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She gaped. Shot Rogen a look. Demanded, “I thought you two were done fighting over me.”
“Yeah, well, it was … what’d you call it?” he asked her. “Residual angst?”
“Conflict was the term I used.”
Vin plopped into a seat next to Jewel. Gave her his roguish grin. “Doesn’t hurt, baby. I was just trying to gain a little sympathy from you.”
“Jerk,” she quipped. Then kissed him.
Rogen snickered.
Turning her attention to him, she said, “Did you get out all of your aggression?”
“For the moment.”
“Rogen.”
“Jewel,” he countered. Then leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs, his hands dangling between his parted legs. “The fact is, we all fucked up ten years ago. You should have told me about Vin. I shouldn’t have gloated that you’d just been with me at Trinity. And he should have admitted he was in love with you.”
She sucked in a breath. Whipped her head in Vin’s direction. “You never once uttered those words.”
“Neither did you,” he challenged.
“I was going to,” she assured him. “Prom night.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
“Such idiots,” Rogen said in a light tone, obviously trying to keep the tension from ratcheting. “Tell her about the ring.”
Vin glowered.
Jewel’s heart jumped. “There was a ring?”
Vin merely nodded.
“Like … what kind of ring?” she prompted with bated breath. Not that it mattered today. But she was dying to know.
“The kind that looks like a skating rink on a girl’s finger,” Vin told her.
“Of the engagement variety?” she ventured.
“It would have been a long engagement. Till we got through college. But … yes.”
“Whoa.” She sat back in her seat. Took several minutes to digest. The plane taxied to the runway and then took off. Jewel was still stunned.
Naturally, a million what-ifs wanted to infiltrate her brain. But what was the point in entertaining the idea of her and Vin actually making it to prom that night, saying the words to each other, him going down on one knee, and—
Tears instantly sprang to her eyes. She tossed off her seat belt and stood, rushing down the aisle to the bathroom.
“Jewel!” Rogen called after her. “We haven’t even leveled out yet!”
She didn’t care. She locked herself in the lavatory. Tried to breathe. Tried to stop the flow of tears.
Vin was going to propose.
It wasn’t exactly something she’d put substantial thought into back then. She’d basically operated on a one-step-at-time, even keel. That was how she’d gotten through all the tragedies and losses.
Sure, when she was twelve, thirteen, fourteen, she’d considered Rogen asking for her hand. But then he’d been sent off to Trinity and she’d let that little fairy tale die on the vine. Following that painful experience, Jewel hadn’t considered herself to be happily-ever-after material.
