Forest rolled his eyes, but I caught the hint of a pleased smile tugging at his lips. “You’re just easily impressed. But I’ll take the compliment.”
The sound of voices at the front door made my chest swell with joy. Our friends were here. Creek and Heath walked in first, laughing at some joke between them. Bean and Jarek were right on their heels, Jarek’s arm slung protectively around Bean’s shoulders. His care for Bean always made me feel warm inside. Tameron and Dayton brought up the rear, carrying a bottle of wine and a six-pack of craft beer.
“Something smells amazing in here,” Tameron called out, setting the beer down on the kitchen island. “Not gonna lie, I do miss your cooking, Top.”
I waited until he faced me, then quirked an eyebrow. “Just my cooking?”
Tameron shrugged. “You’re pretty good at cleaning and keeping shit tidy as well.”
Dayton elbowed him. ‘Be nice,’ he signed.
‘This is me being nice,’ Tameron fired back, and the funny thing was that he wasn’t wrong. This was how we rolled, how we always had.
I grinned, wiping my hands on a dish towel. “What can I say, I’m a man of many talents.”
“And so modest too,” Forest teased, coming up beside me and pressing a quick kiss to my cheek.
I wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him close. “You love me, and you know it.”
“Mm, I suppose I do,” he murmured, leaning into me. “Most days, at least.”
“Get a room, you two,” Creek groaned, but there was no heat behind it. He looked genuinely happy to see us like this.
Bean handed Forest a wrapped present. “A belated housewarming gift. I saw it the other day, and it made me think of you.”
The fact that Bean had remembered Forest so specifically was in itself so rare that it almost made me tear up. And when I saw what Forest unwrapped, the emotions surged even more.
“So you can create a little herb garden,” Bean said quietly, gesturing at the set of terracotta pots Forest had unwrapped, followed by a stack of seeds. “I got the most common kitchen herbs so Nash can use them for cooking.”
What a perfect gift. Forest had developed quite the green thumb. Gardening was proving to be a soothing outlet. Forest’s eyes shone with gratitude and excitement as he inspected the herb garden kit. “This is perfect, Bean. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to get these planted.”
They hugged, and I had to swallow when I noticed how careful Bean was with Forest, how gentle.
Forest looked at me, his smile radiant. “We’ll have to clear a spot by the kitchen window. The light there will be ideal.”
I nodded. “Sounds great, babe.”
“Alright, alright, enough of the sappy shit,” Creek said, but his eyes were suspiciously shiny. “Let’s eat. I’m starving, and it smells too damn good in here not to dig in.”
Laughter filled the room as everyone began finding their seats. I caught Forest’s eye, my heart so full it felt fit to burst. He smiled at me, soft and private, a smile meant only for me.
I took my seat beside Forest, our thighs pressed together, his hand finding mine under the table. This closeness, this casual intimacy, still took my breath away sometimes. To think how far we had come, from two people thrown together by circumstance to a couple deeply in love and committed to building a life together… It was nothing short of a miracle in my eyes.
The conversation flowed easily as everyone dug into the meal. Creek regaled us with stories from his job as an Army recruiter, complete with dramatic reenactments that had the whole table in stitches. He’d already started on his journey to become a personal trainer once he could retire from the military—another straight-up miracle if you asked me. Heath watched him with fond exasperation, interjecting the occasional correction when Creek’s embellishments got a bit too outlandish.
Tameron shared about his work at Dax’s auto shop and how much he loved working on those old cars. He was restoring a vintage Mustang to its former glory now, and based on the pictures, he had his work cut out for him, but he seemed to relish the challenge.
And watching him speak and sign simultaneously was incredible. His fluency in ASL was impressive—a testament to how much he used it in his everyday life now. We all tried to speak clearly, since none of us were fast enough with sign language, but Dayton helped out where needed, and Forest jumped in a time or two as well.
Bean and Jarek were quieter, content to simply be in the presence of their chosen family. But I noticed how Jarek’s hand never left the small of Bean’s back, a constant reassuring touch.
I took it all in, sipping my beer. This easy banter, the laughter, the warmth—this was what mattered more than anything. This sense of belonging, of family. As I looked around the table at these men who had become my brothers, it struck me how much we had all grown and changed. The hardships we’d faced, both individually and together, had shaped us, but they hadn’t broken us. If anything, they’d made our bonds stronger, our appreciation for each other deeper.
Under the table, Forest’s thumb traced circles on the back of my hand, a small, comforting gesture that grounded me in the moment. I turned to him, drinking in the sight of his face, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed at something Creek said.
God, I loved him. Every inch, every quirk, every scar. He was the most beautiful person I’d ever known, inside and out. And somehow, miraculously, he loved me back just as fiercely.
I cleared my throat. “Now that we’ve all enjoyed a delicious dinner…”
