How to Steal Your Best Friend's Fiancé - London Casey Page 0,42
and eat,” I said.
“And we’re supposed to be engaged?”
“I don’t think it really matters,” I said. “Nobody is going to be announcing it.”
“Okay. I was going to say, I don’t have a ring…”
I cleared my throat. “Well, now that you brought it up.”
“What?”
I reached into my pocket. I took out a small diamond ring and showed it to Emily. “It’s nothing fancy. But if you were thinking about it…”
Emily stuck her left hand out and smiled. “If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right.”
I slipped the diamond ring on Emily’s left ring finger…
The wine was the best wine I ever had.
And I wasn’t a wine drinker.
Of course Glen had a deal with a local vineyard.
Everything he did was local.
We were treated like a king and queen.
The tickets Glen gave me were signed by him, which meant the staff knew who we were. That we weren’t just there for a night out. There was a big invoice coming my way if I decided to go with Glen’s business. Which I knew I was going to choose no matter what.
“What are you thinking, Em?” I asked.
She put her right hand over her mouth as she chewed and swallowed a bite of mushroom risotto.
“This is the best food I’ve ever eaten,” she said. “I can’t stop eating, Liam. I feel like I’m going to pop.”
I laughed. “So it gets the thumbs up?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Do you know what you liked best?”
“Everything,” she said.
“We probably should narrow it down a little, right?”
“True,” she said. “Maybe I should take another walk around and try it all again.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I said.
“No, I can’t. I feel… bigger already…”
“Bigger?”
“Liam, I work at a bakery. It’s not the most perfect place to work and eat from, you know?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“You know what I’m saying.”
“Just say it then, Em,” I said.
She leaned against the table. “I’m not as skinny as I used to be.”
“Oh, come on…”
“Don’t do that,” she said. “Look at you. You’re fit. You’re big and muscular. I hate that men get to do that. You get to have that sexy, skinny look when you’re a teenager. And then you get older and bigger, but it all becomes muscle. While women like me breathe in the smell of a cupcake and a stretch mark appears.”
I ground my teeth.
I wanted to explode.
I wanted to tell her she was perfect the way she was.
Was she curvier than when we were teenagers?
Of course she was.
She was a woman now.
She was meant to have the curves she has.
It was all meant to be…
“Em, I think you’re a little crazy,” I said.
“I’m calling myself fat and you’re calling me crazy?”
“I think I’m allowed to say that.”
“You’re lucky we’re not engaged for real. I’d throw this ring at you.”
She started to stand and I reached across the table and grabbed her hands. “Wait. I didn’t mean it like that. You’re not crazy… okay? Just… you thinking you don’t look good. That’s crazy to me. It… you… you know what? Fuck it. You look beautiful, Em. Okay? You look really beautiful. Any guy looking at you knows it too.”
Emily pulled her hands away and went for a walk.
She skipped the food and went to the edge of the seating area to look at the horizon.
Before I could gather up my thoughts - and feelings - a hand slapped my back.
I turned and saw Glen standing behind me.
I jumped up and shook his hand.
“Liam,” he said in his rough voice.
The guy looked like he belonged in the mafia. He had a big, kind smile but really dark and questionable eyes.
His grip was fierce on my hand and I gave it right back to him.
“How’s the food?” Glen asked.
“The best.”
“The wine?”
“The best.”
“The view?”
“The best.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Cut me a check and let’s call it a deal.”
I laughed. “Almost there, Glen.”
“Where’s your better half?” he asked.
“She went for a walk.”
I nodded.
Glen looked back. “That’s one hell of a woman there, Liam.”
“Yeah… she is.”
“Are you sticking around for a bit?”
“Of course,” I said.
“Good. We’re getting up on stage in a few.”
“Can’t wait to hear the band, Glen.”
“If you need anything, you go get my main guy, William. Okay?”
“He’s been great to us so far.”
“And think about getting married here. If you’re here after the show, I’ll give you a tour of a few of the rooms. You can’t beat it up here, Liam. And I’ll throw you a deal.”