Page 50 of The Broposal

“Anyway, you ready to go to Blaine and Zane’s wedding tonight?” Han asked as he sat up and stretched out with his back to the wall.

“Hell yeah,” I said, scooting next to him. “It’s the perfect opportunity to practice before the real deal.”

Han raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying I need practice?”

“Even a master must practice.” I may have said it in a joking tone, but it was true.

“Okay, Obi-Wan.”

I laughed. “Seriously, though! It’ll be easier to get used to acting all cute if we have more opportunities to be seen together in the wild. You know, show everyone how real and in love we can be!”

“Okay, but you know I’ve never been in a ‘real and in love’ relationship before, right?” Han looked at me with an expression I didn’t catch on him often. Was he shy? Maybe I just needed to make it simpler for him so he wasn’t second-guessing everything down to the body language.

“Want to make a checklist?” Han loved a well-thought-out plan.

“Okay, so what are some things real in-love couples do that we can do at the wedding?” he asked.

“Hmm, maybe we can do the chivalry thing? Like opening doors and pulling out chairs for each other?”

“Sounds good, but who would be the, uh, chivalrer?” Han asked, and I couldn’t help but smile at the made-up word.

“Good point. The chivalry thing might be a little heteronormative,” I admitted, slumping my shoulders. I’d never had anyone open doors or pull chairs out forme, so I couldn’t lie and say it didn’t sound nice, even if we’d be doing it for show.

“What if we take turns?”

“Yes! That’s perfect!” I immediately perked back up. “Okay, what else do real in-love couples do?”

Han looked off into space and tapped his chin. “They eat off each other’s plates?”

“Definitely. We’ll have to be super annoying about feeding each other.”

Han laughed. “Okay, what else?”

“Oooh, we can introduce each other to strangers as ‘myfiancé,’ all proud, then add a cute compliment. That way everyone thinks we adore each other.”

We continued for a while, brainstorming about things couples did on dates, which eventually turned into me reading off a list of romance tropes from Google.

“Oh my gosh, what about the doorstep kiss?” I asked, looking up from my phone to see Han’s reaction.

Han raised an eyebrow like he had no idea what I was talking about.

“You know, like when the couple goes home for the night, and person A walks person B up to their doorstep, but since it’s a new relationship, they don’t get invited inside. They say good night, but neither of them wants the date to be over yet, so they don’t move to leave until they finally lean in for a kiss! It’s a classic rom-com staple!”

“Ohh, you mean the romantic-comedy-new-relationship-good-night-doorstep-kiss?” Han asked like this was something he’d thought about enough to have that mouthful of a name for it.

“Exactly! It’s practically a rite of passage for a new relationship that’s headed in the right direction! The moment that kiss happens, the audience is convinced they’re endgame.”

“Guess that explains why I’ve never had one of those,” Han said thoughtfully. “I’ve never been convinced of a girl being endgame for me.”

“Wait, seriously? Haven’t you been on, like, a million dates? You never kissed someone good night?”

“You have to not get invited in for the doorstep kiss to happen. Guess that’s my problem.” Han snickered.

“Well, youhaveto experience the romance of a good night doorstep kiss—”

“Aromantic-comedy-new-relationship-good-night-doorstep-kiss,” Han corrected.

“Okay, yes, that—at least once in your life! How else will the audience be convinced we’re endgame?”

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