“Such as?” I asked, being deliberately difficult. I wanted to see where she was going.
“The whole hand thing… and Sheila…” She tilted her head forward, waiting for my acknowledgment.
“Sure, okay. Yeah, I may have had some shit moments too.”
Lyra shook her head. “I guess that’s all the apology I’m gonna get, huh?”
“I’m not the best at those.” I shrugged. “But I’ll honor your request. I’ll give you your truce.”
“Thank you,” she said, looking only partially satisfied with my response. Part of me wanted to give her more than that, to take her hand again and ask to go back to that moment siting at the coffee table. To tell her about ending things with Trupti and how badly I wanted to get close enough to smell her, to kiss and taste her lips for the first time now that I was free to do it. There was so much I wanted to say to Lyra, but instead, I just took another bite of my pancakes.
“Friends?” she asked before taking a sip of her drink. I leaned forward and wiped the tiniest bit of foam from her perfectly sculpted nose. She sucked in her breath just a bit at my touch, and a feeling of satisfaction swept through me. Her cheeks reddened, and she licked her lips tentatively as our eyes locked.
Friends, my ass.
“Friends,” I said with a nod. My phone buzzed in my pocket.
“Sorry. I gotta take this; it’s work.”
“Sure,” Lyra said with a smile.
“Yeah,” I said into the phone, walking outside so I could hear the associate calling from Australia. Of course there was a crisis, and I couldn’t handle it at the coffee shop. I had to get back to my apartment in order to tackle it. But I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to Lyra.
I knew I wanted to spend as much time with Lyra as I possibly could, and Peter’s proposal plans could really work in my favor. To jump back in now full force might scare her away, so I needed to be smart, calculated, patient. I walked back into the coffee shop and smiled.
“So, now that we’re friends and all, I could use your help with something.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, we both know about Peter and Maren. He told me you’re helping him with the ring. And we both know she’ll say yes.”
“Oh totally,” she said, taking another sip of her drink. I was sad to see no foam this time on her nose.
“So, I was thinking… I want to throw them an engagement party. Nothing major, just friends and stuff at his favorite bar.”
“Wait, your Monday night football place?” Her tone was dismissive.
“Yeah,” I sat back, feeling defensive. “What’s wrong with that place?”
She took a deep breath. “Nothing, it’s just… Shouldn’t it be for both of them?”
“Look, I’m happy to bankroll this whole thing, so maybe you can be a little flexible here? Pete loves that place, and so do I. And as much as I love little Mare, I don’t think she’ll really care, do you?”
“Fine, you’re right. She’d be happy just to see everyone.” She gave me a fake dirty look. She hated when I was right. “So what do you need me for then?”
“Basically everything else,” I said with a laugh. “I’m just playing. We’ll do it together. Guest list, decorations, food, all that stuff.”
“We should probably wait until they’re actually engaged…”
“Is that a yes?” I asked, leaning forward and leaning my elbows on the table, giving her puppy-dog eyes. She laughed, which was my goal.
Lyra laughed with her entire body, and I loved it. I loved watching her shoulders shake and her head tilt back. Sometimes she even tapped her feet.
“Fine, yes. I’ll do it…for Maren.”
“And Pete.”
“Yes, of course. Can’t forget him.” Her expression turned pensive, and she looked off to the side, breaking eye contact, a somewhat dreamy smile on her face. “They really are good together.”
“Yes, they are,” I said, popping the last bit of pancakes into my mouth. “Lucky bastards.”
And then Lyra laughed again. This time with her whole body. I even heard her toes tap against the tile.
And just like that, the funk I’d been in for weeks lifted. I felt lighter, calmer.
I felt happy.
Chapter 14
LYRA
A week after peace was formed with Dev over coffee and homemade truce pancakes, I was meeting Maren for our Sunday morning yoga class. I hadn’t heard anything more from Peter about his plans to propose, so I was all too curious when she walked through the door. No, she glided through the door with a dreamy expression on her face.
“Someone got laid last night,” I said, joking, wondering if there was more to that smile than just a satisfying orgasm.
Maren laughed, holding her yoga mat tightly to her chest, her hand on full display. And on that hand was a big, shiny, sparkling diamond solitaire ring on a platinum band. Almost exactly like the one I’d sent to Peter. It was gorgeous.
“Oh my God, Mare! Congratulations!” I pulled her into a tight hug, and she exhaled deeply.
“Thank you, and thank you for helping him with the ring. It’s perfect.”
“My pleasure! But when did this happen, and why didn’t you call me?” I asked, half joking as I dramatically placed both hands on my hips.
“Because I’m a dork and I wanted to see if you’d notice the ring,” she said with a shrug. “And he just did it last night. Moira, my sister, is in town, so I met her for a drink after I closed the shop for the day. I was a little annoyed with Peter for not going with me… That is, until I got home.”
Maren pulled out her phone and started scrolling. “Look at what he did! Did you know about all this?”
I watched in awe as she scrolled. Peter had created a glowing trail of candles, flowers, and rose petals that led to their backyard. Their fire pit was burning brightly, and the lights they usually hung above their patio in the summertime glowed against the darkened winter sky.
“He was waiting by the fire pit. The house smelled amazing—he used all of my winter scents, cranberry, pine, all of them.”
“That’s so romantic, Mare. And so perfect for you. Nicely done, McTavish.”
“Dev helped him. I couldn’t believe it.”
“Wait, what?” I asked, taken aback that Dev would have his hand in anything other than the party we were going to plan.
“Yeah, I guess Peter was going to take me out of town, propose in a restaurant, but Dev came up with the candles and the flowers and proposing at home. He told Peter that our home was significant, and it’s where our future should begin. Officially.”
Whoa.
“Holy shit,” I blurted, staring through Maren.
“I know!” she exclaimed with a giddy laugh.
My mouth went dry as I struggled to swallow and take in this side of Dev.
“Give me that,” I said finally, grabbing her phone and scrolling once again through the pictures, my mouth agape as I processed the fact that Dev was behind it all. “Dev did this? Dev Modi?”
“Yep, who knew he was such a romantic at heart, huh?”