Page 73 of Joey

“One carat,” Brooke says.

“What?”

“The ring. One carat is great.”

“One carat is average. I’m not buying you an average house. Why would I buy you an average diamond?”

“You’re not buying me a house. It’s…”

“It’s our house,” I say. “We found it together. We walked through it together. We pictured ourselves living there together. It’s our first real memory. You can’t take that away from me even if you wanted to.”

She shakes her head and lowers her eyes. But she’s smiling.

“Come on,” I say, getting to my feet and taking her hand. “Let’s go. We’ll buy the ring, and get some lunch, and buy the house and then… we’ll go home.”

“Home,” she says. “That’s so crazy.”

“But it’s kinda crazy good, don’t you think?”

She shrugs. “I can’t decide.”

“I like you, OK? I do. I just… don’t do relationships. Everyone knows this. I have a reputation for being a one-night stand kind of guy. And I know this is not what you want to hear, but think of it this way.”

I place my hands on her cheeks and hold her face steady. Wait for her to look up and meet my eyes.

“You get more of me than anyone else on the planet. And I get it, Brooke. I do. What I’m offering isn’t the grand prize by any means. And I get the feeling that you’ve been living a lie for a long time and now you want something real. So what I’m offering isn’t really enough. Not nearly enough. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ve never offered this to anyone else. Not a single person. Ever. And I will tell you this, and I hope you believe me. It’s real. Brooke. I promise. It’s real.”

She nods her head.

“Is that good enough? For now?”

She nods again.

“OK. And if you want me to tell you to stay away from my friends, then fine. Stay away from them. Don’t let them touch you anymore.”

She stares at me. And I know what she’s thinking. Because it’s what I’m thinking.

I don’t really mean that.

And I don’t.

I kinda get off on the idea of Huck and Wald with Brooke.

But that’s not what she wants to hear. So I keep it to myself.

A couple hours later, freshly showered and dressed, Brooke and I head down to my car.

“You look nice today,” I say, noticing her peach-colored sundress and her high-heeled sandals. Her hair is down and still a little bit damp. If I take a deep breath I can smell her shampoo. Which must be something she brought with her, because we’ve just been using the hotel stuff.

It smells like summer. She looks like summer.

A new memory, I realize. We’re making another new memory.

“Thanks,” she says. “So do you.”

I grin and slide my sunglasses down. I’m wearing a suit because important things are happening today.

“Did you see the socials?” Brooke asks.