Page 65 of Save the Date

“Damn,” Will replied with a grin. “So where is all this stuff going? Your parents’ house?”

“Some of it. But I’m sending most of it to storage units. Until we figure out what to keep and what we won’t need.”

“‘We’ meaning you and Matt?”

“Yeah,” Emma said, avoiding his gaze. “I think the plan is I’llmove into his condo after the wedding and then we’ll look for a house together in the New Year.”

It seemed fitting that if she and Matt were going to wait to have sex they might as well wait to move in together to make the marriage part feel even more special. So what if that was unconventional in the modern era? That was basically the theme of their entire relationship.

“Things seem to really be working out between you two,” Will said in an incredibly neutral voice. It was as if he had declared that the sky is blue, or fire is hot, and he had no personal opinion about it. But in Emma’s experience, people rarely didn’t have an opinion about something.

“They are,” Emma agreed.

This was clearly her opening to share the big news. Yet unlike her first engagement when she couldn’t stop herself from thrusting her ring finger in everyone’s face while squealing, she was having a hard time getting the words out.

Bracing for impact, Emma cleared her throat of nonexistent phlegm and sputtered, “He even officially proposed the other night.”

Emma turned to look at Will just as the glass he was packing slipped out of his hand. It shattered all over the floor.

“Shit, sorry… Just my way of saying congratulations, I guess,” Will added sheepishly. “I always break stuff when I’m excited for other people.”

“What a cool habit,” Emma replied with a grin, selfishly relieved that he seemed frazzled instead of ecstatic, “Let me go get a broom.”

After Will insisted on being the one to sweep up the mess, they took a break on the couch and shared the one remaining LaCroix in her fridge. She made sure to split it evenly into two of the remaining glasses so she could drink at her own pace.

“I don’t think I’m handling this very well,” Will said unprompted.

“Handling what very well?”

“You being officially engaged or whatever.”

Emma nodded, not knowing what to say next. Her ego wanted to hear him profess that he had made a big mistake and couldn’t stand the thought of her with another man. But her heart didn’t like to see Will hurting.

“You thought it would all have blown up in my face by now?” Emma teased to lighten the mood.

“Honestly…yeah. Or that you would have come to your senses or something. Not that Matt isn’t a catch. He has a great handshake and a hundred-and-twenty-thousand-dollar car.” Will laughed at his own observation, but it sounded forced.

“Is it making you rethink—” Emma stopped herself. She wasn’t sure if she was breaking Matt’s trust by even entertaining this type of conversation. But she also felt like she needed to know Will’s answer, or it would plague her like a fire ant trapped inside her brain. “Is it making you rethink turning me down?”

Will let a bunch of air out through his mouth as he considered how to answer. “No. Because even if we want similar things in the end, I think we just disagree too much about how to get there. You move fast and I’m more like a sloth with nowhere to be.” Will then proceeded to do his best sloth impression with his arms and face. It was rather good.

“How many sloth videos do you watch on average?”

“Not many. Ten to fifteen a week.”

Emma smiled. “I think we both made the right choice. Crushes come and go all the time. Just because we have chemistry doesn’t mean we have to freak out or end the podcast.”

“Wait, do youstillhave a crush on me?” Will asked with his eyebrows raised and a smirk forming on his lips.

Of course I do,you imbecile, Emma wanted to shout. Instead, she replied, “I’m not answering that one on mic.”

“Oh, I turned the recording off once I broke the glass. Thereis only so much of myself I can share with the entire world. Even if it makes me a hypocrite.”

Emma shrugged. “We’re all hypocrites. The goal is to just slowly lower your amount of hypocrisy over time. But good luck finding anyone who doesn’t contradict themselves in some way or another.”

“That’s a good point. You make a lot of good points.”

“Annoying, right?” Emma joked as Will laughed. She wondered if she’d ever fully get over how much she loved the sound of making him laugh. Maybe once she and Matt had a kid—pregnancy hormones were known to change a person. Which led her to another thought.

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