Page 49 of The Broposal

Kenny wasn’t the type to flake for any small thing. I rubbed my temples, wondering if I’d done something to upset him. As the movie played in the background, I replayed all our recent interactions in my head, looking for a clue. What the hell had I done wrong?

After Tatiana came back to join us, Kenny moved to sit on the ground between my legs. Luna sat next to Kenny with her head in his lap, and he leaned his head against my left thigh. Would he lean his head on me like that if he was mad? Maybe I hadn’t done something wrong then… but that just made the new rule make even less sense.

Once the movie and another bottle of wine were through, Leti stumbled forward when they tried to stand to reach for their keys.

“Whoa, I don’t think you should drive,” Kenny said.

I looked over to Tatiana, who was sound asleep on the edge of the couch. My fault for bringing out the wine.

“Why don’t you stay the night? You can have my bed, Leti,” I offered.

“But where would you sleep?” they slurred.

“With me, obviously.” Kenny said it like it was a no-brainer. Okay, so he probably wasn’t mad if he was offering to share his bed, right? We’d slept in each other’s beds a bunch of times before, so it wasn’t too big of a deal. Then again, that was before we were getting married. And before the no-kissing rule.

When we got into Kenny’s room, I stared at the bed like it was lava.

Kenny nonchalantly stripped down to his boxers.

Kenny undressing brought my mind back to that dream I’d had of us practicing a lot more than kissing, and my cheeks burned hot. This time I was under no illusions about where the burning feeling came from. Like, if I was really homophobic, wouldn’t all the fake dating stuff have bothered me? But somehow being seen in that way with Kenny, however fake it was, felt more natural than ever.

The burning in my cheeks and fluttering in my stomach only happened when we were alone. Even if my romance with Kenny was an act, it didn’t mean seeing him in only his boxers did nothing for me. Especially after that dream.

Kenny’s eyes moved from my face, down to my sweatpants, which were still very much on (and I intended to keep them that way), andhischeeks went red. It wasn’t like Kenny had never seen me catch a boner before, but he’d usually tease me or something. He never got flustered.

As soon as I realized this time was different, I all but threw myself on the bed facing away from Kenny.

“Um, g’night,” I mumbled, quickly pulling the covers over me.

“Night.” Kenny let out an awkward laugh, and then the lights were out.

I curled up as far away from Kenny as possible, pretending to sleep to avoid any potential weirdness. All I wanted was to ask what I’d done to cause the no-kissing rule, but Kenny seemed so chill. He even kept rolling over like he wanted to cuddle, but maybe that was just in his sleep? Still, other than the new rule, nothing had really changed. Maybe I was overthinking it.

Then again, Kenny wasn’t always the type to willingly face confrontation. I could remember plenty of times when he was upset with Jackie and never said anything until things got monumentally worse.

But this was Kenny andme. I wasn’t Jackie. Kenny had never been afraid of tellingmewhen I’d done something to upset him, because I didn’t abuse his trust.

I wasnotJackie. Andwewould be fine.

CHAPTER TWENTY

KENNY

Iwas a heavy enough sleeper that I usually woke up last when people stayed over. I assumed today would be the same, but I opened my eyes to find my arms wrapped tightly around Han’s leg. Somehow I’d ended up lying upside down so we were feet to head, but that didn’t stop me from grabbing on to the first warm thing I could find: his calf, apparently.

Eyes still closed, I yawned and stretched out. I’d always been a restless sleeper, so I tended to wake up sore and still tired. Han, on the other hand, was usually up and doing things by the time I hit my first REM cycle.

“Hnngh.” Han let out a pained groan when my outstretched foot connected with his chin.

“Shit, sorry!” I quickly unraveled myself from clinging to his calf. He looked all stiff and uncomfortable, like he’d been holding his breath or something. “Did I wake you up? Are Leti and Tatiana still here?”

“Nah, I’ve been awake since, like, eight. And I heard them leave about an hour ago.” He laughed a little, rolling his stiff-looking shoulders. I glanced over at my phone on my nightstand to see it was already eleven.

“What are you still doing in bed?”

“My leg was your pillow.” He said it like it was no big deal. “Seemed like you weren’t sleeping well, so I didn’t wanna wake you up.”

“You’re sweet, but you know how heavy a sleeper I am. There’s no way moving me off your leg would have woken me up.” I laughed. Han knew how hard it could be to wake me, but he still refused to disturb my sleep if he didn’t have to.

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