I was sure they had talked about something else, but Jensen's expression was giving nothing away and he wasn’t going to say anything else, either. I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling him that I saw them talking and it sure didn't look like last minute college stuff to me.
I tried another angle. "Is she having a hard time saying goodbye?"
"Yeah, you could say that." Jensen sat down and put his arm around me. He was like a vault this morning, which had me worried. What's he hiding?
"How was your morning?” he asked, reaching over and taking my hand. “What have you been doing?"
I looked at our clasped hands briefly and then decided I wasn't going to get anything out of him. "I called my Dad. I was afraid I'd lose my nerve if I waited for you to come back."
"That's OK, it's no big deal.” I raised my eyebrow. Huh? He's not upset?
"He said hello and congratulations," I said hastily, wanting nothing more than to ignore the awkward feel of the moment.
"Wow. He wasn't upset?"
"No, but a little concerned like your parents were. Well, maybe a little more so, actually. He did say that not all long distance relationships work out and that I should be prepared."
"What do you think?" he whispered, his blue eyes striking.
"I don't think I need to be prepared for something that isn't going to happen," I said with conviction.
Jensen let go of my hand and took my face into his hands, placing his lips on mine to say he agreed. I let him continue the kiss.
"I'm sure going to miss this," he said once he had pulled away, looking at me and caressing my bottom lip with his thumb.
Looking into his eyes I saw a sudden sadness that clouded the vibrant blue that was usually there. In an effort to erase it, I quickly reached out and placed my hands on the sides of his face, kissing him once again. Even though I had caught him off guard, he quickly recovered and returned the kiss with as much exuberance as before. A few moments later I ended the kiss before it could turn into something more. Now was not the time for sex.
"Are you ready to tell our friends?” I asked as I sat up straight and smoothed my clothes. “I'm sure it will be a cake walk compared to last night."
"How do you think they'll react?" Jensen looked out beyond the driveway toward the freeway and mud flats.
“Well, Karl seemed thrilled. I think Krissa will be excited for us and will probably say something about knowing it all along. I’m not sure about Aria, though … or Nate for that matter.”
“Gabe and Tyler will probably be fine with it. I agree with you about Nate and Aria. It seems like the two of you are always competing somehow." Jensen took a breath and then furrowed his brow. "I also think that Nate may still hold a torch for you.”
I looked at him to see if he was serious. He was stoic for a beat and then he was suddenly smiling from ear-to-ear, which earned him a punch in the arm. He grabbed ahold of me and nuzzled my neck through my hair.
“Even if he did, he’d never be able to take you away from me.”
I snorted at his comment. "Of course not. I wouldn't let him."
We had opted to take our friends out to The Armadillo, which was informal and also quite famous for their chicken nachos. When we walked in the door, I was reminded of the day Jensen and I had gone here after hiking. It was the same day I knew I was in love with him. It was ironic that this was where we'd be telling our friends the big news.
Not long after we’d walked through the doors, we were joined by Aria, Nate, Karl, Krissa, Ryan, and Tyler. The only one missing was Gabe. We vowed to call him later after first swearing everyone else to secrecy first.
While we were digging into the free chips and homemade salsa, and waiting for our two large orders of chicken nachos, I did my best to hide my left hand. Before we had even walked in the door, I twirled the diamond so it lay on the inside of my finger. The band was still fairly large enough to spot, but I figured the extra glitter from the diamond would attract too much attention. Krissa looked at me a few times with questions on her face, but she never did ask them. I was sure she knew something was up. Finally, it was Nate who broke the silence.
“Alright, what is this—the last lunch with friends before you college assholes take off?”
He was smirking and had his arm around Aria, who had her hand pretty high up on his leg under the table. She didn’t think we’d seen it, but we all knew. It made me smile for once.
“What, Mia?”
My head snapped toward Nate. “What? I didn’t say anything.”
“You were smiling,” Nate pointed out.
“Alright, alright.” Jensen made a motion with his hands normally used to settle crowds down. Apparently he thought I was giving away the news with my smile and decided to do the announcing himself. Standing up he said, “I did have an ulterior motive for bringing you all together. Actually, we had an ulterior motive.” Jensen glanced down at me and grinned wolfishly.
Krissa’s eyes widened and she looked at me and then to Jensen. Even though my hand was still hidden away, I was sure she knew what was up and tried to hide my excitement. When trying to figure out the right time to pull my hand out for everyone to see, Jensen did it for me. He reached down and grabbed my hand, pulling me up at the same time and holding my hand so that everyone at the table could clearly see the band on my finger. Jensen then let out a ‘whoops’ and turned the band around to show the diamond off.
“Mia and I are engaged!” he announced.
Embarrassment struck me for some reason and all I could do was stare at Jensen. Maybe I was afraid to see my friends’ reaction, but Krissa put me at ease with her excited exclamation of, “I knew it … I really did!” That was followed by subdued congratulations from Ryan. The rest of our friends began to clap and hold up water glasses for a toast. People seated around the restaurant looked over and shook their heads at our loud behavior.
“Wow, I can’t believe I’m hearing my man is off the market!” Tyler came around the table to give Jensen the typical guy hug. He leaned over and hugged me as well, whispering into my ear, “Congratulations, you two are meant for each other.” Smiling, I mouthed a thank you to Tyler as he went back to his seat with Karl following closely behind, smacking Jensen on the back just as he had at dinner the night before. I caught his wink, meant only for us. Krissa and Ryan were next, with Ryan shaking Jensen’s hand and Krissa giving me a giant hug.
“I knew he’d ask you,” Krissa whispered breathlessly into my ear as she hugged me.
“You two are so cute! You’re not getting married right away, are you?”
“No, of course not! I’m still in high school,” I hastily whispered back.
Aria and Nate were a different story. While the excitement of our engagement unfolded around them, the two seemed too surprised for words and kept looking at each other and trying to say something that would not come. It made me a bit uneasy waiting to hear what they were thinking. Even though
