Foes & Cons by Carrie Aarons (i am malala young readers edition .txt) 📗

pretty sure we snuck them even when you said we couldn’t have one.” I laugh.

“You crazy kids. I can’t believe we watched you grow from little babies to these … adults.” My mom wipes away a tear.

“Aw, come on, Mom, no tears yet.” I reach over to pat her hand.

She should save those for later. She doesn’t know it now, but she’s going to need them.

“And you have your whole futures ahead of you.” Todd looks my way, winking discreetly.

Of course, he is the only one who knows what’s happening tonight. After all, I had to ask his permission.

Tonight, during our celebratory graduation dinner at the fanciest seafood spot Brockden has to boast, I’m going to ask Blair to marry me.

She doesn’t know it, but I’ve got a ring in my pocket. It might be too soon, we might be too young, but I feel like I’ve been waiting a lifetime already to ask her to be my wife. I would have done it sooner, if I didn’t know that Blair would shoot me down and tell me she needs to finish college first. Well, jokes on her, I waited until the very minute she graduates.

Blair Oden has been my destiny from the minute I laid eyes on her. I’m not sure what the future will bring us, with my dream to join the family firm and hers to go off and be a political dynamo, but I know one thing for sure. She’ll be my wife, and we’ll figure the rest out together.

Okay, fine, I guess three people technically know about my proposal, but I had to lure Laura and Nate here somehow. Blair doesn’t know they’re coming in to surprise her and the two of them freaked out so much when I told them what was happening that there was no way they were missing it. The three of them are still thick as thieves, and we make bi-monthly trips to visit both of them in their separate cities. Glav, Matt, and I also make it a point to get together every few months, whether that’s for a division one football game or a night of stupid bro moments on a bar crawl. They’re going to start plotting the bachelor party the minute I tell them I put a ring on her finger.

One person who won’t be privy to our great news is Blair’s mother. After the final Christmas she showed up for, Blair decided it was time to cut the cancer out. She no longer returns her phone calls, not that they come anymore after the first year her daughter ignored her. We haven’t seen or heard from her in a long time, and it rarely affects Blair. She knows how much love she has in her life.

I watch as she searches the bleachers, looking for our little group. I stand, stick my fingers in my mouth and whistle loudly. Immediately, her gaze darts to me, even with the crash of noise and people all around. We just have that deep of a connection.

Blair’s mouth breaks into an even bigger smile as she shakes her head at my method of grabbing her attention. She waves, one hand over her head, at the five of us who are here for her. I wave back like a goofy fan, because technically that’s what I am.

My other hand ghosts along my pocket, where a small velvet box is waiting for her.

Along with the ring, in my pocket sits a folded up piece of notebook paper. Scribbled on it is a pros and cons list. On the pros side, I’ve written just one sentence:

Spend the rest of your life with me, feel my love every day, grow old together.

And on the cons side, I’ve written just one sentence:

You have to plan a wedding.

Over the years, Blair has informed me how much she doesn’t want the whole white dress, table assignment, big to-do shindig. But I know once we get engaged, our parents will be so over the moon that they’ll insist on a big, traditional wedding. I personally can’t wait, and I smirk each time I think about her having to sit through an appointment about florals, guest lists or napkin colors. I know it’ll all be worth it on that day, though, and she’ll see that, too.

Asking her to marry me is the nerve-wracking part, but the pros and cons list is just my personal touch. A do-over. One thing I should have made right a long time ago.

I’m doing it now, though, and I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she reads it, before I drop to one knee.

For the rest of my life, I’m going to show her that there are no drawbacks to loving her. She only makes me a better man. With her, my life is infinitely greater.

I hope I can do the same for her until we’re old and gray.

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Also by Carrie Aarons

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Standalones:

Love at First Fight

Nerdy Little Secret

That’s the Way I Loved You

Fool Me Twice

Hometown Heartless

The Tenth Girl

You’re the One I Don’t Want

Privileged

Elite

Red Card

Down We’ll Come, Baby

As Long As You Hate Me

All the Frogs in Manhattan

Save the Date

Melt

When Stars Burn Out

Ghost in His Eyes

On Thin Ice

Kissed by Reality

The Callahan Family Series:

Warning Track

Stealing Home

Check Swing

Control Artist

The Rogue Academy Series:

The Second Coming

The Lion Heart

The Mighty Anchor

The Nash Brothers Series:

Fleeting

Forgiven

Flutter

Falter

The Flipped Series:

Blind Landing

Grasping Air

The Captive Heart Duet:

Lost

Found

The Over the Fence Series:

Pitching to Win

Hitting to Win

Catching to Win

About the Author

Author of romance novels such as The Tenth Girl and Privileged, Carrie Aarons writes books that are just as swoon-worthy as they are sarcastic. A former journalist, she prefers the love stories of her imagination, and the athleisure dress code, much better.

When she isn't writing, Carrie is busy binging reality TV, having a love/hate relationship with cardio, and trying