Page 27 of Choosing a Forever
It’s been almost a week since he asked me to marry him, and I still don’t know what to do.
It’s why I asked Lizzie to come over. I need her to be my voice of reason—to confirm it’s a bad idea and doing this would be stupid.
Once we dish up our respective plates, we settle in on the couch.
“Alright, lady, spill. You have something on your mind, and I want to know what it is,” Lizzie demands, pointing her fork at me.
I roll my eyes. “I always have something on my mind, Lizzie.”
“True, but your vibes are different. Whatever’s on your mind has your aura piss yellow when normally you’re like a murky blue.”
What a lovely visual. I don’t understand what she means when she says she can see someone’s aura, but I go with it because I love her, and she’s never steered me wrong.
I take a long sip of my soda and then a deep breath. “Talmage asked me to marryhim—”
Lizzie chokes on a piece of chicken, slapping the leather couch as she coughs and tries to swallow it.
“WHAT?” she gasps when she finally swallows, her face turning scarlet. “Are you fucking with me? Please say you’re fucking with me! I didn’t know you guys were even dating!”
“Wearen’t.We’ve gone to lunch one time and text occasionally, but you know that already. He showed up at the bar on Sunday and asked me to marry him so Harper can have full insurance coverage for her insulin.”
Lizzie’s mouth purses, and she tilts her head, processing the information.
“I know it’s crazy.”
“Definitely crazy,” she agrees. “Especially considering you haven’t talked to each other in over a decade. He just waltzes in and asks you to marry him after a singular lunch date? What’s in it for him?”
“He says he wants to get his family off his back about getting married, and he wants someone to teach him how to leave the church.”
“That’s it? That’s his only reason?”
I shrug. “It’s the only reason he gave.”
“That doesn’t seem like a red flag to you?”
“I don’t know,” I grumble. “You know how I feel about him. My mind’s not exactly in the best headspace when it comes to Talmage.”
Lizzie nods, and I swear I see the wheels turning in her head. After a few minutes of silence she shrugs. “I think you should do it.”
Now it’s my turn to be shocked. “What?!Lizzie, you’re supposed to be the voice of reason! You’resupposed to say, ‘Yeah, Mack, that’s crazy and stupid. Don’t do it.’”
Lizzie shrugs again and picks up a spring roll. “I mean, is it a little crazy? Sure. But think about it, Mack. You get coverage for Harper’s insulin without having to find a new job, and you don't have to keep working yourself so hard. You could take a break, have an actual life. Plus,” she gives me a sinister grin, “you can’t tell me you’re not at least a little excited for the chance to be married to Talmage. This is literally your teenage dream.”
I shoot her a glare. “Key word beingteenage. I’m an adult now, Lizzie. My dreams have changed.”
“Oh, come on, you can’t tell me you’re not at least alittlecurious about the muscles underneath that uniform. Not to mention, if he’s still in the church, it stands to reason he’s a virgin, so you could teach him a few things.” She waggles her eyebrows suggestively, and my face heats a million degrees.
“We wouldnotbe doing anything remotely sexual. We probably wouldn’t even kiss. I’m not going to be accused of corrupting him—again.”
“But you’ve thought about it!”
“I’m a woman who appreciates a man in uniform and hasn’t had sex in over five years. OfcourseI’ve thought about it. But we wouldn’t stay married forever. I wouldn’t want to do anything to risk my already fragile heart.”
Lizzie’s face softens. “Marrying himwouldrisk your heart, babe. I hate to say it, but we both know that—”
“I know, I know,” I cut her off. I don’t need a reminder that I’ve been harboring feelings for him for over a decade.
Fucking feelings.
