I chewed on my bottom lip. “Of course, I want Blaire. I was actually going to propose to her today. I was going to take her to the Century Tree on campus and, well, you know how I call her Blaire Bear?” Oliver nodded. “Well, the first time I told her I loved her, I gave her the Tenderheart Care Bear because he’s supposed to help people express their feelings. Stop smirking at me, asshole,” I grunted with a harsh scowl, and Oliver just rolled his lips in between his teeth to control his stupid grin. “Anyway, for the proposal, I got her the Wish Bear, and I tied a ribbon around his neck with the engagement ring attached. I was going to say something goofy like I wanted her to make my wish come true and marry me.”

Oliver stared at me before shaking his head. “You’ve got to be the stupidest motherfucker I’ve ever known. How many concussions did you get last year?”

“I know. It’s kinda dorky, but I don’t know… Care Bears are our thing, I guess,” I mumbled around my beer glass before taking a drink.

“I’m not talking about the proposal. I actually think it’s pretty fucking cool. I’m talking about you thinking she’s trying to trap you when you were going to propose to her anyway.”

Lightbulb moment. Well, shit. Ollie was right. It was ignorant as hell for me to think she was trying to trap me with a baby. Blaire had trapped me almost two years ago, and it had nothing to do with a pregnancy. She had captured my heart and given me hers in return.

I grinned at my brother. “I am a stupid motherfucker, but I’m about to fix that right now. I’ll stop by my house and grab the bear, and then I’ll head to her apartment and grovel like a sonofabitch before proposing.”

Abandoning the rest of my wings, I hopped off the stool and pulled out my wallet, but Oliver waved me off. “I’ve got it. Get the hell out of here and go get your woman.”

I sprinted toward the door but turned around and jogged back to Ollie, giving him a big smacking kiss on the cheek. “I’m gonna be a daddy!”

He laughed. “And I’m gonna be the coolest fucking uncle you’ve ever seen.”

“Don’t cuss in front of my baby,” I yelled as I ran to the door.

3. Blaire

Blaire

Five Years Ago

My brother put his arm around me and led me into the Verizon store. I looked up at him and said, “Thanks for sticking to me like glue today, Beau.”

“No problemo. That’s what handsome, sexy, caring, wonderful big brothers do.”

“You forgot to mention modest,” I said dryly.

“Yeah, that too,” he said with a shit-eating grin.