Page 47 of The Broposal

“Right, right, I’d like to hear the story of how you asked your parents to marry someone else days before your engagement with Han!” Rachel burst out laughing.

“It was weeks apart, actually,” I said, my face burning.

“What? You never told me you wanted to marry Jackie…” Han was lying, obviously. There was the slightest twitch at the corner of his mouth, and I knew exactly what he was doing. Jackie’s words fluttered through my head.

Real couples fought.

“I swear I didn’t want to. I just felt pressured!” I pleaded, purposefully making my voice crack like I was about to cry.

“Your parents said no, didn’t they? Would you have marriedher if they said yes?” Han put a hand over his mouth, no doubt to hide a smile trying to break out.

“No! I changed my mind about it that night!” All true.

“Then who’s to say you won’t change your mind about me? Unbelievable.” Han stormed off, and I ran after him. The family was crowded around, but they parted for Han as he marched out of the house. I willed myself not to blink so tears might form.

“Baby, wait! I don’t love her. I swear! It’s always been you!” My eyes burned, tears flowing down my cheeks as I ran after Han.

We got all the way to the car before we lost it, giggling like children now that we were out of earshot.

My eyes were still watering when we got inside my car. I turned to Han and made my chin quiver. “I’m so proud of you…” I said, voice purposely cracking again.

“How the hell do you do that? It’s freaky.” Han shook himself off like my fake crying gave him the chills.

“I just don’t blink. You should try it. It’s really convincing,” I said, wiping my eyes under my glasses. Then my heart tugged. Han did this to get away from my aunt’s prying. “I’m really sorry about Rachel. She’s the freaking nosiest person I know.”

“It’s okay,” Han said, but his eyes didn’t meet mine. He had to be at least a little mad at me for letting his status slip.

“Look, you don’t ever have to talk about that stuff. But you can, if that’s what you need,” I said. I wanted him to feel comfortable telling me anything.

“’Preciate it, bro” was all he said.

I wanted to give him a chance to talk on his own without me prying, but we passed several stoplights without a word.

“Are you mad at me?” I finally asked.

“Nah.”

“Why not?”

A long pause.

“How can I be mad when you’re doing this for me? I don’t have the right to be mad at you.”

“You have every right to be mad at me. We’re equals, Han. It’s okay to be mad. I’m not gonna call off the wedding just because you’re rightfully pissed. I shouldn’t have told my mom about your status. It was in confidence, and I didn’t think she’d tell anyone, but still.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “Remember when she kept inviting you to go to Guanajuato for our family reunions?” I’d always felt terrible when my mom invited Han. She didn’t know why he couldn’t go, but my entire extended family was dying to meet him, since my parents talked about him so much.

“Yeah. It’s been a while since she asked, though.”

I nodded. “Right. I told her about your status so she’d stop. It was obvious how shitty you felt having to say no every time, but I should have checked in with you first. I’m really, really sorry.”

Han let out a breath. “We’re cool, bro.”

He probably wasn’t saying what he was thinking, but I couldn’t force him. Still, there was something else we had to talk about.

“So, um… there’s something else I’ve been wanting to bring up…” I thought back to how I felt kissing Han. How safe and right his lips were and how complicated that made things. “Maybe we shouldn’t kiss anymore.”

Han took a bit to respond, like he was processing my request. “Don’t we kind of have to? Like, for our cover?”

I swallowed my nerves. It would definitely be hard not tokiss Han, but not for the reason he thought. “We don’thaveto. Plenty of couples don’t kiss in public.”

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