“Oh,God…” she whispered, and that’s when I realized Rylee needed words. Some girls needed actions, but Rylee needed both. Because she still couldn’t believe that I was interested in her for the long haul, she needed words, and she needed actions to back up those words.
I could do that.
Having never been much of a romantic, I knew I was going to have to work hard at it, but I was willing. Plus, after telling Lennox the truth about proposing to Rylee, I was sure he’d help me. He had a way about him with the fairer sex, and I knew I could count on him to tell me if I was ever neglecting Rylee.
Telling Lennox about Rylee last night had been a whole other thing. He had called me crazy for proposing to a girl I didn’t know. He had called her certifiable for saying yes. And without being able to tell him about The Order, it had taken a while to convince him that Rylee hadn’t said yes to my money, instead of yes to me. He had eventually conceded that she didn’t strike him as the type. He’d just been shocked that I had proposed and that she had said yes. I had to semi-lie to him and tell him that the proposal was more of a symbol of just how serious I was because I’ve never had a girlfriend before, and I didn’t think anyone would take us ‘just dating’ seriously enough. He had begrudgingly admitted to being able to see that point as valid. He could see jealousy from other girls and/or guys trying to sneak into our new relationship.
I leaneddown, ready to kiss her again, when she quickly spoke up. “Stone, I have to get to class,” she reminded me. “I-”
I gave her a tight nod. “Okay,” I relented. “But not before you give me something.”
She adjusted her book bag over her shoulder. “What do you mean?”
“You’re wearing my ring, but I have a feeling you still think you can take it off at any given time,” I said. “Give me something that lets me know that you realize you can’t take it off, Rylee.”
Her shoulders sagged, and you could see the weight of what she’s agreed to settling in her body. “You’re not making this eas-”
“Something, Rylee,” I repeated.
She started chewing on her bottom lip and it was distracting as hell. However, before I could kiss her again, she said, “I’ll make you a deal.”
I straightened to my full height. “What kind of deal?”
“The deadline is…four weeks, right?” I nodded. “How about…you give me the entire four weeks to…wrap my mind around all this?”
“I’m not giving you four fucking weeks to convince yourself to back out of-”
“No,”she quickly interrupted. “That’s not what I mean, Stone.”
“Then what the fuck did you mean?” Waiting four weeks to marry Rylee wasn’t sitting well with me, and I wasn’t going to hide my irritation with the idea.
“Stone, I can’t just call my parents tomorrow and tell them I got married to a virtual stranger,” she argued. “Four weeks gives me time to mention you and get to know you better. Four weeks makes this feel a lot less crazy than it really is.”
I thought about how hard it had been to explain to Lennox about the engagement, and I had to admit she had a point where her family was concerned. “Four weeks and you marry mewillingly?”
She nodded. “Four weeks for some space, some perspective, and time to get to know each other better, and I will marry you the day before the deadline.Willingly.”
Igave her a reluctant nod. “Fine,” I conceded. “But that ring doesn’t come off, Rylee. No matter what, that ring stays on your finger.”
“Okay,” she agreed. “But…what am I supposed to tell people when they ask about it?”
“That it’s none of their fucking business,” I automatically replied.
“Stone…” she mumbled.
“Then tell them the truth,” I told her. “Youcrashed into me on a Monday, and I put a ring on your finger that Friday.”
After all, that really was the truth.
Chapter 16
Rylee~
I could feel their stareslike I had the Scarlet Letter A stamped on my forehead. All afternoon, I’ve been in the library with my head down, trying to study, but people were eyeballing me everywhere I went since Stone’s obnoxious display of ownership yesterday.
After my Data Structures class, social media had started lighting up like people were announcing the second coming of Jesus Christ, himself. My phone had dozens of notifications and texts, people wanting to know if the rumors were true. Then when Stone had changed his social media accounts to show that he was in a relationship with me, there’d been no stopping the snowball of gossip rolling down behind me, threatening to crush me.
It hadn’t been my definition of going slow.