Page 77 of Puck with Karma
Me: we don’t need to make a big deal out of it, Wes
Wesley: we actually do. Your parents are on me like you wouldn’t believe. And I might miss this huge opportunity because of it. Your dad is the decision maker on it. Your mother convinced him that the only way for this to happen is if I proposed to you. You need to come home.
Me: omg I don’t want to marry you though
Wesley: I don’t want to marry you either, trust me.
Me: I should feel offended how fast you typed that LOL
Wesley: please, Abby, do this one thing for me
“What are you typing over there?” Hannah asks from our video call.
“I’m talking to Wesley,” I explain. “I should probably call him though. Let me do that, okay?”
“Call us back with all the details,” Hannah instructs before we disconnect the video chat.
Just as I am about to call Wesley, a notification pops on my screen.
Brandon Karlsberg is in love, the headline reads. Without thinking, I click on the link. It automatically opens to a video that shows my brother walking around New York City, happy grin on his face, hand in hand with a dark haired girl. She looks really happy as well.
I smile and replay the video. I’m not sure how many times I do it, but with each time, I miss my brother a little more. This is worse than when I was at home, maybe because I don’t have anyone to talk this out with. Hannah and Riley would’ve taken my mind off things.
A light knock at the door makes me jump in place. I drop my phone on the tiled floor, and it slips under the kitchen table. When the second knock comes, I rush to open it.
“Xander,” I grin at my guest. He is almost my roommate at this point. My eyes drop to his hands. “What’s going on?”
He is holding a bouquet of flowers that looks dainty in his large hands. He walks into my apartment and closes the door behind him before turning to face me.
I don’t move from my spot, waiting to see what he’s going to do next. He steps closer until our shoes touch. I try to smile when he bends down to give me a kiss, but I feel like I am dreaming.
“For you,” he murmurs right before he places the sweetest kiss on my lips.
“Why?”
Not that I’ve never gotten flowers before. In fact, I got more than I could count. But never as beautiful as the ones Xander is now presenting me with.
“Because I am so fucking proud of you,” he surprises me when he says. “The way you stood up to that asshole today made me realize that what I feel for you is…”
He pauses and looks around us, his face a mask of confusion.
“What’s that noise? The TV?”
Since the small living room is right there, it’s not hard to notice that the TV is not on.
“Radio?” he tries again.
Now that he mentions it, I do hear someone talking as well. I look around us, trying to figure out where the noise is coming from.
“Oh,” I chuckle. “It’s my phone,” I explain. “I dropped it when you knocked at the door. It’s a video…”
Just then, the voice of the newscaster decides to be extra loud.
“Brandon Karlsberg might be off the market. At least that’s what it looked like today as he walked through Central Park with…”
Xander brings his eyes back to mine. I obviously know that my brother’s name is a trigger for him. I need to come clean, especially now that we are about to take our relationship to the next level.
“It seems as if at every corner,” he starts talking, “I hear that name when you’re around. Lately,onlywhen you’re around.”
