Dashing Through the No (Summersweet Island 3)

I mean, it did make my heart go pitter-patter, but my heart does that anytime Tess does anything that involves me, even if it’s just to call me a dickhole for leaving the toilet seat up. But that’s not why I asked her to marry me. I was serious then, and I’m serious now. I thought they could help me come up with some way to get Tess to say yes, but all they’ve done is bombard me with too many ideas. Now my head is spinning worse than the first time I tried edibles and I ate five brownies within a half-hour time span because I thought they weren’t working.

But maybe that’s the point. I’ve been keeping it too simple by just blurting it out when I look at her and feel like I might die if she isn’t with me forever. Even though Tess isn’t your typical woman who likes hearts and flowers, she still deserves a grand, over-the-top proposal she can constantly tell everyone who will listen, just like Birdie. And I’ve just been flinging the question out all willy-nilly like it’s no big deal, and like she doesn’t deserve the absolute best proposal to brag about. A story that doesn’t include my dick in her throat or hippo humping.

“Number eight, have Santa come down—”

“Okay, I think that’s enough ideas for one day,” I cut Shepherd off when I bring the phone back up in front of my face and he’s still reading off Pinterest ideas.

And now Palmer is running and screaming in and out of the frame behind where Shepherd’s holding the phone at his kitchen island, with Murphy screaming and chasing after him.

“You’re really serious about wanting to marry her, aren’t you?” Shepherd asks, bringing the phone closer to his face so I can hear him over the Palmer/Murphy chaos behind him.

“I am, man.” I nod, chuckling when I see Owen pop up from the couch behind Shepherd, and quickly whip two Santa stress balls, nailing Palmer and Murphy both in their faces. Getting serious again and looking back at Shepherd’s handsome mug, I give him a shrug before continuing. “I know it’s old-fashioned, but I still want it. I want to be able to introduce her to people as my wife, I want a joint bank account, I want to send out our Christmas card from The Powells, and—”

“You’re gonna take Tess’s name?” Shepherd chuckles.

“Well, duh. Why should I expect her to change her name? I’m old-fashioned in some ways, but I’m hip with the times in others. Plus, Bodhi Preston Powell has a nice ring to it. And my initials would be BPP,” I inform him, busting a move on the couch as I start singing. “You down with BPP?”

“Yeah, you know me!” Palmer stops smacking away Murphy’s hands long enough to sing back to me, right along with Shepherd.

“Who’s down with BPP?”

“Every last homie!” Palmer and Shepherd sing at the top of their lungs, while Murphy just shakes his head at them.

And this is the second reason why I never want to move away from Tess and Summersweet Island. Where in the world could I ever find bros like these, who are the best damn friends I’ve ever had and will belt out the chorus of a Naughty by Nature song without missing a beat.

“Is that some olden days song I should know? What’s it called? I’ll look it up,” Owen says, pulling his phone out of the pocket of his Nike joggers.

“Well, this should be a fun conversation with his mother when she gets home,” Shepherd chirps brightly, with a tiny bit of fear on his face, before he gives me an encouraging smile. “Just do whatever feels right with Tess. But seriously, I gotta know by at least 1:30 about those sparkly stockings if we want to get them done and to FedEx in time.”

With a laugh and a quick goodbye to everyone, and a promise that we’ll let them know when we get on the road to head back to Summersweet, I try not to feel a little sad that tomorrow will be our last day here. It would have been kind of nice to have a small, quiet Christmas with Tess, since it’s our first one together. But I know she’s been spending the night on Christmas Eve with the Bennetts since the year her grandmother died, and there’s no way she’d want to miss it. At least I get to spend the night with her there and we’ll still be together, even if it will be loud and crazy.

Now, I just need to figure out which one of those ideas that were thrown at me feels right, like Shepherd said.“Just a few more feet and we’ll be there,” I tell Tess, walking behind her outside in the dark with my hands covering her eyes, so freaking excited I can’t even handle it.