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Slamming her glass on the bar Ally’s eyes light up as she says, “Ooh I love this song. Come dance with me my new friend,” as she grabs Niko by the hand and pulls him on to the dance floor.
“Order me my usual Renz,” Niko calls out to Lorenzo, as he watches Ally’s butt sway into the crowd.
“I hope they don’t hook up and make things awkward,” I say to Lorenzo, as he stands at the bar and orders a whiskey and a vodka with sugar free redbull before turning to me.
“What do you and Ally want to drink?”
“I’ll take a whiskey and get Ally a fruity cocktail.” He adds those to the order before he turns his whole body to me.
“I don’t think things could get any more awkward than they already are.”
I laugh and he joins in, his dimple showing. It makes me want to stick my finger in and turn it to see how deep it goes. Thebartender places our drinks on a tray for Lorenzo and he pulls out his wallet.
“The shots and this round are on the house since it’s the pretty lady’s birthday. Enjoy your night sweetheart,” Ted says.
“Thank you,” I reply, as Lorenzo carries the tray like it’s the most natural thing and leads me to an empty booth. He places the tray down then scoots into a seat and I sit opposite him. We have a perfect view of the dance floor and can see Ally and Niko moving along to the music, although a bit too close for my liking. I don’t want any more weirdness about this situation if we can help it.
“Don’t worry about Niko, he's harmless. Well mostly,” Lorenzo says, trying to ease my worries. He must have caught me watching them.
“It’s more Ally I’m worried about. She can be a bit of a man eater,” I confess, which has him throwing his head back in laughter.
We both take a sip of our whiskeys, watching them dance. Neither of us says anything else. I don’t know what I want to say to him. He was only a fantasy this morning and now he’s my fiance.
“You know you don’t have to marry me, if you don’t want to?” His soft tone grabs my attention.
“What?”
“If you’ve changed your mind. I know tonight has been crazy and the pact we made eight years ago was pretty crazy so if you’ve changed your mind, that’s okay. I won’t hold it against you or anything. When you think about it, it all is a bit…”
“Crazy,” I finish his sentence, smiling at his overuse of the word.
“Yeah,” he says, laughing.
“Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything, anytime. No need to ask permission first,” he softly says, and I nod.
“There’s no one else you want to marry? I mean, shoot, that came out wrong. I mean there hasn’t been anyone else you’ve wanted to spend your life with?” I blurt, because I can’t understand why he hasn’t been picked up by someone yet. He’s quite the catch.
“No. There’s no one else I’d rather marry,” he slowly says, looking into my eyes. My cheeks heat and I’m starting to hate how easily my skin reddens because it’s a dead giveaway the effect he has on me.
“What about you? There hasn’t been a man you’ve wanted to commit to?” he asks.
I stare into the brown liquid before tipping my head back and swallowing it all in one big gulp. Twisting the now empty glass out of habit I then place it on the table. Looking up at Lorenzo he has a small smile on his lips.
“The only men who have been in my life have always had a hidden agenda. They want to get in favour with my father. So, I hope this doesn’t sound harsh but if I marry you, at least I’m choosing someone on my terms and not on his, you know?” I say, feeling my skin heat again at my confession and for speaking my truth.
His smile fades before he replies, “It makes perfect sense.”
His understanding makes my worry ease.
“We don’t have to rush anything either. We can have a long engagement and get to know each other properly first,” he suggests.
“No,” I blurt. His raised eyebrows stare at me while he tries and fails to hold back a smile.
“In a hurry to tie me down, are ya?” he asks, humour lacing his voice. I can’t help the smile he brings out of me.
“I want to get it over with. Shoot, that’s not what I meant either. I mean if we’re only engaged, my father will try to intervene and have me marry one of his little minions he can easily manipulate. I’d rather we got married so at least he couldn’t use me like that,” I say, my gaze dropping to the table. I hear the squeak of the vinyl chair as Lorenzo moves then I feel his body warmth as he slides into the seat next to me.
