Why was he there?
His eyes locked on me. “Becca, can I talk to you?”
I swallowed, hoping to God he’d come to his senses and realized what I’d known all along—that he was worth more love than I could possibly give him. I tried to stand, and my chair thudded against the clock, pushing me back to a seated position. I would need to slide out without pushing the chair back, but I couldn’t do that with the row of people on either side of me. Damn it.
“I’m sorry. I can’t…”
Carson’s expression grew determined. “Then I’ll say what I need to right here in front of everyone.”
My entire body stilled. Oh God.
My dad and Uncle Howie paused in their argument, and my dad noticed that Carson was there. Great observation skills, Dad. In his defense, he’d had more than a few beers, and he was off duty.
“Carson!” he said. “Are you here for pie?”
No, he’s here for me. God, I hoped I was right, that the risk I’d taken had paid off. More importantly than us being together, though, I hoped he was okay with himself again, that he’d exorcised the demons that had taken him over.
“No, sir,” he said, his eyes not leaving mine. “I’m here because I’m in love with your daughter.”
My mouth parted, and I sucked in air, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. Everyone around me gasped, and their heads swiveled to look at me. I wanted to wrap my arms around him, to feel his heartbeat against my own, and to tell him I’d never stopped loving him, that I would always love him. But I was trapped in my chair.
“Carson, I—”
“No, let me finish,” he cut me off. “I fu—messed up. I’ve got issues, and I let them get in the way of us, in the way of the best thing that ever happened to me.” He drew in a ragged breath. “But I love you, and I’m not going to stop loving you even if you won’t have me back. I loved you before I even knew I did.”
My chin quivered, and I put my hands over my eyes. Taking a few deep breaths, I willed the tears to recede. When I’d let Carson go, I’d wanted nothing more than for him to come to this realization. All I wanted to do was go to him, but I was stuck behind this damn table while the dinner guests watched our exchange like it was a TV drama.
And he wasn’t finished. “I know I have some work to do on myself, but I want to be with you, Becca. I want that more than anything I’ve ever wanted before. I’ll give you everything that I am. I only hope that’s enough for you.”
The damn tears disobeyed my will and spilled onto my cheeks.
Carson’s expression turned pained and took on a broken look. “I’m sorry, Becca. I don’t ever want to make you cry. I’ll go.” He turned.
“No, wait!” I called out. He spun slowly, and I took a deep breath. There were so many things I wanted to say to him. But damn it, only one thing came to mind. “You had me at hello.”
He blinked then blinked again as his brow furrowed. “Did you… Did you just Jerry Maguire me?”
Laughing and crying at the same time, I nodded. “Yes, you idiot.”
“Then why are you crying?”
I tried to push away from the table again and failed. “I’m crying because I’m frustrated that I’m stuck between the table and this stupid clock. I can’t get to you.”
“Everybody move!” my mom commanded from where she’d been watching in the kitchen doorway. “Let her out.”
There was a mad scramble as people shifted in our small dining room. But they didn’t move fast enough, because as soon as I could shimmy out from behind the table, Carson lifted me over the rest of the chairs.
I wrapped myself around him. “I love you so much. You really did have me at hello.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t actually say hello.”
I pulled back and arched a brow. “Then I guess you’d better say it.”
He grinned, his eyes taking on a mischievous gleam. “Hello.”
EPILOGUE
Carson
IT TURNED OUT Roman’s buddy Andy filmed the whole spectacle at Thanksgiving and sent the clip to Roman. I was never going to live that down in this lifetime or the next. I didn’t give a shit, though. Roman hadn’t found the one yet, so he didn’t understand. But when he did, payback was waiting. I was just so grateful he would still be around for me to hassle him when the time came.
I parked in front of Becca’s apartment and trotted up the stairs to get her. My girl was finally twenty-one. We were going on a bar crawl, but she didn’t know me as well as she thought she did if she thought that would be sufficient to celebrate her birthday.
She opened the door, wearing all black—tight pants, a form-fitting, low-cut shirt, and tall boots.
I eyed her appreciatively. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay in?”
Grinning, she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Tempting, but Nicole would hunt me down. She’s been waiting for my twenty-first for forever. Let me grab my coat.”
Becca thought I was taking her out for dinner to lay down a solid foundation in her stomach for the copious amount of alcohol people were going to be shoving at her. That was partly true—I was definitely going to make sure she got fed before the heavy drinking started. She hadn’t seemed too keen on the idea of getting plastered, though—the night of the nipple-pinching incident was still too fresh in her mind—so I might have to resume my old guard-dog duties. Except instead of fending off guys hitting on her, I would have to fend off well-meaning friends from buying her shots. I would let her decide, though.
Once we were in the Jeep, Becca shivered and put her hands in front of the heat vent. Winters in Bleaksburg were brutal. “Can you tell me where you’re taking me now?”
That part was tricky since I was no good at subterfuge. “I got a reservation at Flavio’s. I hope that’s okay.” I relaxed as the lie rolled easily off my tongue.
“Anywhere is okay as long as it’s with you.” Her smile was so genuine, it made my heart skip a beat. She would be with me, but she would also be with fifty of her other friends. I hoped that was okay, but I couldn’t ask her now. That was kind of the point of a surprise party.
My phone rang, right on schedule. I answered it using the speakerphone in the car. “Carson, oh my God,” Rachel said. “Can you come to Bleakers? Like now?”
I glanced over at Becca. “It’s not really a good time.”
“Please, Carson. Jake got in a fight. The bouncer called the cops.” She was supposed to sound panicked, but instead she sounded like a high-pitched chipmunk.
“We’ll be right there,” Becca said before I could answer. “Just stay calm.”
“Okay, thanks.” Rachel disconnected.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Let me call Wyatt and see—”
“No.” Becca shook her head. “Your friend needs you. We can be late to dinner.”
I sighed, trying to hide my joy at the fact that this was going exactly as planned. When Rachel had suggested a fake emergency as a ploy to get Becca to Bleakers, I hadn’t been convinced it would work. I guessed she’d known what she was talking about.