Christopher’s laughter came through the speakers. “Yes, Julia. She would hunt me down and kill me slowly if I even thought about looking at another woman.”
“I know about fourteen men that would be at your door faster than you could run away if you hurt one hair on that woman’s head. Not to mention the woman who would be after your ass. Smarter and safer for you to marry Julia. You did the proper thing and asked Kevin for her hand in marriage, right?” Rick had strongly suggested that Christopher ask permission to marry Julia.
“When did you get to be such a mother hen? Yes, I asked Kevin and Brittany for their permission. I went down there to look at a house with Julia and we went out to dinner. When Julia went to the bathroom, I asked. Brittany started crying and I thought Kevin was going to kill me for that, but he had tears in his eyes too. They gave me their blessing right as she gotback to the table. All she saw was her parents upset and…oh Lord, let me really never upset her like that again.” Christopher chuckled. “I was sitting there with my hands in the air, trying to defend myself from whatever she thought I had done. Her parents were talking over each other, trying to calm her down. Finally, I reached over, put my hands on her cheeks and stopped her ranting with my mouth. Took a minute or so for her to melt. When I pulled back and then whispered, ‘Will you marry me?’ Never thought I’d see her speechless when we had all our clothes on but she got her voice back and said yes.”
Rick couldn’t believe it. His brother was getting married and asked him to be his best man. Rick cleared his throat, a little emotional himself. When he could speak, he responded with the only answer, “Absolutely.” A rap on the window made Rick turn before he could say anything else. Coop stood next to his car with a questioning look on his face. “Send me the information and we’ll be there. Let me know what you want me to wear. Correction, let me know what Julia wants me to wear. Uniform. Tux. I know I can speak for Coop with this. We are so happy for you. Love you, big brother,” Rick said, then ended the call.
“Hey, Soldier Boy, what’s got you sitting in your car instead of coming inside?” Coop asked as he pushed Rick back into the side of the car and took a hard kiss. Damn, his man could reduce him to a puddle in an instant.
When the kiss ended, Rick put his forehead against Coop’s and whispered, “Marry me?” He wasn’t sure where the words came from but the timing seemed right. They had a long talk driving home from the funeral. The pros and cons. When. If. Why. Did they really want to be married? With Coop not riding anymore and coaching, he was free to move around with Rick. With the deployment looming on the horizon, Rick wanted Coop to be protected. To have the rights of being a military spouse. Tohave the support of the other spouses and the military behind him. Oh, Rick knew that Drew and his family would be there for Coop if something happened to Rick but he wanted—no, he needed to know that Coop would be taken care of. Maybe Rick had been paying attention more when they’d had their briefing the other day than he realized.
Coop took so long answering that Rick began to fidget. Shit. Maybe he’d fucked up. “Never mi—”
“Don’t you fucking dare take that back. I am marrying you. Whenever and wherever you say. I was startled that you asked me when we’re standing in the parking lot with you covered in dirt. I’m not sure why I was. But I know that I love you with all that I have in me. I might be traveling around with the circuit but you know that I will do everything I can to be there for you,” Coop said before placing a soft kiss on Rick’s lips. “Now, let’s go inside. Get you a shower. And then plan for the rest of our lives.”
“Sounds like the best offer I’ve had in a long time,” Rick said as he twined his fingers with Coop’s and walked beside his fiancé into their home. “Want to help me get this dirt off? Even though I know dirt is one of your favorite things.”
Coop’s laughter echoed through their condo. Yup, going to watch that street race had been the right decision.
Epilogue - Coop
Coop had a made-up little song going through his head as they got up. While he fixed their coffee, he even did a little dance. They’d gone to Rick’s brother’s wedding to Julia this past weekend and now all he could think about was when he was going to marry Rick. Thus…the song.
I’m getting married. We’re getting married. It’s our turn and we’re gonna be awesome. We’re gonna be happy. We’re getting married.
It ran in a loop, and perhaps he needed to add more words, but honestly he didn’t care. He hummed as he brought a mug of coffee into Rick. “Good morning, Soldier Boy…” he sang.
“You’re too happy this morning.” Rick rubbed his eye with a fist. He was so adorable, and Coop was privileged to see that cute face every day—well, almost every day—for the rest of his life.
“It’s our turn next, you know? We’re going to get married, and I’m so fucking happy, dude.”
That made Rick smile and reach for the coffee. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Coop sat on the bed beside his fiancé. Wow, he had a fiancé. “So, what are you doing today?” Coop was heading to the track. He had two things he needed to do. One was a coaching session for Nate, but the other was testing a couple of bikes. Since coaching didn’t pay as much as winning a race, he felt he needed to add some more income here and there, and a few teams were now shipping bikes out for him to test. He was damned good at it too, and the demand was growing. Today’s ride was going to be two 450 bikes for Apex. So, he was thrilled. But he didn’t really want to leave Rick on his last day off.
Rick gave him a shrug. “I don’t know. Nothing. We have a lot coming up to get ready for starting bright and early tomorrow, so…”
“So you’re going to play sloth?”
“Maybe.”
“I have a better idea.”
Rick snorted a laugh. “You always have better ideas.”
“Well, this one involves me and you and bikes. Come ride with me, Rick.” The expression on Rick’s face was shifting into decision mode. He was probably weighing pros and cons. Well, it was what Rick did, but Coop wanted to play to his more playful side. So he had to up the stakes. “I dare you.”
“What?”
“I dare you. Come on. I double-dog-dare you. Can you hang with this, Soldier Boy?” Coop ran a hand down his chest and did a little dance, wiggling his hips.
His antics cracked Rick up, which was Coop’s intention. “Alright, my sexy Hot Wheels. You’re in. I’ve never rode a motorcycle, though. You’re going to have to teach me.”
“No problem. Haven’t you heard? I’m coaching racers now.”
Rick rolled his eyes, but he got up. They showered together, getting each other off of course, then dressed and jumped in Coop’s new truck. He felt it was beyond time to get one. Look at him being an adult.
In the end, for the sake of time, one of the racers, Craige Lee, spent time working with Rick on how to ride. He was hanging out waiting for his coach, Cameron Reagan, whose flight had been delayed. So he volunteered. Coop always took Craige to bea little bit of a cranky-ass, but as long as he treated Rick nice, he was okay with it. While they worked on riding 101, Coop coached Nate around a few laps.
