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WHITLEY
Midland, Texas, was a desolate, dusty mess of a place with oil rigs as far as the eye could see. Despite the sight from the airfield being less than ideal, I took a deep breath of relief. Texas. I’d refused to say it was home, but it had a different smell than the rest of the country. Like bluebonnets and longhorns and BBQ and Friday night lights and big oil. It smelled like home.
I hated admitting it. When I went back to Dallas, which was rare to start with, I focused on getting in and getting out. But here in West Texas—where the land was flat as a pancake that stretched across the entire world, the cerulean skies had not a cloud in the sky, and the air was dry and clean—it was hard to remember why I hated it so much. Why I’d stayed away for so long.
“Not much to look at,” Gavin said quickly. “It’s nicer in town.” Then, he paused and reluctantly added, “Sort of.”
“You don’t have to convince me. I’m from Texas, remember?”
“Yeah, but Dallas isn’t Midland.”
“No.”
Dallas was … chock-full of bad memories. Midland was a blank slate.
“But I like it.”
He gave me a disbelieving look. “If you say so.”
We stepped off of the plane directly to an awaiting car service. Once I was safely out of the dry heat, I turned my phone back on. Immediately, the thing lit up like a Christmas tree. Gavin laughed, watching over my shoulder as the messages flooded in a cascade and the missed calls and voicemails racked up.
“I told you,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said with a laugh.
I clicked through the wave of texts in the group chat first. Katherine, Lark, and English were going insane because of the ring. And how could I blame them?
I’d gone out of my mind at the sight of it. Of Gavin fucking King proposing to me. Fake proposing. Whatever. My brain clearly could not tell the difference.
My breath had gone short. My mind all fuzzy. And tears had nearly come to my eyes. Not only was it utterly massive, but it was alsostunning. Maybe the prettiest ring I’d ever seen in my entire existence. It fit perfectly, like it wasmine. Except it wasn’t mine.
Gavin had made a joke out of it, like we both always did, but it wasn’t a joke. In that moment, it had felt so very real. I couldn’t stop staring at it. Even as we flew across the country. I continued reading the crime novel Gavin had interrupted the night before. But I’d kept getting distracted by the weight of the ring on my finger and the way the diamond cast rainbows across the room when it caught the light.
“They are really freaking out. Should I put them out of their misery?”
“It’s the right thing to do,” Gavin said with that sly grin. He was tapping away at his phone.
I pulled up the group again and selected video chat. A few seconds later, all three of my friends were on the screen, shrieking at me.
I held my hand up. “Oh my god, hold on. My eardrums, Christ. Not all at once.”
“What in the fuck was that picture, Whitley?” English asked first.
“Yeah. What is going on?” Lark asked.
Katherine tugged little Beckett closer and shot me an imperious look. “Explain yourself.”
“Well, I might have done something rash.”
English snorted. “That’s your MO.”
“When he asked, I said yes.”
“Who?” they all asked as one.
Gavin leaned into the camera and waved. “Hi, ladies.”
The phone went deathly quiet. All three girls had wide eyes and shocked expressions.
