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“Believe me,” I replied. “You don’t need to tell me how pig-headed my brother is. I’ve known him for twenty-four years.”
Lexi laughed and stuck some dough she had made into the oven. “Keep an eye on that, will you?” she asked me.
But before I could reply, the front door burst open and the two men came inside. Dean looked at Lexi and Gabe gazed at me with a smile. I suddenly warmed from my toes to my fingertips and resisted the urge to run and kiss him.
Dean, however, seemed unable to resist this urge because as soon as he caught Lexi’s eyes, he went to her and hugged her.
And then he dropped to one knee.
I covered my mouth with my hands, gasping, as Gabe’s eyes went wide.
“Lexi,” he said, his voice tight with nerves and emotion. “We haven’t known each other that long, and we’ve had even less time together in person. But you caught my eye immediately when we met, and you caught my heart just as quickly. Talking to you every day has been the highlight of my day, every day since then. Your quick wit and willingness to put me in my place makes me a better person, and I find myself trying to be someone you would be proud of. Because there is no one I could possibly imagine doing that for. You are the first person I say good morning to, and you are the person who I fall asleep talking to. You are the person I dream of, and you are the person I dream of a future with. You are my favorite person to share the details of my day with, and the person I miss the most when I can’t talk to you. There is nothing I love more than seeing your name when my phone lights up, and nothing I love to hear more than your voice saying my name. There are a million reasons I could give as to why I would want you to be my wife, but when it comes down to it, the why is what I can spend the rest of our lives showing you. For now, what matters is this. Will you be my wife? Will you make this the first of every Christmas we get to spend together? Will you marry me so that we don’t have to spend any more of our lives apart from each other?”
Lexi’s eyes filled with tears and my jaw dropped. I couldn’t have imagined in a million years that this was coming. Not from Dean. Lexi nodded happily and Dean grabbed her, getting to his feet and lifting her into his arms to kiss.
Gabe and I both applauded, then quietly went to each other and shared a small kiss of our own.
“I guess that worked out for us,” I said against his face as I hugged him.
“I guess it really did,” he replied.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gabe
“Didyouknow?”Iasked Jenna quietly.
“That my best friend was seeing my brother? That my brother was planning to propose to said best friend?” she said. “Hell, no. If I had, I would have had a lot less guilt about sleeping withhisbest friend.” She gave me a sweet but sly smile, and I had to fight the urge to take her into the bedroom right then and there.
Dean and Lexi were still sitting with their heads together, whispering excitedly. Lexi was holding onto the hand which now bore a rather large diamond ring.
“It’s too bad we don’t have any champagne to toast with,” I said to Jenna.
But Dean must have overheard me, because he looked around at me and said, “It’s funny you should say that.” He kissed Lexi, and I felt Jenna tense slightly beside me. “I’ll be right back.”
He went to the kitchen, where all of the supplies they’d brought from town were. He came back seconds later with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, unwrapping the foil from the neck.
“Where the hell did you get that?” Lexi asked with a giggle.
“I snuck down the wine aisle while you were in the bathroom,” he said with a cheeky shrug. “I was really hoping you’d say yes, but if you hadn’t, at least I had some nice champagne to drown my sorrows.”
Lexi smacked him playfully on the arm as he twisted off the metal cap, revealing the cork.
“Wait,” he said. “Everyone put on your coats. I’ve always wanted to do this.” He looked at me. “Can you find some glasses and a big ass knife?”
“Why?” I asked slowly, fear suddenly creeping in beneath the happiness I felt for my friend. “Dean? Why?”
But he was already out the door.
Lexi followed after him, still very giggly, which I assumed was a result of getting engaged on Christmas, leaving Jenna and me alone in the living room.
She turned to me with a smile I knew well by this point, and I took a step closer to her to give her what her eyes were asking for. I kissed her deeply, relishing in the feeling of her so close. Her hands went to my hair, her fingers twisting in the strands as mine went to her waist, holding her against me.
“Lots of surprises this Christmas,” she said when we broke apart.
“Yeah,” I said. “I can’t believe I didn’t know that Lexi was the girl he was seeing, and I really can’t believe he didn’t tell me he was going to be proposing to her on this trip.”
“Oh, for sure,” she said, smiling at me and leaning into me. “But that wasn’t what I meant.”
