Page 132 of Scoring Eden

“A ring?” He blinks up at me.

I shove my hands into my pockets and rock back on my heels. “Yep.”

“You want to know if I think this is cool?”

I nod.

He frowns. “I mean… it’s pretty shiny.”

“Shiny is good.”

“I guess it’s cool.” He shuts the lid, passing the box back to me. “Is it for Mom?”

“Yeah, it’s for your mom. I was thinking about giving it to her…” I pause. “To ask her to marry me.”

Macon’s eyes widen, and I thank the heavens that he gave me back the ring because he definitely would have dropped it if he hadn’t. And our bedroom has hardwood floors. If it had fallen through one of the slats, who knows where it would have ended up.

“You’re gonna ask Mom to marry you?” There’s a breath of awe in his voice.

Or, at least, I hope that’s what I’m detecting.

“Well, that’s what I wanted your opinion on. Whether or not you’d think it would be cool for me to do that.”

“Are you serious?” He leaps toward me, throwing his arms around me and bouncing on his feet. “That would be the coolest thing ever! Are you gonna give it to her now?”

“No.” I laugh. “I was thinking later tonight once everyone has left. Think you can help me do it?”

He nods so vigorously, I fear he’s going to give himself whiplash. “What do I need to do?”

“I’ll tell you the plan later, but we should probably rejoin the party before your mom comes looking for us and ruins the surprise.”

“You’re right.” He sprints back out to the hallway, considers something, then dashes straight back to me. “Does this mean you’re gonna be like my dad?”

God, I hope not. I don’t ever want to be like Sebastian.

“What do you mean?”

“Like, do I call you Dad now? Or still Uncle Alex?”

Oh.

Man, I love this kid.

“You can call me whatever you want, buddy.”

“Okay.” He grins. “I’ll think about it.”

I watch him throughout the rest of the night, the flicker of excitement in his eyes and the smile on his face that never dims for even a moment. He tells us for the thousandth time about when he got to be principal for the day, but he doesn’t breathe a word of what he knows to anyone. They could read it on his face, though, if they knew what they were looking for.

Eden, however, remains totally oblivious. She sits beside me through dinner, our hands locked on her lap beneath the table. She doesn’t bat an eye at the long, starstruck looks I give her. She’s used to them by now. And she doesn’t question when Macon excuses himself in the middle of dessert to sprinkle rose petals in the yard outside.

“You have no idea what’s about to happen, do you?” I whisper into her neck, as we say goodbye to the last of our friends and family.

She tilts her head. “What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.” I pull her by the hand toward the back yard.

“If you’re taking me outside for another round of porch swing sex, can it wait until tomorrow?” She yawns. “I’m exhausted.”