Of course, I didn’t keep it completely quiet. I’m a horrible liar when it comes to my friends. I sigh and pull out the engagement ring, showing it to them. Holden leans back and Nick nods, shrugging like he guessed it.
Gunner takes a slow breath and finishes his second glass.
“You want to marry Sophie?”
“I want usallto marry Sophie.” I clarify. I’ve practiced this at least five times now. “I bought the ring in Hawaii because I couldn’t not. Seeing Matthew with Bella … I don’t want that to happen to us.”
“Really?” Gunner challenges.
“Of course not. Sophie loves all of us and I love what we have with her – together – all of us.” I make it as clear as possible.
Gunner leans forward on his knees. “You know we can’t do that.”
“We can in spirit,” Holden murmurs. “The name on the paper doesn’t matter.”
Nick nods. “As long as we have her forever, as equals, I don’t see a problem.”
“I’m glad you talked to us first.” Holden’s eyes hold mine.
“I’m not Matthew. And I don’t want to ruin the trust. Keeping this secret until I figured out how to say it … it’s been hard. But I didn’t know if I was ready either.” I admit.
Gunner takes a very slow breath. He tries to drink more from his glass, but it’s gone. He holds up a finger, grabs the whole bottle, and says. “So, to be clear. Your name will be on the marriage certificate but we can all call her our wife?”
“Yes.” I nod.
“Can we all get her a ring then? All propose to her?”
I smile. I hadn’t even thought of that. Gunner gives me an odd look and I nod eagerly. “She’d love that. She would. I think she’ll feel …” I don’t have the word for it.
“Overwhelmed and incandescent.” Nick fills in, pulling out the big words.
Gunner sighs. “When are you proposing?”
“I believe we’re all going to the Broadway show tomorrow.” I look between the guys and they all nod. “Then.”
Gunner raises his hand. “We invited Leif, Hunter, Chase, and Valerie. They all said yes.”
“Not we. You.” Holden cuts him a look. “I said not to meddle.”
“After.” I decide. “We can let Valerie in on it and she may be kind enough to help us.”
“She’s a surprise already.” Nick points out. “You never talked to Sophie about that. I think she’d be happy to do it.”
“Are you sure? She’s … unreliable.” Gunner rubs his jaw. “Not that I’m disagreeing with the time … should we all propose at once?”
They keep talking about it, but all I can see is the ‘yes’. They’re giving me the green light to ask her. We get it decided that we can each propose to her and then I glance at the door, double-checking that she’s not about to walk in.
“We should marry her in Paris. I’m thinking two months from now?” I ask.
“We could do it in The Grand Carré or in Monet’s garden. She’s mentioned both.” Nick agrees.
“She’s very excited to go to Paris.” Gunner agrees, then his eyes focus on me. “And you’re going to do it the legal way?”
“Yes.” I nod. “Blame my family, grandma, how I was raised.”
Nick and Holden are all excited about Paris, only Gunner is focused on this detail. Finally, he sighs. “Okay. I agree. You can propose tomorrow, but I think we should all do it tomorrow. Or we can wait just one weekend and set up something romantic for her. Without an audience and the pressure.”
Nick nods. “I think that’s a better idea to get around Gunner’s meddling.”