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Playing along, I raise the bouquet into the air with a triumphant hoot, and everyone around me claps and cheers. I pose for a smiling shot with Sarah and then hug her again. And when I disengage from Sarah’s embrace and turn around to look for Henn, I discover he’s directly behind me . . . on bended knee.
“Oh, fuck,” I blurt, looking down at him. I love this crazy, silly, sweet man with all my heart. Just this fast, he’s become my best friend, in addition to being the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. But I could never say yes to marrying him this fast, if at all, especially not when our relationship has been mostly long distance. But do I want to explain all that to Henn now in front of all his friends? Hell no.
“Hannah Banana,” Henn begins reverently, his dark eyes sparkling up at me. “Please, make me the happiest—”
“Stop,” I whisper-shout. “Don’t, Henny.”
“Man in the world and—”
“Peter, no. You’re drunk. Get up.”
Henn abruptly closes his mouth mid-sentence. Blushes. Looks around. And then returns his gaze to mine and forces a smile. “Make me the happiest man in the world and move to LA—now, rather than waiting for Maddy to move in the spring.”
I sigh from the depths of my soul. “Oooh.” I chuckle out of nervousness. “You got me.”
Henn rises and makes a big show of laughing. “I got her,” he says to anyone within earshot. “I got her good.”
As the crowd dissipates, Henn returns to me. “I really do want you to move to LA now, rather than waiting. That part isn’t a prank.”
I touch his cheek. “I’m tipsy and you’re drunk as shit. Let’s talk about this when we’re both sober, okay? Also, when we don’t have an audience.”
“I’m not too drunk to know what I want,” Henn says defiantly.
“Honey—”
“No. Hear me out on this. It makes total sense for you to move now, long before spring quarter starts. That way, you can find the perfect place for you and Maddy and make it nice and homey before Maddy’s eventual arrival. You said she’s anxious about moving to a whole new school and city, right? Well, then, get her home environment all cozy and settled for her, from day one, to alleviate one potential source of stress.”
I snort. “Oh, you’re good.”
Henn doesn’t laugh with me. In fact, his face is surprisingly earnest. His dark eyes burning, he ceremoniously takes my hand and places it on his chest. “Do you feel that? That’s my heart beating, only for you. It beats differently now that I love you. It beats with a whole new purpose. Hannah, I can’t stand the thought of being apart from you a day longer than necessary.”
“Oh, honey.” My stomach is fluttering with butterflies. “I’ll talk to Maddy about the idea tomorrow, and if she seems cool with me moving now—which I’m sure she will because she keeps telling me to stop coddling her—then I’ll start looking for a new job in LA next week. Once I’ve landed a job, then I’ll have a better idea of my monthly budget for rent. I can’t really put the cart before the horse, you know what I mean?”
A beaming smile unfurls across Henn’s handsome face. “You can when Reed is willing to rent you and Maddy one of his best two-bedroom units for the price of a studio!”
“What?”
“Have I mentioned Reed owns a luxury apartment building that’s only two blocks from UCLA? Well, he does. And when I talked to him over there by the bar a few minutes ago, he said he’d be willing to give you and Maddy a smoking hot deal on rent as a favor to me.”
Henn looks so excited about his revelation, I feel bad reacting with anything but enthusiasm and gratitude. But I can’t let Reed do this for me. It’s way too much for me to accept from him. “Honey, I can’t let Reed do that. He’d probably be losing thousands on that unit every month.”
“Pfft. Reed doesn’t care,” Henn insists. “He owns the apartment building, free and clear. No partners. No loans. That means he can do whatever he wants. If it makes you feel better, he frequently puts up his new bands and artists in that very building, free of charge, in between tours or when they’re recording an album.”
“Reed only does that because his artists eventually make him money.”
“He said he genuinely wants to rent the apartment to you and Maddy. He said he insists.”
My heart is beating wildly. I must admit, the thought that Maddy and I could live in such a stellar location—and for so little—is an awfully tempting proposition. “I’m not saying yes, okay, but if I did, how long do you think Reed would let us live there at a discounted rate? Do you think two years would be too long?”
