AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Exactly what I said.” Harold shrugged. “It was janky asshit,bro.”
“What was wrong with it?” I demanded.
Harold raised an eyebrow, shifting the ball so he could use his fingers to count. “For one, you did it at someone else’s event, which means the spotlight wasn’t even on her. And you did it in front of your whole family, and she’d barely met them. Then, there was the fact that it was not at all romantic. You had been fighting with Zeke right before—”
“We weren’t fighting,” I insisted. “We were talking.”
“Talking, fighting, whatever. Anyway, the most offensive thing of all—you ain’t have no ring. No ring, Nathan?” Harold shook his head. “Bro, no wonder she’s mad at you.”
“It can’t be the proposal,” I said. “She and I had talked about marriage, and she knew I was gonna propose.”
“How could she know that when y’all were together for like eight days?” Harold narrowed his eyes. “Also, it doesn’t matter if she knew or not. Atminimum, you shoulda had a ring. That’s the most important part!”
I sighed.
“When did she start seeming angry?” Harold asked.
“She’s not angry; something just seems off,” I corrected.
“Okay, well, when did that start?”
I grimaced. “After the proposal.”
Harold raised his eyebrows, gesturing.
“Fine, it was the proposal,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “What do I do now? I can’t take it back.”
“Grovel,” Harold advised. “Immediately. Do something romantic. Take her on a date. At the very least, buy her a damn ring. Do you even have one?”
I nodded. “My mom’s engagement ring. She told me that when the time came, it was mine to use.”
Harold shot the ball, and of course, it went into the hoop with no problem. “Then you know what to do,” he said. “Now can we ball?”
Harold and I played a few games of one-on-one in which he did, in fact, kick my ass. Throughout our games, though, all I could think about was what he’d said. I hadn’t realized that the proposal would be seen in that light—by anyone else or Ciara. But after my conversation with Harold, I wondered why I hadn’t seen it earlier.
Ciara had every right to be upset. It was, as Harold said, a janky-ass proposal.
When I left the gym, I scrolled to Ciara’s number, firing off a quick text.
Nathan:Hey, are you free tomorrow evening? I’ll pick you up.
Iput my phone in my pocket, forcing myself not to look at it until it connected to my car. When I pulled it out again, I saw that Ciara had responded.
Ciara: Sure.
Iwinced.Yeah, she’s definitely mad.Even though she wasn’t an over-texter like me, and she didn’t use that many emojis, she also wasn’t particularly short. This text was…efficient.
Nathan:How about 8 pm? Are you free then?
Ciara:I can be. See you then.
Isighed, putting the car in reverse to back out of the space. I was going to have to plan the best fucking date on the planet to thaw Ciara’s disposition toward me. I was only glad I had a sister who spoke fluent romance.
ChapterSixteen
CIARA
Iwoke up the next morning feeling apprehensive. I hadn’t told Nathan about Brooklyn’s concerns or her impending visit, and I knew I would have to say something before she showed up the next day. She was a force to be reckoned with when people knew she was coming; springing her on him last-minute was going to take some preparation.
