Page 63 of Exposed

She slowly opened her eyes and smiled. “Hey.”

“I’m going to head out,” I whispered.

She shook her head and nestled into my chest. “Not yet.”

I stared down at her hand on my bicep. Her wedding band and engagement ring shone in the morning light.

I wanted to propose to her. But was she ready to take those off? I wanted the rings not to bother me. But I’d be lying if I said they didn’t. I wanted my ring back on her finger. And this time when I asked her to marry me, I’d do it right. In front of all our friends. A grand gesture. Tanner would definitely be able to help with that. But I already had a few ideas. And I knew when all my friends would be together next: Penny’s birthday this Friday.

I kissed the top of Brooklyn’s head. “Meet me at Empire High for practice later?”

“Or you could just take the whole day off again,” she said and smiled up at me.

As good as that sounded…I had a proposal to plan. And other work to do, unfortunately. “I wish I could. But I have a few meetings.”

“Okay. Jacob and I will see you after school then.” She laughed. “That is so weird to say. But also somehow so right. Doesn’t it kind of still feel like we’re 16?”

“You certainly have the stamina of a 16-year-old,” I said as I climbed out of bed.

She threw a pillow at me and I caught it.

“Trust me, I meant that in a good way.” I climbed back onto the bed and kissed her. “See you later, baby.”

“See you later.”

Not even the idea of Nigel moving in next door could wipe the smile off my face as I headed out to my car.

***

James opened the door holding a steaming cup of coffee. “I saw you heading up. Everything alright?”

“It’s so weird how many cameras you have.” I walked into his apartment.

“When you have something to protect, it doesn’t seem that weird.” He stared at me. Like he was waiting for me to admit I now had something to protect.

I shrugged. He’d kept Brooklyn’s return a secret from me for days. I could make him squirm for a few minutes. I walked past him and poured myself a cup of coffee too.

“So you’ll probably want some cameras soon too. Right?”

I shrugged again.

“We haven’t heard from you since Sunday. What’s going on?”

Okay, that seemed like long enough. “If you’re asking if I’m going to get back together with Brooklyn… The answer is yes.”

He smiled.

“But I have an idea I want to run past you. I know we were talking on Sunday about what we should all do for Penny’s birthday. Hear me out…” I lifted my hands and spread my fingers. “Prom.”

“I think she just wants a quiet night in. And there aren’t any proms to crash right now. It’s October, not May.”

“We’re not going to crash one. We’re going to throw our own. Penny never went to prom, right?”

“Yeah…but…”

“Brooklyn was talking about all the things she missed out on. Graduation, prom, college. I can only really give her one of those things.”

“So this isn’t really about Penny,” James said.

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