"A little," Sam admitted, "But she's fine, I don't think there was any harm done. She was going to get rejected one way or another." He shrugged. "I care a lot more about you. And I do understand that, I really do. I still haven't shaken my own issues about relationships, either, not entirely. But it gets a little easier every day." He smiled at her, a little sadly. "The whole world pales in comparison to you, cricket. No one else is ever going to take me away from you."
He lifted her hand to his mouth, and kissed it. Vaguely, he wondered if there wasn't something he could do, truthfully. Would she feel more secure in her possession over him if there were a ring on his finger? He wanted one, had been thinking about proposing to her for months, but had been putting it off to the right moment.
Maybe he should do that sooner. Maybe he shouldn't wait until everything was perfect, until the day was right. Maybe the right time was when things were hard, and when she needed the certainty of him in her life the most. He'd had other reasons for waiting, wanting his brother to be able to genuinely celebrate it with him, but... that was selfish, wasn't it? If he was hurting her with the waiting, just as he'd accidentally hurt her at the beginning, when he'd wanted to keep things secret. He shouldn't wait, not if it was going to cost her.
But not right now. This wasn't the time or place for it, not even close. Following her gaze to look around the bar, he sighed. "If you want to go home, you can. I'll be home soon enough."