I stared at him, agape, the unwrapped box that I refused to open still in my hand. “I got you a scarf,” I blurted. “It’s silk. It’ll go nice with your leather jackets, when we go out and stuff. It’s red. You always wear black and gray, but you’d look great in red…” I felt dazed.
Confused.
Ronan seemed to recover before I did. He slid his hands around my waist and gave me a squeeze.
“Just open it, Summer.”
Okay. Maybe I was overreacting?
He seemed calm.
Wouldn’t he be sweating bullets right now if this was what I thought it might be?
I glanced at the gift in my hand. Maybe it wasn’t an engagement ring with a giant diamond on it. Maybe it was something else.
Maybe there was another reason my boyfriend was down on one knee in front of me.
Like… a sex reason?
Maybe it was a cute little vibrator. Or a fancy butt plug…
Made by an amazing local jewelry designer that I happened to love.
Oh, Christ. I could see the logo on the side of the box, and my heart pounded in my chest.
This was it.
This was one of the hugest, most beautiful moments of my life playing out… with a man I freaking adored, on his knee in front of me, in a Christmas sweater he’d worn just to make me happy.
I blinked, fighting back tears.
He smiled at me a little.
I slid the lid off the box. Inside was a definite ring box. It was velvety and light gray.
Maybe it was a cock ring?
I swallowed as I took the ring box out, and I opened it.
It wasn’t a cock ring.
It was an engagement ring with a giant diamond on it.
And with it… there was a second ring. My ring. The diamond ring my dad gave me when I turned eighteen.
I looked at Ronan, swallowing. I could hardly find words. “My dad’s ring… How did you get my dad’s ring back?”
“I have my ways,” he said mysteriously. His eyes were kinda shining as he observed my reaction. And if I wasn’t careful, I was gonna cry like a baby.
“You said you didn’t like over-the-top gifts and I bought you a scarf…” That was all that came out of my mouth. “And trashy underwear and tequila.”
“And a Christmas sweater.” He smiled at me again, and I just about fell to my knees in front of him. “This isn’t over-the-top,” he said simply. “I want you to be my wife, Summer.”
“Really?” I sniffled back the tears.
He chuckled a little. “Can I get up? This is in no way comfortable. I probably shouldn’t have done it in the bathroom…”
“Get up,” I practically sobbed.
So he got up off the hard floor. He slipped his arms around me and leaned in, slowly, to kiss me. He was absolutely glowing and I hadn’t even said yes yet.
But…
“I can’t say yes to this, Ronan.”
He froze, his face falling. “What?”
“I mean… not yet.”
He drew back, searching my face. Then he watched as I put the rings, still in the box, aside on the counter.
“Can we put a pause on this?” I asked him. “For just a moment?”
He studied my face. “Why?”
“Because I need you to come clean first.”
His face gave away nothing, but I could feel him tense. “About what?”
“Ronan,” I said. “Are we really gonna keep pretending that you’ve told me all I need to know?”
“Summer…” He paled a little, looking… panicked? “I’m so sorry. Shit. I should’ve told you I had your dad’s ring back sooner. Piper and his guys got it back for me. I had it a while ago, baby. But I wanted this to be so special. And then it took a while to get the other ring made—”
“No.” I shook my head. “That’s not what I’m talking about, Ronan. I’m thrilled you got my ring back.”
He stared at me for a long moment. Then he said, “Come here.” He took the ring box off the counter and he took my hand. He led me into the bedroom, over to the bed, where he sat us down. He looked into my eyes and said, “I’ll tell you anything, Summer.”
“Right. Except about your past.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, carefully, but I could feel the stiffness in his body. He was on-guard, and I didn’t like it.
“I don’t like secrets, Ronan,” I told him. “Not where our relationship is concerned. You know that. And I feel like there’s a big one in your past.”
He said nothing, and I went on.
“At the Halloween party, I would swear on my mother’s life—on both my mothers’ lives—that I heard Piper say something to you to the effect of, ‘Say hi to the wife.’”
“Oh.” He cleared his throat. “That.”
“Yeah. That. So I keep waiting for some explanation, for our relationship to reach the point where you trust me enough to be open with me about who you are. About everything you are. But you just proposed to me, so it seems that explanation is not coming. So I’m just gonna ask you. Did he mean your wife? Because that’s sure as hell what it sounded like to me.”
He shook his head, slowly. “You can’t seriously think I’m married and I didn’t tell you.”
“No. But that comment came out of somewhere.”
He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Piper and I went to high school together. I’m pretty sure that comment came out of a lingering annoyance that I once stole his prom date.”
I considered that, perking up a bit. “Did you really?”
“Yes.”
“That’s fucking amazing.”
“It kind of was.”
“So… this is the woman he referred to as your wife?”
He rubbed his hand over his face again.
“Ronan…”
“We got married. Right out of high school.”
I blinked at him. “So, why didn’t you just tell me this?”
“Because… it’s a long and sordid story.”
“Good. Tell me all of it.”
“Good? What do you mean good?”
“I mean, good. We both have a past. I’ve told you more than you probably ever wanted to hear about my past loves, heartbreaks… catching my boyfriend snorting coke out of another woman’s ass
