So, slowly, I start talking.
I tell him about Cassie emailing me all those months ago—nearly two years ago now. About the friendship that sprouted between us. About how certain I am it’s meant to be more than that. Obviously, I skip the private parts, because no one but me and Cassie need to know that.
Finally, when I stop talking, he just thinks for a minute and asked, “You have a plan yet?”
“So what’s the plan?” Jonah asks.
Take another drink of my beer as I contemplate my handsome. “Checked on the boat ride over. If you can take me to the mainland tomorrow morning, I can catch a flight to Houston in the afternoon.”
An expression of obvious distaste flickers across Jonah’s face. “You running?”
“Running? Hell, no. From Houston, it’s a short drive to Saddle Creek, where her parents live and where her brothers are now. I’m gonna ask her dad’s permission to marry her. And then,” I shrug, because I haven’t thought any farther ahead than that. “I guess I head back to California, get my mom’s engagement ring out of the safe deposit box. I can be back here in—” I do the math in my head. “Two days. Three tops.”
I nod to myself as the plan comes together.
She wants proof that I love her? A wedding ring and a proposal should do it.
“Sounds like a plan,” Jonah says quietly, then takes another drink his beer, before rubbing at his mouth of the back of his hand. “If you’re a pussy, that is.”
“What was that?”
“You heard me.” He levels a look at me and speaks slowly, like he thinks I’m a moron besides being a pussy. “Sounds like a plan if you’re a pussy.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re stalling.”
“I’m strategizing.”
“Bullshit. I gave you all afternoon to strategize, and that’s the best you came up with? Don’t forget, I went through BUD/S with you. With five hours to strategize, you could figure out how the storm Buckingham Palace and kidnap one of the Queen’s dogs. So don’t try to tell me asking her dad’s permission to court her is the best you can come up with.”
Well, fuck me.
This is most I’ve heard Jonah say in one sitting. Ever.
“You have a better idea?”
“First off, a woman like doesn’t need you to ask her dad for permission to marry her. She’s not gonna put up with that patriarchal bullshit.”
“I’m trying to do this right”
“Bullshit. You’re stalling.”
“Her brother is my best friend. I spend holidays with her parents.”
He gives me a squinty-eyed look. “This Remy’s sister?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought she looked familiar.” He nods. “You want to do this right? Fine. But don’t waste three days getting stateside to do it.”
“But—”
“I think you’re stalling and acting like—”
“Like a pussy. Yeah, you said that already.”
Jonah levels me with a look like he wants to deck me. “You’re acting like you’re terrified of losing her. Now don’t make me waste my time saying this more than once. You need to get your head out of your ass. If you want to make this right with Remy, then fucking call him. Then get your ass back to her. Stop trying to be the man you think she needs and be the man you are.”
“So, what are you saying? I should go back there now?”
“I have shit to do. I’ll take you back before sunset. If you haven’t figured out how to win her over by then, I’ll take you to the mainland in the morning, because it’ll be too late, anyway.”
