Page 41 of Glorious Ruin
“Silas,” I interrupted, my voice still gravelly from sleep. I pointed toward the apron, entirely ignoring Maverick’s existential crisis. “Why are the Donovan women here?”
“Oh! Right.” Silas blinked, a massive, blindingly smug smile breaking across his face. He shifted onto his knees, wrapping his own blanket around his waist like a makeshift toga. “I flew them in yesterday morning as a surprise. Shannon and Jayme helped me coordinate it. They hid them at their houses until we got back. I’ve had this entire thing planned out for months!”
I stared at him. “You planned a covert operation with my sisters, your aunt, and your stepmom?”
“Because I was proposing last night!” Silas beamed, practically vibrating. “And I did! Right here in the ring!”
A collective gasp swept through the women of the crowd.
“But…” Silas shook his head, laughing. “This asshole ruined my timeline, because he proposed tome,on a complete whim, in Puerto Rico on Monday!”
“Silas, you’re making my head spin,” Jayme called out with a laugh. “Are you engaged or not?!”
Without another word, Silas reached over, grabbed my left hand, and hoisted it up. The aged silver of his grandfather’s ring stood out against my finger, right next to the brand-new matte band on his.
“We’re double engaged!” Silas yelled.
The entire building went dead silent for exactly one second.
“Oh my God!” Sarah shrieked.
My sisters didn’t even use the ring stairs. April, Heather, and Sarah scrambled up the side of the apron, diving through the middle ropes in a flurry of flailing limbs with Lena right behind them.
“Wait, I don’t have pants on!” I tried scramble backward, but it was useless.
Before I could even brace myself, the four of them tackled me onto the mat in a massive, squealing dogpile. I hit the canvas with a heavy thud, desperately clamping both hands down on the edge of the blanket to attempt to preserve my dignity while my sisters and pseudo-daughter completely crushed me.
“You’re engaged!” Heather screamed right in my ear, smacking my bare shoulder.
“To the guy you used to hate!” April added, laughing as she elbowed me in the ribs.
From the barricade, Evan let out a long-suffering sigh. “For once,” he said loudly, cutting through the squeals of my sisters, “I just want to see Cal in the morning with clothes on.”
Colin, leaning over the barricade next to Evan, blinked. “Wait. Why have you seen him in the morning without clothes?”
Evan didn’t even falter. He just shrugged. “I think everyone has at some point.”
“FUCK YOU, EVAN!” I roared from the bottom of the dogpile.
The next two hours felt like a weird daydream. After a quick detour to our house to put on real damn clothes, we all funneled down to Scott’s. Jayme and Shannon had announced they were going to cook lunch for everyone, our undeserving asses included. Naturally, as soon as I got to the house, I headed straight into the kitchen to help. As much as I loved the idea of being hounded by everyone in the room, I’d much rather stand in here with Shannon and Jayme.
“You got banished to the wifely duties?” Jayme asked as I walked over to help her.
I cut my eyes at her instantly. Her smirk grew wider, framed by her strawberry-blonde hair and a face scattered with freckles. It really was uncanny how much the twins looked just like her.
“No, I banished myself. I like to hear myself think, and my future husband hasn’t had coffee yet. Plus, he’s in the midst of a dozen people all talking at once.”
“He’s going to end up biting Evan,” Shannon laughed.
“Who’s going to bite Evan?” ISilas’s voice carried from the entryway. “Is there coffee, by the way?” he asked as he went straight for the fridge.
“Yes, Si. Your dad bought the cold one you like yesterday.”
I pulled a glass down from the cabinet above my head and handed it to him without a second thought. “So, you plan on telling me how the hell you managed to get all three of my workaholic sisters here? Plus, your dumbass best friend and the firecracker who was supposed to be fighting in another state?” I joked as I watched him pour damn near the entire bottle of cold-brew into his glass.
Silas shrugged as he capped the bottle. “Well, I reached out to your sisters in June about this,” he said, taking a sip of the black liquid. “Then I had Lena come down here early to meet up with them. Evan lied about Showdown, and took a different flight from us so you wouldn’t know, and…yeah, that’s basically it.” He spoke as if he hadn’t just done the most endearing thing imaginable.
I snaked my arms around his waist. “How long is everyone here for?” “I tried to get everyone here for at least four days, but Lena and Evan have to leave tomorrow morning, and your sisters leave tomorrow afternoon.”
