Page 169 of Wingwoman

“Hey, weirdo,” she said on an adorable laugh, just as I was reaching into my lapel pocket.

Tapping me with her freshly buckled strappy heel, she asked, “What are you still doing down there? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were proposing.”

She grinned down at me, cackling a laugh. “Oh my god, could you imagine? Proposing to me here? At my sister’s wedding?!”

Her laugh stopped as abruptly as it began, her eyes falling to my face.

My extremely pale face. It was like a wad of Bubble Yum had lodged at the base of my throat.

Her hand flew to cover her mouth. “Josh, no!” she whispered.

The Bubble Yum popped, now landing in my stomach with a sickening thud.No.

Then, even more frantic, comically wide-eyed, she waved her hands, shaking her head. “Not no! Not no!Yes. Absolutely unequivocally my answer would be yes if you were proposing but you cannotpropose to me at my sister’s wedding!”

“I… I can’t?”

What in the ever-loving hell was going on?

Bending, Hope tried to pull me up by the elbow to stand, but I didn’t budge. I think I was too shell-shocked to move just yet. “Addy and I have only known we were sisters for a couple of years. I love her and I don’t want anything to jeopardize the bond we’re building!”

“And us getting engaged will jeopardize that?” Nothing was making sense anymore.

“Us getting engaged at herweddingmight! This is her big day. I don’t want to steal her thunder—”

From behind Hope, Addy came out of the bathroom. “Boom, boom, motherfuckers,” she said, smiling at both of us.

Hope released my elbow, whipping around to face her sister. “Addy!”

But Addy was nothing but smiles. “You two getting engaged today would make this weekendbetter.Seriously. We’ve missed out on so much of each other’s lives, I think I speak for Neil, Liam, and Finn, too, that we would love to be here to celebrate this with you.”

Hope shook her head. “But we’re celebrating you today.”

Addy shrugged. “I can spare five minutes of my day. But only if I get to watch.” Then, inclining her chin at me, she added, “Go ahead, Josh.”

Shit. The pressure was really on now.

Hope turned her wet eyes to me. Sure, Addy had given the okay, but I wasn’t moving forward unless Hope gave me the same consent.

I waited, lifting my brows in silent question at my girlfriend.

Nibbling her bottom lip, she nodded. Just once. One single nod.

Still down on one knee, I reached into my pocket and I presented Hope with the ring I’d spent months picking out. Even though she’d all but said yes already, I was still shaking with nerves.

“Hope,” I said. “I’m a man of a lot of words. I’ve made my living off of words. You’ve heard literally a dozen songs where I’ve expressed my feelings for how much I love you. During the time of writing those songs, I looked upWebster’sdefinition of the word Hope. It said:To believe, desire, or trust.There are no three better words to describe you, Hope. You made me believe again. Believe in myself, in love, in family. Desire… you are a walking epitome of desire for me. And trust. The biggest one of all. I’ve spent the last year working to earn your trust again and I will continue to do so every day of our lives. Your love has taught me what true trust is. And if you let me, I want to spend the rest of our lives living in the embodiment of belief, desire, and trust. Will you marry me, Hope?”

“Yes,” Hope whispered, reaching out a trembling left hand toward me. “I’ve always hated my name,” she added, looking down at me with misty eyes. “I always thought it was kind of woo-woo and annoying… until now. I think this is the first time I’ve ever liked the sound of my name. From your lips.”

Grinning, I slipped the ring on her finger, then launched to my feet, sweeping her into my arms and spinning her around despite her squeals.

I took her mouth, kissing her long and deep, drinking her whimpers.

We ended the kiss, pressing our foreheads together.

Hope’s mouth moved against mine as she whispered, “I have one request.”

“Anything.”

“The whole ‘I’ll continue trying to earn your trust every day of our lives’... you’ve earned it,” she said, her chuckle softening the words. She raised her hand with the engagement band and wiggled her ring finger. “Officially, wouldn’t you say?”

My smile grew wider as I shook my head no. “You once said to me that you will only consider this real when I put a wedding band on your finger. Then and only then.”

“Then I vote we elope. Andsoon.”

I sighed against her. “That can be arranged.”

* * *