Page 26 of Stick Around
“That’s it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, you didn’t get her a ring? No big sappy romantic proposal under some candle light or on a beach or some shit?” Billy crossed his arms and glared at Nikki. “Well, no wonder she said no.”
“I know. I fucked it up.”
The brothers each took a sip from their coffee mugs.
“Is that what you want? You want to get married?”
“I don’t know.” Billy dropped his head to his hands, twining his fingers into his hair and scratching his scalp. “It’s not that I want to get married. It’s that I want Grace. Forever.” He lifted his head, looking at Nikki. “I’m in love with that girl, dude. I think maybe I always was.”
Nikki scoffed. “Yeah, no shit. Remember that time Noah brought her over to our place because their parents had some kind of emergency or some shit, so Mom said she’d watch them?”
Billy cracked a lopsided smile and blushed beneath his beard.
“You were running around changing your clothes and brushing your hair. I think you even cleaned up your room, didn’t you? And then they get there and you’re like, sitting in the living room doing bicep curls.” Nikki let out a belly laugh and Billy balled up a flier from the table and chucked it at him.
“Ugh,” Billy groaned. “What am I gonna do, Nik?”
“I don’t know. But I think, if you really love the girl, then you keep trying, right? Ask her again, but do it right. Go get her a goddamn ring, at least.”
Billy winced. “I am a fucking idiot, aren’t I?”
“Yeah. Ugly too.” Nikki took one last gulp from his coffee and gestured at the paperwork on the table. “Now can we please stop yammering about your soap opera bullshit and finish this?”
Billy nodded and took a small bundle of clipped paper from the stack.
He’s right. Focus and get this done. No more time for screwing around.
* * *
Billy shiftedhis weight from foot to foot as he waited for Grace to answer the door.What if she says no again?He picked at the bouquet in his hand.I hope she likes these. I don’t even know what kind of flowers she likes. Why the fuck would she marry a dude who doesn’t even know what kind of flowers she likes?
He was wiping his brow with the back of his hand when Grace opened the door. She was wearing navy blue sweatpants a full size too big for her and a plain, fitted white t-shirt. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a mess of shiny, deep-brown curls.
“Hey.” Grace stepped outside and pulled the door closed behind her. “What are you doing here?” She smiled at him, and Billy felt his muscles unclench and chest open up.
He held the flowers out. “Can we talk?”
“These are beautiful.” She took them and tilted her face down to the blooms, inhaling the sweet aroma. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“I wanted to. I wanted to apologize to you. When you told me about the baby—” Billy stopped as Grace winced and looked back over her shoulder before pulling on the door handle, ensuring it was closed. He lowered his voice to a near whisper. “When you told me about the baby, I guess I was surprised and I didn’t handle it all as well as I wish I did.”
Grace shook her head. “You handled it fine, Billy. I—”
“—no. Grace, I didn’t handle it fine. I made it sound like you had to move in whether you liked it or not and that we were just stuck together. But that’s not how I feel.”
“It’s not?” Grace’s voice was small and hesitant. He could hear the fear and uncertainty and he hated it.
“No, it’s not.” He took Grace’s hand. “How I feel, is that I love you Grace.” His heart clinched as tears welled in her eyes.
“I’ve thought a lot about this, okay? Actually, it’s all I can think about. And I don’t know how everything will work, but I do know I love you and I want to make a life for you and this baby. I know I’m not good enough for you, I know your family won’t like it, but if you give me a chance, one fucking chance Grace, I’ll promise I’ll make a good life for us.”
Billy held Grace’s hand as he dropped to one knee and dug a small box out of his jacket pocket.
“Oh my god,” Grace whispered. She was crying and laughing at the same time, which Billy hoped was a good sign.
