Page 107 of The Monster and the Masochist

I shrugged, hating how hot my face was getting.

“No reason. I didn’t even know it was in there. You can just throw it out.”

The words felt wrong coming out of my mouth, and Cass’s intelligent eyes were studying me so carefully that I think she could tell I was lying.

“Uhh, you wanted to see the ring?” I rasped, deciding that the whole ring thing was way less humiliating than telling her I sometimes tried to use a Q-Tip as a magic wand to help me deal with being repeatedly molested as a child.

It seemed to work, and her brown eyes fell down to the small box I was still clutching in my shaking hands.

Carefully, I opened it, showing her the vintage ring Iris had given me.

I felt like I was gonna puke.

Jesus.

Why was it like four thousand degrees in this house?

She studied what I was now painfully aware was a very off-brand ring, and I wished the floor would open up and swallow me whole.

“It was my grandma’s,” I said dumbly.

God, I was such an idiot.

Her expression warmed, and her pouty lips curved in a soft smile.

“Theo… it’s beautiful,” she said, her voice gentle.

Before I knew what was happening, she was slipping off the ring she’d bought for herself and returning it to her tiny purse that had clearly been designed for mice.

“Put it on me,” she ordered, holding out her now bare left hand.

Fuck. Me.

Carefully, I took her soft hand in mine–overly conscious of how calloused my palms were from the gym–and I slid the ring onto her finger. I held my breath as it slid home, sparks of adrenaline shooting up and down my arm from the point of contact.

It was a reflex. I don’t remember making the decision to do it, but suddenly, I was bringing her hand to my lips, and I left a soft kiss on her knuckles.

She made a tiny sound that caused me to glance up at her.

She was staring at me, her lips slightly parted, and I suddenly felt like I would do anything to hear her make that sound again.

“Beautiful,” I breathed, and I sure as fuck wasn’t talking about the stupid ring.

We stared at each other, and it felt like a heavy weight was slowly closing in around my heart.

This moment felt significant.

Powerful.

Important.

I didn’t have time to pick apart what it all meant, but just as Cass was leaning forward to give me another one of her lipstick-laced kisses, Ryan awkwardly cleared his throat as he entered the room. The strange tension we’d been caught in shattered, and we both hastily pulled away from each other. Ryan gave us a sheepish grin as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his flushed neck.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt. Uhm, the officiant is out back, they said they want to check in with Cass before getting started?”

“Yeah, let me just freshen up my makeup,” Cass said, brusquely digging into her mouse-sized purse again.

I cleared my throat and ran my hand through my hair, turning away. My face felt like it was on fire.