Page 69 of Reaching Gavin

“I’m not getting married while I’m fat.”

“You aren’t fat, you’re pregnant,” Jess and I said at the same time.

“The wedding can wait until after the baby,” she said, putting an end to the matter. “We’re just going to be nontraditional. Jess could deliver the baby!”

“Medical school is a bit longer than nine months,” Jess said dryly. She elbowed me in the side. “What did Gavin get you?”

I bit my lip, my cheeks flushing. “A key to his place.”

The unofficial proclamation was met with ohhhhhs!

It had kind of been an expectation at this point. I’d spent the last year finishing up my classwork in Olympic Falls and spending my weekends with him in the city. In fact, almost every Friday night we’d been here, blowing off steam, playing Skee-Ball, and getting reacquainted with each other after a long week of work and school. I’d been nervous to bring up what would happen after graduation, all the same. I hadn’t wanted to assume that he wanted me to move in with him, even after I took the job in the PR department at NorthWest Investments.

“She couldn’t afford a place of her own,” Gavin said, joining us with a wink. “Not with what her terrible boss pays her.”

“It’s more than I made last year,” I joked.

“Last year, you only made him,” Jillian pointed out. I threw a wadded up napkin at her.

Our families didn’t last as long as we did. Probably because none of us were quite ready to leave. Not just this place, but this part of our lives. As the evening wore on, our group dwindled. Jillian was the first victim. Her ankles had swollen during the graduation ceremony and despite the fact that she was barely showing, she found it hard to play most of the games.

“I’m taking you home to bed,” Liam said finally, when she began to stretch her arms over her head and yawn.

“I thought you’d never ask,” she said coyly.

“I didn’t ask, chicken,” he said mischievously. He was on his feet, helping her out of her chair a moment later. We all stood to give her hugs goodbye.

“Call me tomorrow,” she whispered in my ear.

I still had so much to talk about with her before she left for Scotland next week. I couldn’t believe that she’d chosen there. The selfish part of me had hoped that Liam and her would choose to live in Washington, but I knew they had their reasons for going to Scotland. I hugged her extra tightly and promised I would call.

They’d made it halfway to the entrance before Liam stopped and scooped her up into his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder, obviously too tired to even make it to the parking lot.

“I think that’s our cue,” Jess said apologetically as she and Roman gathered their things. He’d won her a large, stuffed chili pepper out of a claw machine.

I jumped up and caught her in a giant hug. She pulled back, laughing. “I don’t leave for another month.”

“And we’ll only be three hours away,” Roman reminded me. “Plus, I promise to take good care of her.”

“Don’t let her work too hard,” I said, afraid that at any moment I would start to cry.

“I’ll try, but no promises.” Roman reached out to take his wife’s hand and she pressed herself against him, giving him a swift kiss on the lips. They were like night and day, her blonde with skin pale from being back under Washington’s lack of sun, and him dark-haired and olive-skinned—complete opposites and a perfect match.

“Call me tomorrow,” Jess said with a wicked smile. Apparently, my best friends wanted to make sure that we spent as much time as possible together before we all went our separate ways.

“And then there were two,” I said to Gavin, as we looked down at our empty table, cluttered with plates and cups.

The bartender that had been slinging drinks for our party appeared and grabbed an empty pitcher. “Last call.”

“I think we’re good,” Gavin told him. Turning to me, he held up his gameplay card. “Up for one final game of Skee-Ball.”

“I’ll kick your butt,” I promised him.

“Of that, I have no doubt.”

Since we spent so much time here, my game had gotten even better. Even Gavin couldn’t pretend to hold a candle to my mad Skee-Ball skills. We each took a spot at our favorite machines and Gavin swiped the cards. The balls rolled down the chute, racking in a familiar, comforting way.

“I bet you that I can get you a top shelf prize,” he said, recalling the deal we’d made during our first, unofficial date.