As it turns out, the man Andy fell in love with is more of a mystery than she first thought. When they give their relationship another chance, it's not long before Lex's secrets begin to unravel, threatening their happily ever after.
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Leaving would be much harder than expected. We were going home to Seattle, but it felt like I was leaving home. One last lunch together, and then Lex and I would hit the road.
Had our plans remained what we originally intended, I would have been impatient to get back to Seattle and to Lex. But since I had him here with me, I didn't feel the need to go back home. Although, he had pointed out that we'd go back to 'unlimited amounts of slex.'
I was confident he would tease me about the word for years to come.
The morning was spent cleaning up everything in the aftermath of the party, although most of it had been handled already by a few altruistic guests who'd help put everything in order. After sweeping the floors, I went to my dad's study, knowing he and Lex were working together on the app destined to my mother. It wasn't quite ready yet, but almost.
I found them behind the desk, focused on the screen, and the sight was rather touching. They looked up when I entered, the light reflecting on their glasses.
"MC's looking for you. She wanted one last game of Scrabble," I told Lex as I came closer.
"Ah, yes. I promised her I'd give her another occasion to get her revenge. Is it okay if I leave?" he asked, turning to my father.
After an encouraging nod, Lex stood from his chair and walked toward the door. As he passed by me, he gently brushed my arm, offering me a tender smile.
"Need any help?" I asked once my dad and I were alone.
"I think we're good, but another pair of eyes is always welcomed." I sat where Lex had just been, the chair still warm, and leaned on my elbow to get closer to the screen. "I think your fiancé caught everything already. He's very, very good at this."
"He is, yeah. But he's not my fiancé."
"Oh, he will be." There was a moment of silence, where I pretended to be reading the script on the screen but was really just fantasizing about calling Lex my fiancé at some point. "He asked for permission, you know?"
"What? For what?"
"He asked for my permission to propose to you." My heart stopped, just like my breathing and my brain. Holy shit. What? No. What?
With my jaw hanging low, I turned to my dad, confused and lost. Had Lex seriously done that?! "He really asked for your blessing?"
"Well, it was a little unconventional, but I think he is an unconventional man in general. When I told him it was a little too early for my tastes, he explained how he didn't intend to ask you right away, but he said he would most certainly marry you in the future, so he'd rather we talked about it early on. He seemed worried he might impulsively propose at some point, and he wanted to make sure things were done properly."
That was such a Lex thing to do. Pragmatic and efficient, getting this out of the way. Of course, it was too early to ask my father. They were meeting for the first time; the man needed to make himself an opinion over the kind of man Lex was. But Lex hadn't thought that way, only considering the general efficiency of it.
