Page 171 of On His Mind

“You do?” he asks as his eyes trail down my face.

I nod. “I did growing up.”

“Then come,” he says easily. His eyes on mine. “Come with me.”

His eyes soften, and I stop shivering when he looks at me like that. All this time, I thought he wasn’t going to be able to give me what I needed. My heart sank when he wasn’t on the other side of that door up there, but I understand why he was on the bench instead.

“Are you sure, Pers?” I ask, losing my train of thought because of the way he’s looking at me.

“You know, at the end of every day, I’m only sure of one thing.” He nods. “And that is I’ll always love you, Penelope.” His eyes glisten as he stares deep into my eyes. “Always. I’m sorry I’m not––”

“It’s okay,” I say, reaching for him. “I love you, too, Percy.” I lift my hands to caress his cold face. “Always.”

His throat bobs, looking at me as I lean in. I kiss him softly on his lips. His mouth is warm against mine, so I melt into him. He pulls me closer. My lips hurt when the wind hits, so I pull back and rub them.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

I nod. “I don’t want to go to Chicago.”

“Come on. Let’s get you inside.” He stands, pulling me up with him. He takes my hand in his and walks to the main entrance.

The lobby door opens for us.

All of them have come down; they’re crowded in the lobby, and the second they see him holding my hand, the whole place erupts.

Stanley screams and launches himself at Percy. Gianna’s clapping. Mara’s got both fists in the air. Benson’s clapping. Melly’s jumping, and Blue is standing at the back with his hands in his pockets, and he catches my eye over all the noise, and he nods once.

I came out this morning planning to drive to Chicago, so I wouldn’t have to watch these people be happy in pairs. And here they all are, celebrating in a lobby at six-thirty in the morning. They all knew about this and planned it.

I glance down at their shirts. My face is now on it with a heart. I glance around. They did this while we were outside.

Gianna explains, “We assumed you’d say yes.”

Percy’s hand tightens around mine in the middle of all of it, and I look up at him, and he’s not looking at our friends. He’s looking at me. In front of all of them, not looking away.

“You did say yes, right?” he says.

I nod, smiling. “Yes, Percy.”

Everyone squeezes us into a warm loud hug, chanting our names.

Chapter 54

Percy

StanleyandBensonaresinging a song that I don’t know the name of. Gianna and Mara are laughing about something. This entire lobby is echoing.

But Penelope has my hand. Her fingers are laced with mine.

“—two and a half years,” Stanley’s yelling, at the ceiling, at God. “Two and a half years of this man saying nothing and now look at him—”

“He looks like he’s going to pass out,” Rowan says when he looks at me.

“He looks great! Percy. You look great. You did the thing.”

Benson nods. “You did it.” He grabs us both by the shoulders. “About time, Deveroux.” He’s grinning, that full captain grin. “You had us doing arts and crafts for this.”

“The card was good,” I manage.