Closing Time (22 page)

18

Hazel

The moment I’d been waiting for finally arrived. Flynn’s words went straight to my heart, and I knew what direction his actions were taking. Just when he was about to pr
opose to me, the moment was ruined.

Damn it, Kyle.

We were so close. For the weeks following the blunder, I assumed he would ask again but the question never came. Any time we went out to dinner or out on the town, I thought he would get down on one knee, but alas, he never did.

Damn it, Kyle.

Why did he have to walk over right then? It was like he knew. He purposely sabotaged the greatest night of my life. I wanted to rip his head off. What if Flynn was so discouraged that he never asked again? What if he was too annoyed with my ex? What if I ruined everything?

After the incident with Scarlet, the possible engagement went to the back of my mind. I still couldn’t believe what happened. I didn’
t know much about Scarlet’s past, but I couldn’t believe her own mother shot her. I mean, my parents and I butted heads and didn’t get along, but they never tried to hurt me. I felt horrible for Scarlet. She was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and she didn’t deserve to go through such agony. When I found out everything would be okay, a weight was lifted from my shoulders. Everyone was concerned for her and the baby, but our fears turned out to be nothing.

Thankfully.

Flynn and I got back into our usual routine. I worked for Sean’s company and he worked on his TV show for HBO. Cade still lived with us, but he had a small part in Flynn’s production, so he was in LA a lot of the time. I was fond of Flynn’s brother but I was glad we had our privacy once in a while. It was nice to do it on the couch or on the kitchen counter. And it was nice not to be quiet.

We never spoke about that night when Kyle came in and sabotaged everything. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t think of the right words. Maybe I was totally wrong and he was never
going to propose. Maybe I misred all the signs. But I was pretty sure I didn’t. The look in his eye told me how serious the moment was. I knew the ring was in his pocket, hidden from my view.

I kept waiting for him to ask but he never did. Why was he waiting? I knew it was coming so why postpone it? I was growing more impatient with each passing day. Every time he took me to dinner, I hoped it would
be night I would get engaged. Of course, it never was.

We stayed home on Saturday and did nothing all day. I wore the same clothes I woke up in, one of his t-shirts. He wore his sweatpants that hung low on his hips. The V of his stomach was noticeable, and the thin line of his happy trail disappeared down into his pants.

It was very distracting
.

We watched a marathon of
Full House
, a show Flynn and I both loved to watch.

“Nothing on TV is clean anymore,” Flynn said. “It’s like a breath of fresh air.”

“I thought you were a fan of the nudity and vulgar language?”

“Of course I am,” he said with a smile. “But everything on TV is provocative. It’s nice to watch something rated G.”

Flynn was an enigma at times. He did things I never expected, even now, and after months of knowing him, he still surprised me. But he had so much life to him, and found small things to be excited about. Whenever I was down, he picked me up again. He was hardly in a bad mood and it took a lot to anger him. He was just a happy guy, carefree and full of joy. After coming from a past full of sorrow, it was nice to be happy for once.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Do I look like I feel like cooking?” I was still wearing his t-shirt and a thong.

“I wouldn’t mind watching,” he said with a cocky smile.

I smirked. “Take out?”

He rubbed his chin. “Nah. We’ve been eating out too much. How about breakfast?”

I chuckled, unable to stop. “Breakfast for dinner?”

“Yep.”

He was the only person I knew who did that. It became a pastime we both did when we were too lazy to go out. “I could eat some pancakes.”

“From the pan or off the ceiling?” he teased.

“Well, the ones on the ceiling have a nice kick to them,” I said with a laugh.

“But that’s how we like them.” He jumped up from the couch and prepared the batter.

I got the pan ready and rubbed butter on it to act as a buffer.

Flynn poured the batter on then let it cook for a minute. Then
he grabbed the handle, preparing to flip the flapjack.

“Don’t throw it so high,” I warned.

He smirked, not listening to me, and then threw it high in the air.

It stuck to the ceiling.

I shook my head then looked at him. “We’re never going to get that down.”

“It’ll fall…eventually.”

“You’re definitely not getting your deposit back.”

He shrugged. “Eh, whatever. Life is about losing your deposit, not spending your life trying to keep it.”

Those words were wise in a way I couldn’t explain.

Flynn poured more batter into the pan then prepared to flip it.

“It only needs to go an inch or two in the air,” I said quickly. “You aren’t winding up for a pitch at the major leagues.”

He disregarded my words and threw the next pancake into the
air, making it stick to the roof next to the first one. “Whoops.”

I covered my face and laughed. “Gosh, we’re never going to have breakfast now.”

“Then why don’t you give it a shot?” He stepped away from the pan then nodded for me to give it a try.

“Fine. I will.” I poured the batter inside and watched it bubble. “Let me show you how it’s done.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m watching.”

I waited until the pancake was slightly hard around the edges before I grabbed the handle with both hands and flipped it just an inch from the pan. It landed perfectly, being cooked on the other side. “See? You s
hould let me do all the cooking.” When I turned to him, he was gone. Then I realized he was down on one knee.

He held the ring out to me, looking up at me with a serious face. “Marry me.”

I was so stunned I dropped the pan on the stove. It clattered loudly and the pancake burned, completely forgotten. It was so unexpected that I couldn’t react. I processed what I was seeing, watching the smile on his face. “Oh my god…”

He smirked. “Is that a yes?”

