“Did you have fun tonight?” Hunter asks me, holding my hand in his, and I can feel the clamminess of it. I try not to get my hopes up again.
“It was fun, the ravioli was good,” I offer lamely, and he chuckles, turning his head toward mine and reaching on his tiptoes to kiss my lips. I kiss him back, letting myself fall into him. This is easy. Having his lips on mine reminds me that this is Hunter,myHunter. He would never let me fall; he will always protect me.
“You barely ate any of it.”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
He pushes open the door, and the lights are all off. There’s a slight glow coming from the backyard. Hunter leads me that way.
“I love you. I’m sorry I haven’t been showing it as well as I should have these past few days,” he says. I shake my head.
“No, it’s been perfect,” I tell him, and Hunter scoffs, pushing the back door open.
“No, it hasn’t been, but maybe this will make up for it.”
I lift my eyes up, and the backyard is covered in small tea lights. There’s a table in the center of the yard, and from afar it looks like… a letter? Like a folded-up piece of paper propped up against the elements.
I look at Hunter, and he tilts his head. I approach it carefully. Honestly, with my stealth, they should hire me for the bomb squad.
Behind the note is a framed photo of me and Hunter, both of us smiling widely. Not at the camera, but at each other. So much love and joy is radiating from this picture, I have to brush a tear out of my eye.
I pick up the letter, letting my eyes scan the words through the blur of moisture, and I let out a choked sob when I get to the end.
Turning around, Hunter is down on one knee, looking up at me and holding the ring in his hand.
“Adam, will you?—”
He doesn’t get the last words out before I’m hauling him off his feet and squeezing him to me, feeling his heartbeat in his chest match the rhythm of mine. And I know that home isn’t a place. It never has been. Home has been this man, and it always will be.
“Yes, for fuck’s sake yes,” I mumble into his ear. Tears are streaming down my face, but I don’t wipe them away. I bury my face into his shoulder and let my emotions escape me. He’ll anchor me. He maneuvers my hand and slips the cool metal band onto my finger.
“It’s about damn time,” a voice says, promptly followed by an “Ow, that hurt.”
I look over my shoulder and see six people staring at us from the side of the porch. Trent, Kian, Harley, Oliver, Cheryl, and Daniel. Our family.
“You did all of this?” I ask him, shock lacing my tone.
“They were supposed to get here the same day as us, but someone”—he cuts his eyes over to his best friend, and I see Kian shrink a little in on himself—“got sick and couldn’t get out of bed.”
“That’s why it took you so long? Collins, I was panicking,” I admit, ashamed of myself for ever doubting him.
“I know you were, but I didn’t want to do it without our family here. I wanted them to see the day we began the rest of our lives together.”
They come over and congratulate us. Harley and Oliver are tasked with picking up all the candles. Kian promised them a surprise if they got it done fast. I just think he didn’t want to be on clean-up duty.
I hold Hunter to me all night, taking in every moment and knowing that no matter what comes next, I’ll have him.
Forever.
BONUS
HUNTER’S PROPOSAL LETTER TO ADAM
Adam,
If you had told me that I would meet my future husband on move-in day my freshman year of college, I would have laughed in your face. I’ve read romance book after romance book, and I thought I knew what I wanted. But what I wanted was nothing. All I wanted was to love and be loved in return, but even then, it felt like an unattainable dream… Until you came along. My perfect counterpart, whom I love more than all the sunrises and lavender oat milk lattes.
With your grumpy personality that meshes perfectly with mine, I found a best friend. I found someone that I wanted to share a piece of my life with. I found someone I want to share my whole life with.
