Page 36 of Never Not Friends

My head rears back in defense. “I haven’t been dragging my feet for years.”

“Yes, you have.” There’s an eye roll with her statement. “I waited a long time for you to propose.”

“I just wasn’t ready yet.”

“We’ve been together for the better part of twelve years, Vinny. How are you not ready?”

“I, uh…” I scratch the back of my neck, unable to give her an answer.

Sometimes I’m stuck in my head and don’t know why.

Juliet gets up from the table to get a drink from the refrigerator. I watch her move around the kitchen with the kind of sharp movements she uses whenever she’s upset.

I hate it. Not because she’s upset, just because there’s no resolution.

We’ve been having the same argument for years.

She wants our relationship to move to the next step.

I take longer to get to that point.

No one is wrong.

We just move at different paces.

She sits back down at the table a little aggressively.

“Look, it has nothing to do with you.” I reach for her hand again, but this time she dodges me, grabbing her drink instead.

“I keep trying to tell myself that, but it’s hard, Vinny.” There’s a heavy sigh. “And I get it. All your hesitations probably come from your dad leaving your family, but I wouldn’t know about that because you never talk about it.”

Now it’s my turn to pull back. “I don’t need to talk about my dad because there’s nothing to say.”

“We’re going to be married. At some point, you’re going to have to open up to me about him.”

There’s only one person I’ve felt comfortable enough to talk about my dad with. But that was a long time ago.

“Listen, maybe I will open up to you about my dad, but I just don’t feel like it right now.”

“Fine,” she huffs, clearly hurt.

“And I wasn’t saying to postpone the wedding because I don’t want to marry you. I just… I thought it might be easier for all of us if we didn’t feel so stressed about all of it.”

She looks over, meeting my gaze with determination. “I’m not postponing anymore. This wedding is finally happening.”

We hold our stares for a beat.

Something unexpected twists in my stomach.

I can’t explain what, but it’s definitely not the excitement that I should be feeling.

And that realization comes with a wave of guilt.

Then Juliet’s phone dings.

She drops her eyes, picking up her device. “Emma needs help with something. Can you go over there?”

My brows lift. “Did she ask specifically for me?”