell he’d have to walk through to keep her, he’d do it.
“Not today? Well, what do you think about me and Willow?” Drew kept trying to shift his attention.
