AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, not really lied. I told you I didn’t have a girlfriend. Which wasn’t all the way true. She wasn’t my girlfriend, I don’t do girlfriends. But I had been seeing someone casually. Julia. I haven't seen her since we met though. Well, not like that, I mean.”
“Wait, Julia?” The name sounds familiar. “That girl we saw at the bar?”
“Yeah, I had only met her a few weeks earlier. I told her after the first time you and I hung out that I didn’t want to see her anymore, but I guess she didn’t think I was serious.”
I don’t know how to respond or what to think. I’m not quite sure why this is unsettling. If anything, it should be reassuring. I was unjustifiably worried about him keeping things from me, and he’s being honest, so I want to be thankful for that. The timing just seems weird. Why would he out of the blue tell me he specifically stopped seeing this Julia girl?
“Okaaay.” I say, a little hesitant and at a loss for other words. It’s only been about a month, and I had talked myself into being okay with the pace we are going. But this announcement throws me off. I did promise myself like a half hour ago I’d take more initiative in what I wanted out of this. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, what’s up?” He asks in a way that tells me he thinks I’m changing the subject.
“What are we doing here, Dean?”
“What do you mean, I thought you like Mexican food?” He looks confused.
“I do…I mean what arewedoing?”
“Ummm…”
I try to keep my voice calm because showing my frustration with not being able to understand his thought process isn’t going to help. “You said you didn’t want a label or anything, and that’s fine, but it’s confusing when you bring up something like telling me you’re not sleeping with someone I didn’t know you were sleeping with, for seemingly no reason at all. Especially since last week you told me you don’t want to spend time with anyone else. I’m a little confused about what's going on in your head.”
He seems a little panicked when he responds, like he didn’t expect me to call him out, but also like he doesn’t want to upset me. “I don’t know, Maci. I’m not sure why I felt the urge to tell you that. It was something I was thinking about, and I didn’t want to keep it from you. I’m not good at this, but I’m doing the best I can right now. I like spending time with you. Like I said, only you. Can we please leave it at that for now?” His eyes beg me to let it go.
I get the feeling he’s not intending to be confusing. “Yeah, we can.” It comes out with a sigh, but I swap it for half a smile before adding, “For the record, I like when you tell me things, so thank you.”
His eyes don’t wander from mine, but he doesn’t add to the conversation.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Thefrontdoorswingsopen as I click the burner off from warming the tortillas. It didn’t occur to me I’d be having the same meal twice in one day, but a girl can never have too many tacos. Avery sets the bottle of tequila on the counter then leans into my hug. “Soooooo, you had lunch with Dean today? Tell me all about it.” She laughs in anticipation of a better explanation than the one I texted her earlier.
“Yeah, apparently to tell me about some girl he dumped after he met me? That’s all I know. The guy is confusing as hell sometimes, but he’s also the most captivating human I have ever met.”
She pulls away from our side hug to look at me. “Your eyes look dreamy and mushy,” she laughs again. “Look, I get it, Mace. I mean, when I met Miller, I couldn’t stay away. It’s something I could never quite explain. Miller was also clear from the beginning he felt the same and wanted to be with me though. Did Dean give you any details about this Julia girl? What was his point in bringing it up?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, and apparently he didn’t know either.” I shrug, wanting to forget it.
“Well it sounds like he’s trying to communicate and be relationship-y to me. He’s just a little awkward at it.” She laughs.
“Yeah, that’s probably it. Sooooo, you said you had something to tell me!”
“Do you want to see my engagement ring?!” she shrieks so loudly that I nearly drop the plate of tacos I’m holding.
“Ummm, what! This is the only thing we should be talking about tonight! Where is it?!”
“Oh, well, he didn’t propose.” She shrugs. “I just happened to see some tabs open on his computer when I went to print off a paper earlier. I have no idea which one will be mine, but I love them all.” She pulls out her phone, opening an image with a glare streaked across it from taking a picture of a screen. “I had no idea what I wanted, and I didn’t picture anything like these at all, but I love them so much.” She sighs dreamily as she scrolls through the three other pictures. Each ring shares a big oval diamond in the center but have different bands. They are simple, but in an elegant–and expensive–way. Knowing Avery, Miller can’t go wrong with any of these choices.
“I think you just love Miller so much.” My comment isn’t meant to take away from how gorgeous these rings are, but I also know the guy could propose with a twenty-five cent ring out of a toy vending machine and she would be as happy. She deserves something like one of these though. “When do you think it’ll happen?”
“I’m not sure. I told Mack he better call me the second he talks to Miller. He’ll probably go to him to ask or tell or whatever guys do these days, you know, since it’s mostly been just us,” she refers to her brother.
“Do you think Mack will warn you?” I take a bite of my taco.
“Probably not, he’s a little shit,” she shrugs before shoving half of her taco in her mouth.
My laugh causes me to choke on my food a little. “He’s your big brother, it’s his right. Plus, I read somewhere that only 44% of men ask for permission to marry anymore. I don’t know if that’s true, but if Miller is a good enough guy to do it, let him have his moment, and don’t ruin it or his surprise.”
“You know what the best surprise would have been?”
