too.”
“What have you got to be sorry for?”
“For not telling you.” I shrugged. “I should have just told you everything instead of worrying you’d think I was rushing things or whatever, and that I’d push you away.”
“It’s just as much my fault. Ask anyone close to me, they’ll tell you I’m shit with feelings. I’m so used to being around people who don’t need to be told because they have every single one of my micro expressions catalogued. I felt so comfortable with you, I forgot you might not have had time yet.”
“Not quite, no,” I admitted with a self-conscious smile. “I’d like to, though. Have time, I mean. If you do too?”
He took his hands off the counter and ran one through his hair. “I…” He stopped looked at me again, then looked down. “I would like that.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded and we reached for each other at the same time.
“I would,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”
I shook my head. “I should have tried harder to explain.”
“I should have let you.”
“We were both idiots and we’ll move on?”
He chuckled. “I’m on board with that.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “My dad is going to need an explanation as to why we’ve cancelled the wedding,” I suddenly thought. With Patrick still in my life, he was going to have questions. Less than my mother would have had, but questions. I didn’t much care what anyone else thought.
Patrick took my hand. “Or, we could not postpone any weddings…” he said slowly.
I looked at him. “What are you saying, Patrick?”
He laced his fingers with mine. “I’m asking if you’ll marry me, Leah Carmichael. For real.”
I tried to fight a smile so my answer wasn’t so immediately obvious, but I was trying – and failing – so hard that he had to have known.
“Yes?” he asked with a smile.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Yes!”
“Yes. Definitely yes.”
He picked me up and spun me around, only slowing when he started lowering me down so my head was at the same height as his and my legs were around his body.
“I love you, Leah,” he said.
I felt a singular blossom of happy warmth spread across my chest. “I love you, too.”
20
Patrick
“So, you’ve sorted your shit then?” Rollie asked as I walked out of the elevator the next morning.
I grinned at him cheekily. “What makes you think that?”
“You reek of conceited achievement–” Nico started.
“And sex,” Rollie finished with a wink and our resident nerd glared at him.
“I prefer not to get close enough to anyone to know that,” Nico sniffed, shaking out his shoulders. The guy wasn’t a prude – far from it – he was just really into privacy.
Rollie and I shared a grin and a snort.
“It all worked out then?” Chaos asked, leaning on his office doorframe. “You didn’t even use the whole month.”
I nodded. “It did. The wedding’s going ahead.”
“So soon?” Chaos blinked, failing to hide his surprise.
I smirked. “Just because you’re taking your sweet arse time–”
“Oh, so now you approve?”
“–Remind me when you’re going to make an honest woman of my sister?”
“I’m working on it,” he said gruffly.
“Consider yourself lucky,” Tank said, his tone a reminder the whole thing could have gone pair shaped, but his eyes shone. He was happy for me.
“It’ll count for diddly if my best man’s not on board.” I looked to Chaos in question, and he just nodded once.
“Always.”
“But we’ll all be groomsmen, right?” Rollie asked and we all knew he was thinking about how often groomsmen pulled at weddings.
Tank and I huffed a laugh. Chaos and Nico smiled. A little.
“I wouldn’t dream of anyone else,” I told them.
“Of course,” Tank said with a nod.
“And Leah’s friends…” Rollie continued. “Single?”
“I’m not dancing,” Nico said sullenly.
“You don’t have to dance, but you do have to wear the monkey suit,” I told him.
He rolled his eyes, but nodded resignedly. “The things I do for you wankers…”
“How is your suit collection coming, Nico?” Chaos asked, a cheeky glint to his eyes.
But Nico was far too smart to fall it. “Why?” he asked suspiciously.
Chaos shrugged and looked around the room. We were all in suits except for Nico who was in his trusty cargo pants, hoody and Converse combination as usual. “It’s always good to be prepared.”
Nico’s glare narrowed. “I am prepared…for the job I signed on to do. A job which in no way involves suits…” he said pointedly. “Do I need to remind you I don’t do dress ups, boss?”
I wasn’t the smartest guy in the room, but even I knew Nico was being as insolent as possible.