From Best Friend To Fiancé (Savannah and Roman) novel Chapter 126

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**Chapter 81: You’re Sleeping With Me Tonight**

The soft thrum of Roman’s car engine created a steady rhythm, filling the quiet space between us as the urban landscape slipped by outside. Familiar sights flickered past the window, each one a snapshot of our shared history. There were the cozy little restaurants where he’d whisked me away during lunch breaks, the quaint bookstores I had shamelessly raided, racking up a tab that was all on him. Each place tugged at my heart, evoking bittersweet memories I had convinced myself were more significant than they truly were.

My fingers danced restlessly against my lap, searching for something to anchor them until they found the engagement ring resting on my finger. That cursed ring. I twisted it absentmindedly, the cool metal gliding easily around my knuckle. With every rotation, my chest tightened, a knot of anxiety forming. Sooner or later, I would have to return it to him. Perhaps tonight, or maybe tomorrow. Or maybe, just maybe, I could keep avoiding that moment indefinitely. But the thought of relinquishing it felt like parting with a piece of my very soul. Yet, I couldn’t bear the idea of insulting him or, worse still, disrespecting his mother, if this ring had once belonged to her.

“You can stop me right there,” I murmured, my voice barely rising above the hum of the engine as I pointed toward the faint glow of my neighbor’s apartment windows. My throat tightened, and I slipped the ring from my finger, cradling it in my palm. It appeared so small in my hand, yet the weight of it felt monumental.

Roman’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, his knuckles whitening. “Not tonight,” he declared, his voice brooking no argument. He didn’t even spare me a glance, his focus unwavering on the road ahead. “You’re sleeping with me tonight. I can drive you back in the morning if that’s what you want.”

A rush of heat surged through me, so sudden and electrifying that it took me by surprise. That one command sent a flurry of sparks racing across my skin. I swallowed hard, trying to process his words. “I… I don’t understand.”

His lips curled into a humorless smirk, a flash of something darker lurking behind his eyes. “Reese thinks we’re truly engaged. So put the ring back on. That bastard knows me too well to believe I’d let my fiancée spend the night apart from me. If he sees me dropping you off, he’ll start snooping around.”

With trembling fingers, I slid the ring back onto my finger, my mind racing. How on earth did he know I had taken it off? His eyes hadn’t left the road, yet he seemed to sense everything. Roman always had a way of noticing far too much.

As the car glided down my street, it turned into the upscale neighborhood where Roman’s house stood, a fortress of affluence and expectation. The air felt different here—thicker, heavier, almost stifling. I straightened in my seat, my heart racing like a drum in my chest.

“He’s already bragged to my father and anyone else who will listen that he’s met my bride,” Roman’s voice dropped, thick with tension as he navigated a corner. “I wouldn’t put it past my father to have his eyes on you.”