Page 66 of Call You Mine
With how busy tonight has been so far, there hasn’t really been a moment to tell our friends about our marriage and fill them in on Georgie’s adoption.
Apparently, until now.
“Yeah,” Rumi adds, trying to be nonchalant as Jack wraps an arm around the back of the sofa where she sits. “Anything else going on with, you know, anyone?” Her shoulders lift and fall as she avoids looking in my and Ava’s direction.
“Wow, smooth, Rue,” Ava quips, gently bumping her shoulder against Rumi’s.
“Sorry,” Rumi laughs. “But we’ve been waiting patiently all night for you guys to explainthis.” She gestures with her hands to the two of us.
Ava chuckles, but it sounds a little forced. She turns to look at me. There’s a smile on her face, but her eyes look worried. I give her a nod that I hope conveys what I’m thinking—Go ahead. I’m right here.
I got you.
“We’re a—” she pauses, turning back to Rumi, Jack, and Emerson. I notice Georgie trying to hide a smile, her fingers interlaced on her lap like she’s watching someone watch a movie she’s already seen, waiting for them to get to the plot twist. “We’re together.”
The room goes silent, eyes blinking at us.
“And?” Emerson prompts after a few beats.
“What do you mean ‘and’?” Ava asks.
“Well, we figured you two were together, probably have been for a little bit with how badly you are sneaking out of the apartment in the middle of the night to—” she stops herself, eyes glancing at Georgie before continuing “hang out.”
I cough into my fist to hide my laugh, Ava’s hands covering her face as Rumi barks out a laugh, and I swear I see Jack crack a smile too.
“Wait, what’s so funny?” Georgie asks, smiling even though Emerson’s words went right over her head.
“Nothing,” Ava and I say at the same time.
“No, but seriously,” Rumi continues after her laughter dies down. “That’s it?”
“Well, no, there’s more. But I thought you guys would be more surprised to hear, or at least a little pissed that I didn’t tell you we were dating,” Ava says as she puts her hands in her lap, tapping each finger against her inner thigh before pausing for a moment and then starting up again.
“I can speak for Em when I say that we had a feeling there were feelings involved between the two of you. We were just waiting for you to tell us when you were ready.” Rumi places her hand on Ava’s thigh and squeezes, something unspoken passing between the two best friends as Ava puts her hand over Rumi’s.
I can’t say I’m surprised to hear they thought there was something between us—I know I wasn’t being too careful with trying to hide how I feel.
But it does have me wondering what they think they saw—and whether it was on Ava’s end, too.
“You said there’s more?” Emerson asks, raising a brow. She blows her bangs out of her eyes, taking a sip from her beer bottle with a raised brow.
Ava turns to look at me as her hand returns to her lap. Some of the nerves she had a moment ago seem to settle, and that makes my own anxiety lessen.
Here goes nothing.
I blow out a breath, letting my lips sputter with the exhale. “We’re getting married.”
This time, when the room goes silent, it stays silent.
Ava and I watch the jaws drop one after another as we look at the three of them, Georgie crossing her legs under her and resting her chin in her palms with a smirk, like she’s enjoying the show.
“What the hell?” Emerson exclaims first.
“Emmy,” Jack hisses, nodding to Georgie.
“It’s okay,” Georgie says with a shrug. “I said the same thing when I found out.”
“Are you serious?” Rumi asks, looking from Ava to me. “It’s only been, like, what? Eight months since your first date?”
