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“What’s this for?” she asks, eyebrows drawn in.
Rather than take his seat, Finn pushes his chair back a few feet and drops to his knee, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a glittering engagement ring. Zahra’s hand flies to her chest and she inhales deeply.
Despite wanting to look away, I force myself to watch as a good friend should.
“Zahra, I’ve never been happier than I have been since we met, and I don’t want to waste any time before I let you know that I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. Nothing could make me happier. Will you be my wife?”
I steal a glance at Kenzie and gone is the anxiety from earlier, replaced with a huge smile and a twinkle in her eye.
“Of course I will. Oh, Finn.” She wraps her arms around his neck, pulling him in.
The rest of us clap, and as soon as Finn has slipped the ring onto Zahra’s finger, Kenzie is the first to get out of her chair.
“Congratulations, you guys.” Kenzie pulls her brother in for a hug, then does the same to Zahra. When they separate, she takes Zahra’s hand to check out the ring, then looks over her shoulder at Finn. “Good job, brother.”
I have to swallow a couple of times before I’m able to stand and offer them my congratulations. My jaw is tight as I hug Finn and give him a few pats on the back. “Congratulations, mate.”
He pulls back with a smile wider than the English Channel.
I’m happy for my friend, but it’s hard not to remember when I was the one who thought he had the world at his feet.
I give Zahra my best wishes.
“I have to call my parents!” Zahra’s hand is pressed to her heart as though it’s beating too fast.
“Let’s video call them together from my computer,” Finn says.
“Perfect.” She kisses him square on the lips, then pulls away with her hand on his cheek.
My stomach revolts again, feeling as if it’s a towel being twisted and wrung dry.
“Would you mind if we join you?” Katherine asks. “We’ve not yet met your parents, and well, they are about to become family.”
Zahra looks pleased that Finn’s mum seems so eager to envelop her family into their own. The four of them head out of the living room and down the hall toward the office, leaving Kenzie and me by ourselves.
“I take it this is why my brother asked you to be here tonight?”
I turn around to face her. “Maybe it’s my charming personality?”
She rolls her eyes. “Please. A cobra has more charm than you.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Did you know about the proposal?”
I hear the hurt in her voice, as if she feels betrayed I didn’t tell her Finn’s plan for tonight.
I nod. “I did. But he swore me to secrecy.”
“And that’s why you didn’t give me a heads-up that you’d be here so we could get our stories straight before being in front of my brother?” She crosses her arms and juts her hip out to one side.
I know it’s an indication that she’s mad at me, but my cock doesn’t get the message because it stirs. “I knew if I told you I’d be here, you’d want to know why. Then I’d have to outright lie to you, or you’d get it out of me. Neither option seemed ideal.”
“You don’t think withholding information is the same as lying?”
I step closer to her. “I think what I did was the lesser of two evils.”
Her gaze roams my face for a beat. “For the record, I’m not upset that you didn’t tell me about the proposal. That I understand. But knowing that you’d be here would’ve been good so we could figure out how to deal with my brother.”