“I wasn’t expecting this.”

He laughed. “That was the point.”

I came to my knees in front of him and looked at the beautiful ring he had for me. The band was thin and the diamonds were small, but they had such a clarity to them that they cast rainbows every time I stared at them. It was perfect, just right for me. I still couldn’t believe this was happening.

“I’m not waiting for you to say yes. I know your answer anyway.” He took the ring out of the box then slipped it onto my finger. It slid on smoothly and fit perfectly.

“Flynn…”

“Baby.” He smiled down at me while he hugged my waist.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I know.”

I cupped his face and kissed him. I didn’t realize tears were sliding down my face until I felt them drip from my chin. “And my answer is yes.”

“But I already knew that.”

I smirked. “You’ll always be cocky, won’t you?”

“Would you want me any other way?”

I knew the answer to that. “No. Never.”

“I thought so.”
He pulled me to his chest and we sat on the kitchen floor together. I didn’t want to move from this place, the place where my life forever changed. His proposal caught me by surprise, but it was so perfect. It was much better than being asked in a restaurant. This was intimate and special, something that was unique to both of us.

“I want to have breakfast for dinner with you for the rest of my life,” he said as he kissed my hand.

“Me too.”

The pancakes detached from the ceiling and fell on our heads. The batter was cooked and they bounced from our bodies then landed at our feet.

Flynn and I looked at each other, growing smiles on our faces. Then we both burst out laughing.

“We need new sheets,” I said as I tore them off the bed.

Flynn shrugged. “I like the taste of pancakes.”

We spent the past few days in bed, wiping pancake batter on each other then eating it off. But now the sheets were demolished. “So do bugs, especially cockroaches. We don’t want them coming around.”

“Well, they are your friends and follow you everywhere you go,” he teased.

“They do not,” I said, offended.

“It must be your smell.”

I hit his arm. “It’s not.”

He pulled on a shirt and changed into his jeans.

“Where are you going?” I was too happy to let him out of my sight.

“We have dinner plans.”

“We do?” I came to him and hooked my arms around his neck. “Let’s just stay here…”

“As tempting as that so
unds, I don’t want to stand up eight people.”

“All our friends will be there?” I asked.

“Yep. Want to kick off our engagement with a bang.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked.

“I talked to Sean. He said Scarlet will be fine. She’s enormous though.”

“I can imagine.”

“Now put on a dress so I can show you off.”

“I should be showing you off,” I said.

He smirked. “I’m eye candy...”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re so full of yourself.”

“And you love being full of me.”

I rolled my eyes again. “I can’t believe I’m spending the rest of my life with
the cockiest man in the world.”

“I can.” He winked. “Just remember every time we’re together and that’ll remind you why.”

“Again with the cockiness.”

“Let’s go. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can come home and do what we do best.”

“Don’t you mean what you do best?” I teased.

“Exactly.”

“I was joking,” I said with a laugh.

“No you weren’t. Let’s be real here.” He put his wallet in his pocket then walked out.

I rolled my eyes for the third time then followed him out.

“You’re engaged?” Monnique asked excitedly. “That’s so great!”

I showed off my ring to everyone, proud of what he picked out. It wasn’t a huge diamond with a bunch of bling. It was small and pretty, just right for me.

“It’s beautiful,” Scarlet said. She stayed in her seat because she was about to pop. I came to her and showed it off before I shared it with everyone else.

“Yep, I did good,”
Flynn said as he leaned back in his chair.

“Nice ring,” Cortland said. “Where did you get it?”

“
Tiffany’s
,” Flynn answered.

“That’s where I got Cassandra’s,”
Mike said. He had Trinity in a satchel over his chest. Every time I saw him, he was holding Trinity or taking care of her.

“When do you not wear that damn satchel?” Sean asked his brother.

“What?” Mike looked down at Trinity, who was staring at everyone like we were on a TV screen. “It’s easier this way.”

Cassandra smirked then shook her head slightly.

“It seems like he’s hogging your baby,” Sean said.

‘That’s an understatement,” Cassandra said. “We have to fight over her, and most of the time, Mike wins. But there’s really nothing I can
do about it. Trinity loves her dad so much.”

“She loves you the same,” Scarlet said.

“No,” Cassandra said with a laugh. “She definitely favors Mike. Whenever I can’t get her to stop crying, Mike just picks her up and she stops—every time. Otherwise, I’ll spend three hours trying to figure out what she wants, and at the end of the three hours I come up with nothing.”

Mike shrugged. “I guess she likes my smell or something.”

“No,” Cassandra said fondly. “She’s just a daddy’s girl.”

Mike smiled wide. “Maybe.”

Ryan turned to Flynn. “You better not get married before Janice and I. I’ll be pissed if I’m the last one to get married when I proposed months ago.”

“What happened to not being a girl?” Cortland asked.

Ryan gave him a glare then sipped his drink. “Shut up.”

“Just don’t be the runaway groom again,” Scarlet jabbed.

We all laughed while Ryan’s face became sourer.

Janice rubbed his arm. “Don’t tease him, you guys.”

“No, we’re gonna,” Scarlet said. “My brother is never stupid, but that time, he was exceptionally stupid.”

“I can say the same about every decision you’ve ever made,” Ryan snapped.