The Mechanic

-Chapter Thirty-

I grin crookedly. "Matt teased anyway. Just not about that."

That.

My mind spins around what it means as Femi smiles at me.

"You look ready to run," she whispers, chuckling. "Don't be scared."

"I'm not scared." I smile, stepping a hair closer.

She raises her eyebrows.

"I don't have a ring," I say softly, "but I have a piano. Would you take that as an engagement present? I'm afraid it's all I can handle at the moment."

She nods. "That sounds beautiful."

I dip my head to study her face, and she looks up at me almost shyly, the corner of her mouth turned up in an impish smile.

I return the smile, though mine probably looks foolish. I'm sure it does, actually.

Her eyes hold a smirk even as she blushes, crimson catching on her cheeks between patches of gingery freckles.

I chuckle.

Her left eyebrow rises.

I close my eyes, thinking, breathing, considering.

She sighs and her breath brushes my cheek. "This is all rather fast, don't you think?"

"I suppose." My eyes stay closed. "Do you mind?"

"Not much." The warmth of her breath hovers close to my face. "Do you?"

"Not at all." I open my eyes and turn them to her.

Femi smiles at me. "Do you ever mind, though?"

"No," I chuckle. "Not when it comes to being with you."

She wrinkles her nose, cheeks turning bright pink again. "Mechanic."

"Painter."

"You're so... sappy." She wrinkles her nose some more, but her eyes are sparkling with a joke.

"And you're good at escaping. Gotta be sticky when your girl won't stay around." I cock a careful grin, rubbing my bare arms.

"Fine, fine." She smiles teasingly, daring at last to look at me for longer than a split second. Her mouth opens to say something, but she doesn't, expression sobering.

"Shirt?" I suggest, grinning sheepishly.

She laughs, looking away, and tosses her hand in a "shoo" gesture. "Why not. Get to it."

I step away and snatch my t-shirt from yesterday off the floor before yanking it over my head.

Only then will she look back at me.

"Do you think we should tell Matt and Elena?" I ask.

She rolls her eyes slightly. "Oh, I wouldn't bother. They know more about our lives than we do."

"Do they?" I raise one eyebrow, laughing. I dare to step closer than I had been pre-shirt. "How do you imagine that is?"

She shrugs. "I told them that we were engaged."

I swallow. "It sounds different worded that way. How did they react?"

"El was all wedding plans and your brother cried."

I blink. "Cried?"

"Cried," she echoes, shrugging. "But I think he was happy. He wouldn't let me go for a few minutes. Something about his baby brother being old enough to have his own babies. Made him feel old, I think."