Page 105 of The Irresistible Distraction

“That wasn’t a proposal.”

“—I love that you’re a fast learner.”

The heads that are bobbing back and forth, watching this interchange, are hilarious. I would be laughing if I weren’t starring in the debacle.

I think back to the younger version of me, the one who didn’t put up a fight when my parents agreed to me moving in with the Williamses, and later, the one who contested nothing—not even that damned medical tiebreak—during the divorce. I wonder, briefly, where that Sophie has gone. “I deserved a proper proposal, perhaps twelve months into dating. Not . . . twelve days, or whatever this has been. This should have been something private and with a ring.”

This time, Brody’s eyelids come down a little, his gaze hooded. “I wanted to prove I’m not just some tourist passing through, looking for a good time. I’m here to stay.”

“The easy way to do that would have been to just . . . stay.”

I stand up then, knowing there are far too many eyes on me, not knowing what (if anything) I can do about that now.

While I’m walking to the door, I hear Brody resume his normal happy-go-lucky facade. “I suppose that will be the unofficial conclusion to Poker and Proposals, the first semiannual Labors and Favors tournament. Trademark pending.”

There’s uneasy laughter, and Brody says something about the entertainment system as I let myself out.

Barely five minutes have passed before there’s a tentative knock on the door. I don’t need to peep outside. Of course it’s Brody.

“I have a ring.”

This does surprise me. “It’s been less than a month.”

“I told you already, sometimes you just know. I’ve done the dating thing, the one-night stand thing, even sometimes the being-used-for-sex thing.”

“I never used you for sex. That first time⁠—”

“Not what I meant. Earlier tonight, when I wanted to talk?”

I shake my head, because I knew I should have stopped and tried to talk to him. “I wanted to make popcorn, to talk when we had more time together. You were the one who escalated.”

“Honey, I saw how you were looking at me, and yeah, I figured, given that’s what I’m good at . . .”

Brody stops when he sees how my eyes are narrowed, nostrils flared. “Don’t do that. Yes, I admit I thought you were unserious initially, when I hadn’t gotten to know you, but this hasn’t been Vacation Raquel and Sexy Tourist Clark for a long time.”

Brody lowers himself into the armchair, knees wide. He leans forward until he’s resting his head in both hands. “I’ve never felt jealous or threatened, much less desperate. And I know I said most relationships are eventually not fun, but I lied, at least unintentionally. My whole life, I’ve prioritized making everything not-boring—everything has to be an adventure because I’ve never felt content when there isn’t an associated adrenaline rush.” He raises his head, looks straight at me, gaze piercing. “But with you . . . I’m more than content. Watching a movie with you, playing chess near you, I’m so much fucking happier than I’ve ever been before, with anyone else, in any other situation. Sometimes I’m playing chess with Sebastian and he scrunches his face up like I’ve said something completely wacko, and he reminds me so much of you that I just want to bear-hug him. The other day, the noon rush wasn’t even over and my feet were already fucking killing me, but then I think about the fact that you’re at home and I just start smiling. I’ve been chasing false highs my whole life. All I needed was you.”

I blink away tears, because with Brody, my emotions are always on overdrive. “This, told to me in private, with the ring I haven’t seen and maybe ten more months of dating and figuring out the long-distance thing, would have been lovely.”

“Yeah, I get that. Now.” Brody’s voice is low, leagues away from the normal confidence he projects. “I panicked. I spent the entire time at the hospital seeing how well Jesse already fits in, the shared history he has with not just Seba but Tyler. The fucking longing on Sebastian’s face when he looks at his dad, his disappointment when his dad wanted to ride up with you, and yeah, it hit me. No matter how much I might grow to love Sebastian, how much I already care for your son, he will always crave Jesse’s approval, be Jesse’s son.”

We’re both silent for a moment, and moved as I am by Brody’s devotion to my son, this is a level of overreaction that we’re going to have to learn to curb, together.

“Seba cares for you.”

“Yeah. He does. But also, you’ve got to know you’ve cut off all my normal ways of being. Living. Existing. Without my credit card and Cally, without being able to have Cally internet-stalk you, which, by the way, you post nothing, meaning she was already less effective⁠—”

I’m momentarily distracted enough to ask, “That’s a thing you have Cally do? You know what? Never mind, I already know the answer.”

“All the time. It’s why everyone thinks I’m a great gift giver. Someone posts that they’re excited about the Louis Vuitton and Supreme collab, and Cally makes sure you get the backpack. Your kid wants a rare Labubu? Cally tracks it down. There are few people I’ve purchased gifts for myself. I’m not sure I’d be any good at it.”

“The photography workshop?”

“Cally scheduled it after I found a book by the Martinses. I searched for an ad, made an educated guess.”

I nod, thinking Brody’s perhaps better at it than he realizes, but I’m in no mood to champion him. Instead, I take a deep breath, choosing my words carefully, not wanting to accidentally cause harm given he’s worked to make himself vulnerable here. “You shouldn’t have cornered me with a public proposal, literal days after we talked about the whole diner declaration.”

“In my defense, a lot has happened in a few days.”