Jordie feigned shock, pointing to himself. “Are you calling me a pussy?”
“I am if you don’t go into that store right there and buy my sister a ring so you can make an honest woman out of her before my niece or nephew gets here,” he said, cocking his head to the Tiffany’s across the street.
Jordie raised a brow. “Isn’t that the Tiffany’s you got Lacey’s ring at?”
Karson grinned. “It is, and I think I remember this convo the same as one a little over a year ago, but you were calling me a pussy.”
Jordie shot a grin back. “I think you’re right.”
“I am. So what you going to do?”
Jordie looked back at the Tiffany’s that sparkled in the sun and then back at Karson before tucking his hands in his pockets to keep them from the chill. It was colder than he thought it would be in November in Chicago. Glancing back at the store, he smiled.
Really, what was he waiting for?
“All right, let’s go,” Jordie said, looking both ways before taking off across the street. Karson laughed as he followed him, but once they entered the store, Jordie’s heart was in his throat.
She wouldn’t say no, would she?
“Welcome! What are we shopping for?”
Jordie clammed up, sweat beading down his back, and Karson must have noticed his mini freak-out because he laughed, shaking him by his shoulders. “An engagement ring.”
“Yes, for my girlfriend,” Jordie said like a robot, and the saleslady, whose name was Cammie, smiled.
“Nervous?” she asked and he shrugged his shoulders.
“I guess so, don’t know why though,” Jordie admitted and she smiled.
“It’s a huge commitment and our rings aren’t cheap. Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m just worried she’ll say no.”
“I would,” Karson teased as he looked down at the tray of sparkling rings. “But I doubt she will. You did knock her up.”
Cammie’s smile widened as Jordie nodded. “I did.”
“Well, come on then. What’s your budget?”
“I don’t have one,” he said, and it was as if fireworks of dollar signs went off in the depths of her blue eyes.
“Well, this is going to be awesome,” she said as she passed by some smaller rings to the bigger ones.
But before she could even bring out a group of rings, he found it.
It was perfect and completely her. She had big hands, rough ones from years of hockey, and he knew they could hold a big diamond. And boy, was this one huge. Just a single diamond solitaire, with the band made out of little diamonds. It was so sparkly and girlie, two things Kacey was not, but he knew she’d love it. “That one.”
Karson looked over as Cammie’s eyes met the ring he was pointing to. He could see her hesitation and figured the ring must not be that expensive. But when she got it out and handed it to Jordie, even though the price tag was higher than Jordie thought he’d spend, he knew he was right. This was the ring.
“She’ll love it,” Karson said, looking over Jordie’s arm. “It’s so girlie, she’ll have to love it.”
Jordie chuckled. “That’s exactly what I thought.”
Slapping him on the shoulder, Karson said, “Well, you got the ring. Now, ya gotta figure out how you’re gonna propose. And, believe me, dude, these chicks nowadays want a production. Pinterest, dude, get on Pinterest. That’s what Lacey tells me all the time. I can’t figure out how to use it though.”
Jordie scoffed as he shrugged. He may have to think of how he was going to ask her, but first, he had to ask her daddy.
And pray that Karl trusted him enough to love his daughter for the rest of his life.
After a hard-fought game where the Assassins came out on top by one lucky goal by Baylor Moore, Jordie felt on top of the world as he walked with the rest of the team and the dads to the restaurant they’d be eating at. Usually, they did dinner the next night, but since the game was early and they had won, they wanted to do it that night. As he walked with Karl and Karson, the ring he had bought Kacey only hours ago weighed a ton in his pocket.
If he was this nervous just to ask Karl, how was he going to ask Kacey?
He knew it was because they both could say no. He still wasn’t a hundred percent. He had a lot of growing left to do, and maybe he should wait. But then, what for?