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Vince
If I was nervous to tell Leo, I’m a basket case doing this. I spoke with Veronica on the phone and already told my parents. But this? Fuck, things are finally better. I don’t want to screw this up. I push open the door to The Pit. I specifically came here early so we could talk before they open.
Braden is standing at the front counter, messing with the computer. He stops when he hears the bell on the door and looks up. “Hey, man. What’s up?”
I don’t say anything, I just walk straight to the counter. “I need to talk to you about something.”
He squints at me, scrunching up his face. “What’s the matter with you? Why are you being all weird and twitchy?”
Wow, I have got to cool my shit.
I take a breath and channel some calm confidence. “Sorry,” I say, voice smoother now. “But I do need to talk to you. And this is… big. But I feel like I owe you this much.”
“Okay. Well, stop being weird and tell me.”
“I’m going to propose to Maia.”
He stops moving and stares at me, expressionless, other than intense eyes, as he takes me in. After a full minute of that, he drops my gaze and says, “Cool.”
Now I’m staring at him. “Cool?”
“Yeah.”
He goes back to tapping at the computer as I gape at him. Then, when he can’t take it anymore, his face breaks into a smile and he starts laughing. “You should see your face.”
“Wow. I’m so glad I took this seriously. Clearly, it’s important to you.”
His laughter stops and he looks at me seriously. “I appreciate you coming to talk to me. I’m not going to pretend it’s easy for me to hear. I don’t think it’s ever easy to hear about your ex—the mother of your child—moving on. But I’m happy for you guys. And I’m really lucky that you… take care of them, but still respect who I am to them. That matters to me.” He pauses and clears his throat. I think we’re both pretty well over heavy emotional moments after the last year. “When are you going to do it?”
“When we go on the ski trip in a few weeks. I’m working on planning it out with everyone.”
“The parents already know?” he asks with a smirk.
“Yep. Really wasn’t sure how Leo was going to react to that.”
“Oh please, he’s always loved you. And he trusts Maia.” He starts laughing again. “Thank God she said no to me.”
Shit.I forgot that was even a thing. “What did you even say to her? She never told me. Just that you proposed—or tried to?”
“Not much. I think I got out her name before she yanked me off the floor. Definitely for the best, though. I had no business doing that. Anyway, your secret is safe with me. And as long as she doesn’t immediately pull you upright, you’ll probably get a yes.”
“Oh God. Thank you so much for that.”
“Anytime.”
“So, we’re good?”
“Yeah, we’re good.”
We look at each other for a moment.
“It feels like this is the part where we should hug.”
He nods slowly. “Probably.”
Slowly and awkwardly, we start with a bro hug before giving in and actually hugging each other—something long overdue with all we’ve been through.
As we step apart, he opens his mouth to say something, but his phone goes off first. His eyes dart to it immediately.
