Page 17 of Embraced in Ink

Or maybe she was thinking too hard.

“They really think we’re engaged,” Marcus said softly.

“They do. And I guess we need to tell them the truth. But your mom, she looked so happy.”

Marcus closed his eyes and cursed. “And if we tell her the truth, she’s going to be devastated. You saw the way she looked.”

“I don’t want to hurt your mom.”

“She’s been through enough.”

And that was an understatement. Marcus’s mother was an amazing woman but was a heart transplant recipient. And while she was doing well, she was still on many meds, and her doctors were afraid that her body wasn’t going to handle the new heart for very long.

She was strong, but the disease that had wrecked her body the first time could still come back.

Any stress like this would be too much for her, and Bristol felt like a horrible person.

“I don’t want your mom to get hurt because of us.”

“We can’t get married because of my mother,” Marcus said, his voice low.

“I know. We also made the rule.” She didn’t know why she was saying this. Maybe deep down, she did. But she didn’t want to think about it right now. “We told ourselves that we would get married once I turned thirty if neither of us was married. And unless one of us is hiding a spouse, we’re both single.”

“I’ve never been married, Bristol. Never been close.”

She swallowed hard. Zia had been the only person she had ever considered marrying, and in the end, they’d been better as friends.

“I’m single, too.”

“So, you want to go through with the bet. Because we made it? And because of my mom.”

“Maybe? I think so. I don’t want to back out.” She said the words quickly, surprising herself.

“You don’t.”

She let out a slow breath. “I don’t think I can. I don’t know… We made that promise for a reason back in the day. Perhaps it was for a good reason.”

She had made it because she’d wanted to stay close to Marcus, or maybe there was something more. Honestly, what had she been thinking ten years ago?

Marcus stalked towards her, and she froze, seeing a side of him that she hadn’t before. He stood in front of her and then brushed her hair behind her ears before cupping her face with his hands.

“Think about what you’re saying, think about whatwe’resaying. You want to be mywife.”

It wasn’t a question, but she answered anyway.

“I want to enter this next stage of my life. I want to do it with you. You’re my best friend, Marcus. Why not face the rest of our lives together?”

“It’s not that easy.”

“I don’t want your mom to get hurt. I don’t want any of our family members to get hurt. We made a promise. Let’s stick with it.”

He looked down at her and tucked her hair behind her ears again. “Bristol. We’re getting married? Seriously?”

Maybe this was all still a dream. Perhaps she was making a horrible mistake. But she nodded, and she saw a look in his eyes, something that maybe made sense.

She couldn’t tell.

So, she backed away from him and held out her hand.