I should have been more hurt than I was. I should have thought it to be some kind of oversight that Cory wasn’t as invested in our future as he pretended to be, but I knew him better than that. Ring or not, Cory was it for me and I was it for him.
He returned with a box in his hand that looked just like the one he’d held when he proposed to me. I stood and met him at the fire pit, taking the box and flipping open the lid. The band was simple, understated, a perfect match to mine. Staring down at it, I was at a loss for words, everything tangled in my throat.
“Let’s go inside,” I heard Morgan say, and then it was just Cory and me on the patio, the valley stretching out behind me and my future less than a foot in front of me.
“Are you mad I didn’t tell you I had one too?” he asked.
I shook my head, still fighting for words.
Pulling the band out of the box, I held it gently between my thumb and my forefinger, then I did the only thing that felt right.
In front of Cory, I sank down to my knees.
CHAPTER 9
Cory
Reeseon his knees had never been a more beautiful sight. When I’d proposed to him, I hadn’t thought to bring out my ring or tell him I had one. It wasn’t that I was trying to hide him—I wasn’t. Or that I didn’t want to wear the ring—I did. It was that Reese was mine and I was his, ring or no ring. Watch or no watch. Hoodie or no—okay, maybe I wouldn’t go that far.
“Cory.”
Reese’s voice didn’t tremble. He was far steadier than I suddenly felt. I sucked in a breath and held it, willing my knees to stay sturdy enough to keep me on my feet.
“I know you already asked, and I know we’re already engaged, but I want to ask you. I want you to…” He paused. Swallowed his nerves. Took a breath. He looked up at me with so much love in his eyes that I couldn’t breathe for how bright he burned.
“I want you to be mine,” he said. “Be my Dom. My husband. My hoodie-stealing partner. Be my forever. Please?”
The corners of my mouth turned up, and a lump of emotion clogged my throat. “You ask as if I’m not yours already.”
I reached for him and stroked my fingers through his hair, then offered him my hand. “You ask as if I haven’t been yours from the moment I laid eyes on you.”
Reese slipped the ring on my finger, then dropped his hands into his lap. I bent at the waist, cradling his face in my hands. My lips brushed against his once. Then again. Then I knelt down in front of him like we’d done before. That one time near the beginning of all this.
He whimpered when I deepened the kiss. His hands fluttered at my waist, then sank into my hips before he dragged them up my sides. Before he wrapped his arms around me and held on for dear life as I kissed him deep. Kissed him with every bit of passion and lust and love I had until my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest.
I pulled away because I needed air, and because we still had company. Though I knew Reese and Morgan were close, I didn’t think they were watch-your-best-friend-get-stuffedl-like-the-Thanksgiving-turkey kind of close.
“We have company, darling. But as soon as they’re gone, we’re going to celebrate all the things we have to be thankful for.”
Reese groaned, then turned his attention to the house. “Can we kick them out yet?”
“Now, now, be a good friend and let Morgan come back out. She did a good job not ruining my surprise.” I got to my feet, then extended a hand to Reese and helped him to his feet. After tugging him against me and stealing one final kiss, I ushered him inside where Morgan and Annie waited in the kitchen.
Morgan, upon seeing us, popped the cork off a bottle of champagne and poured some into four flutes. “I hope you don’t mind that I raided your champagne stash.”
“It wasn’t much of a stash. There was just the one bottle.” I slid my arm around Reese and let myself melt into his side. I wasthankful that we had Morgan and her new friend—her words—to share the moment with, but mostly I wanted to get through to the part where they left, and I had Reese all to myself again.
Morgan cleared her throat and raised her glass. “Regardless of what this champagne might have been saved for, today is a special occasion that demands to be celebrated. Reese, I’m so fucking happy for you. You deserve someone who treats you the way Cory does. Who worships you the way he does.”
She turned to me next. “And, Cory, don’t ever make me keep a secret from him again. I can’t do it. It’s too hard.”
The room broke out into laughter, and we gently clinked our glasses together.
“Never again, I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Morgan said. Then she glanced at Annie. “You said you had that early meeting, right? So we should probably go. Besides…” She glanced at her phone. “Our Uber just pulled up.”
Annie looked puzzled. “Early meet—” She stopped herself when Morgan gave her a pointed look, the realization of what Morgan was getting at hitting her. “Right. The early meeting. Sorry to cut things short. It was lovely meeting you both.”
