“Well, now that I’ve had time to think about it,” I said, scrunching up my face in concentration. Before I knew it, he had pushed me on my back and was straddling my hips. He dug his fingers into my ribs, knowing how ticklish I was there.
“I fucked a yes out of you last night and I’ll tickle it out of you right now,” he said, digging those fingers into my flesh and making me wiggle out of control. “What’s your answer?”
“Yes!” My shout echoed around the room. Jack smiled at me like he’d won an amazing prize. “My answer will always be yes.”
LIAM AND Icame back from Vermont a day early so we could visit with Ellie and baby Sofia. We made a stop at the Vermont Teddy Bear Company so we could buy a special gift for Sofia on our way home. I hadn’t given much thought to teddy bears before, but it sure was soft and cute.
Ellie looked exhausted when we arrived, but happy to show off her little bundle of joy. Everyone else had already dropped by earlier in the day so we got to enjoy a private showing. “She was so worth all the pain,” she said, rocking a sleepy Sofia.
I hadn’t quite figured out the dynamic with Bevan quite yet. I knew Ben a lot better than Bevan since we played on the same softball team that I sponsored over the summer. I had heard enough bits and pieces from Xavier, Chase, or Liam to know that Bevan wasn’t the biological father of her child, but you sure as hell couldn’t tell it by the smile that lit up his face when he looked down at the baby in Ellie’s arms.
Bevan gently lifted the baby from Ellie and placed her in Liam’s arms. I loved watching Liam holding babies. He was so gentle and loving as he checked her little fingers and piggies, as he called her toes. For the first time in my life, I could actually see myself with a family of my own. Liam gently kissed Sofia on the forehead and tried to hand her to me.
“I don’t know,” I told him. I had never held a baby and she looked really fragile. “I don’t want to drop her.”
“You won’t drop her,” Liam replied, smiling indulgently at me. He placed her in my arms with her head cradled in the bend of my elbow. Charlie came over and sat by my knees, curious to see what I held in my arms. He’d press his nose up to her blanket, but would jerk back when she moved. Although Charlie hadn’t spent a lot of time around kids, I was sure he would be gentle and protective of them.
I looked at her innocent little sleeping face and felt tugs in my heart I hadn’t quite expected. She was going to be one much loved little lady. “You sure are a beautiful little girl, Sofia. There will come a time when Uncle Jack will need to look pretty damn menacingly at boys who show up at your front door to take you out.”
“I’ll thoroughly vet the boys and their families and you can literally scare the crap out of them with that same scowl you use when some guy looks at Liam with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.” Bevan’s good-natured grin was followed by a laugh when I narrowed my eyes at him. So everyone had noticed how badly I wanted Liam, except Liam. “Were you able to get in touch with Joseph Merritt?”
“Actually, we just came back from a visit with Jeremiah,” I told Bevan. “It took Joseph a little while to get back to us, but we planned the trip as soon as he gave us the okay.” I explained to them about Jeremiah’s medical condition but how touching it was when he seemed to recognize the photo. “I can’t thank you enough for helping me to make it possible, Bevan.”
“I was happy to do it. Truly.”
Liam held the baby one last time before we gave her back to her mama. We didn’t want to stay too long, because it was obvious that they were all so exhausted. We were tired from the long trip back and were eager to get home and crawl between the sheets.
On our way home, I realized that we hadn’t told Ellie and Bevan our news. I started questioning the way I proposed to Liam. As much as we laughed and teased about it, he was right about my proposals being inappropriate, and one that we surely couldn’t tell our friends and family. Was that why he hadn’t said anything? Should I have waited until I had a ring? I knew that guys gave girls engagement rings, but is that what guys give other guys? It seemed like my proposal was fucked up beyond recognition, or FUBAR as we said on a mission. Then I remembered that Xavier didn’t give Ben a ring when he proposed so maybe it wasn’t a requirement.
Liam went upstairs with our luggage while I waited outside so Charlie could do his final business for the night. I expected Liam to either be in the shower or in bed by the time I returned, but instead I found him standing in the kitchen beside his early Christmas present. I had forgotten that Chase was overseeing the installation while we were away because of all the excitement over meeting Jeremiah, my impromptu proposals, and meeting Sofia.
“Jack, you shouldn’t have bought me something so expensive.” Liam ran his hand lovingly over the red bow Chase had tied to one of the double oven handles.
“Why not? I saw the way you drooled over Chase’s double oven the few times we’ve been over there and I wanted you to be happy. Besides, you weren’t impressed with the way your cookies have been turning out, although I thought they were perfect.” Liam cocked his head to the side. He was biting his lip which meant he was nervous or fighting back tears he felt he shouldn’t cry. I never wanted him to hold anything back from me. I’d never think him less of a man because he showed his emotions, in fact he was a bigger man than most that I had known. “I want you happy, Ace, deliriously so. God knows I don’t always say the right things and sometimes I don’t say anything at all. It’s just the way I’m hardwired, but I am trying to do better. There are times that I just want to show you how much your happiness means to me.”
“Jack.” I loved it when he whispered my name so lovingly.
I dropped to one knee in front of him. “Marry me, Liam.”
A bubble of a laughter escaped him followed by the sweetest smile I’d ever seen. “Already asked and answered, sir.”
“Say it again. I need to hear it. We’ll go pick out rings tomorrow if that is what you need for this to feel real to you.” I hoped he could see in my eyes the yearning for a future with him that I felt in my heart. “I want to tell our families and friends that we are taking this step together. They might look at us a little sketchy for moving so fast, but we know it’s right for us.”
“Sketchy?” Liam laughed at my choice of words. He tugged my hand until I stood up in front of him. “I don’t need the ring until our wedding day, but if you want me to wear one before, to show that I’m a taken man, then I will. Is that what you want?”
“Yes.” I hadn’t known that was what I wanted until he phrased it the way he had. I did want him marked as taken by wearing my ring, even if we weren’t married yet. In my heart, I already belonged to him and he belonged to me.
“It’s settled then. We’ll pick out rings and wear them to show our commitment. How are we going to tell everyone at once? Who do we choose to tell first? Our parents?” Liam pursed his lips in concentration.
“Why don’t you bake a cute cake or cookies in the form of an announcement and we can text it to everyone all at once.”Was my idea as lame as it sounded? Text the biggest news of our lives?
“I love it!” Liam’s eyes got big and he turned to look at his new double oven.
“You do?”
“It’s fun and quirky. Besides, how do we decide who learns first? Our extended families are huge!” He clapped his hands playfully. “I need to start planning,” he said with wide eyes. “People will notice our rings.”
I snatched his hand and began pulling him behind me toward the bedroom. “Tomorrow we will plan and then put said plan into action. Tonight, we make love and go to sleep.” A thought occurred to me on the way to the bedroom. “I still need to come up with a proposal worthy of telling. Sex proposal, cum proposal, breakfast in bed proposal, and now double oven proposal,” I said, naming all of my lame attempts. “I suck.”
