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“Doe?” Mom’s voice called out from behind me as I grasped the door handle. “Wait for us!”
Pretending like I didn’t hear her, I stepped into the restaurant, only to find the place completely dark. Even though no lights were on, I could sense people gathered close by. Frowning, I carefully walked forward. I saw an “Exit” sign, and I figured there would be a bathroom close to it. Inching my way toward it, I fought the growing panic that clutched at me along with the hurt—the heartbreak.
The door behind me opened, and I sensed the others joining me just as the lights were flipped on, blinding me for a moment. I blinked, my brain trying to play catch-up as I took in the scene before me. Everyone I’d expected to be there was, and then some. Like my brothers, who’d told me they had an away game this weekend so they wouldn’t be able to make the party—not that I’d expected them to make the time for something as mundane as a party anyway.
Yet there they were, all three of them, plus Aspen. All four of them dressed in suits. As were Dad and my uncle Liam. Aunt Gabs and Asher were right beside him, both of them dressed for a fancy occasion rather than a casual party. Someone could have mistaken this event for a huge gala or a red-carpet experience because every single person in the room was dressed to the nines.
But what had me taking a stumbling step back was Jenner.
Several feet in front of everyone else.
Down on one knee.
A ring box opened and held out in one hand as he grinned up at me like a fool.
My heartbeat violently in my chest, making my palms damp once again. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to step forward, to hold out my left hand, and tell the man I loved “Yes.” To shout it at the top of my lungs.
But my brain was also screaming at me to turn, run, get away from him because if I said yes to him, then I was the one who would be a fool.
He’d gone from the man who showed me every day how much he loved me, to making decisions behind my back. If he wouldn’t consult me on such a life-changing choice, how would the rest of our life together be? Did he expect me to just sit around and let him decide everything for us and not say a word?
“Doe?” he rasped when I took another step back. His face lost that huge grin, and my heart lurched when his eyes darkened with hurt. But I was hurting too, damn it. I was the one who had just realized our relationship wasn’t as strong as I’d spent the past year blissfully thinking it was.
The entire day began to make sense. Why Vi and Shaw had been so bossy and pushy. They’d been in on the surprise proposal—fuck, they all had. But Vi and Shaw had pushed and pushed, getting me to buy a dress I wouldn’t normally wear. And the shoes! I hated the shoes I wore, but I’d put them on to avoid conflict.
Because everything had to be perfect.
I had to be perfect.
But I wasn’t fucking perfect!
I never would be.
And Jenner had finally made me see that even to him, I would never be good enough.
Not to consult about his career change.
Not to share his life.
If I was enough, why did I have to dress in clothes that made me feel out of place? Like I had to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. If I was truly the one he was supposed to spend his entire life with, then why wasn’t I worthy of being asked if he should become West Bridge’s chief of police?
Why the fuck did I have to sit back and just accept it all, while everyone around me knew beforehand?
It was my life too, damn it.
Chapter 3
Jenner
The instant my eyes found Doe, my heart gave a happy lurch. She looked so damned beautiful in her new dress, wearing a pair of heels that made her long legs look like they went on forever. I barely took in all that beauty before I was overcome by the urge to hide her away from every eye in the room as jealousy ate at me.
But then she took a step back, instead of forward as I’d played out in my head for weeks as I’d planned this moment with her parents’, Violet’s, and Shaw’s help. I’d even gotten her brothers there, which had been no small feat, considering they were in the middle of baseball season.
Everyone who didn’t know what the party was really for had been informed once they arrived at the restaurant. As soon as the women were a block away, Pixie had texted me, and I’d gotten into position while someone turned off the lights. Nervousness was the last thing I’d felt as the door had opened once, and then again moments later.
But as I watched the emotions flicker across Doe’s gorgeous face, I realized that maybe I shouldn’t have been so confident in her accepting my proposal.
My stomach churned as she took another step back, away from me, bumping into the women behind her. Piper grasped her elbow to steady her while Vi moved in closer. “Doe, just talk to him.”
