“It’s one of my favorite parts in Alice in Wonderland. Alice asks the White Rabbit, ‘How long is forever?’ The White Rabbit answers, ‘Sometimes just one second.’ This”—he kissed my lips—“this feels like forever right here.” He stared into my eyes. “How can I not wish for that?”
Chapter Twenty
Veronica
“Wait, back the fuck up. What?” Kara’s eyes were as round as saucers while she gaped at me like a fish.
It had been a few hours since Caleb dropped that bomb about getting married. I’d tried to forget about it because…surely he’d been joking? But it kept creeping into my mind, gnawing at me. Deciding to tell Kara, I waited until the end of our shift. I sat at my desk, watching her count the cash from the till.
“You heard me,” I said.
Kara blinked once, twice, thrice. “He…proposed? You shitting me right now, Strafford?” She waved the wad of cash in her hand at me.
I laughed. “He didn’t downright propose, but he implied it.”
“Well, fuck.”
I nodded. I didn’t know how to feel about it either, even now. Part of me was horrified. Horrified that this was happening all too fast. He couldn’t possibly have meant what he said. But the other part of me, the one that wanted
to hope, the one that was falling—falling for Caleb, yes, that part—was trying to come out. And I was barely holding on to her leash.
“What did you tell him? Fuck. I have to count all over again now.” She shook her head and placed the cash back in the till so she could give me her full attention.
“Nothing.” I shrugged. “Should I have said something? How can I believe what he’s saying when we’ve only known each other a few months, Kar? It’s not possible.” I glanced up at her. “Right?”
She pursed her lips. “I don’t know, Ver. Did Lockhart say the big L word to you?”
I shook my head. “He didn’t.”
“Well, psh. And he proposed?”
“He didn’t really propose, but—”
“Dude’s horny. He’s either in love with you, or he’s horny,” she pronounced, clucking her tongue. “Or both.”
I stared at her. “What?”
“He’s horny like a unicorn during mating season.” Kara shrugged as if it was the most obvious problem and she had just solved it. She walked over to her desk, opened a drawer, and grabbed her compact. She started powdering her nose.
“Well…”
“Guys are sweet on you when they’re horny. Cameron is…was like that. Lockhart needs to get laid.”
I laughed. “Well, I don’t think he’s going to get it from me.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why do you bullshit yourself so much?”
“I… What?”
Kara rolled her eyes. “You give good advice to other people, but you can’t figure out what to do with yourself. Seriously, Ver, think about it. The guy came to my house to pick you up for an exam that you forgot about and brought you clothes. He’s pretty much become your manservant, and he lets you live in his apartment for free. What the hell more do you want him to do? Donate his balls for you?”
I closed my eyes. When she put it that way… I knew he liked me, but I wasn’t sure how long that was going to last. Caleb might be sincere now, but nothing lasts forever.
“You think someone like Caleb couldn’t possibly commit,” Kara deduced, applying a layer of shocking-pink lipstick. It looked really good on her.
“You’re a mind reader now too? That shade is totally your color, by the way.”
She nodded. “I know, right? It’s a cruelty-free lipstick, and it was on sale! I bought three in different shades. I’ll show them to you later. Anyway, I have a vagina, Ver. I know this. I feel this in my soul. I get you.”