We took our time eating, reviewing our strategies that day, and then talking about general things, life things, wild vacations we could take now that we didn’t have to worry about traveling on false passports.
The sun was bleeding all over the sky, still refusing to die, when Angelo asked tentatively, “Can I ask you something, kid?”
“Anything,” I replied, surprised.
He took another sip of his wine before he went on. “How do you think your family would feel about…well, this? You being with me?”
It still stung every time I thought about my family. It always would. But these days warmth and love spread through me along with the pain. I couldn’t deny I’d often wondered what my parents, my brother, would have thought of Angelo. The truth was, if they’d lived, I never would have met him. Never would have taken this path. But if in some alternate universe I had been lucky enough to have all of them, my family and Angelo too… “They would have been happy for me. For us. There would’ve been some teasing about the age difference, sure, but my parents were always happiest whenIwas happy.”
Angelo nodded, twisting the stem of his wine glass in his fingers. “And…doyouever mind the age difference?”
I laughed straight out at that. “Mind? No. When we first, you know…” I waved a hand, ducking my head with a little embarrassment as I admitted, “It was hot. It still is, when I think about it. But Idon’tthink about it most of the time. We’re just…us.”
“We’re equals,” Angelo said, nodding as though my answer had satisfied him.
We would never be equals in some ways, but I didn’t point that out. Angelo would always be someone I looked up to, someone whose skills and judgment would always surpass mine. But I liked it that way. A little hero-worship in a relationship wasn’t a bad thing, I thought, as long as it didn’t blind me to the reality of the man.
I knew who Angelo was. The things he’d done. I loved him not because of them, or despite them. I simply lovedhim.
I got up to take the dirty plates off the table. “Weareequals,” I said as I took his, leaning down to casually kiss his lips. “So you’ll believe me when I tell you, it waswaymore than a hundred yards.”
Chuckling, Angelo followed me into the kitchen with some of the leftovers. “Leave this for now,” he said, nodding at the dishes. “Let’s take a walk on the beach. Enjoy the sunset.”
Our beach wasn’t private to us alone, but it was shared between only a few of the houses along the coastline, and there was no public access. We had it to ourselves that Tuesday night, and Angelo had never looked more gorgeous to me than in the golden and red sunset that reflected off the water.
We walked slowly, hand-in-hand, saying little and simply enjoying the moment. We paused at one point to watch the sun as it began its final descent into the ocean. “Are you enjoying our new life?” Angelo asked, as we both faced the horizon.
“I am. But all that traveling we did—I kind of miss it. We should take a vacation somewhere soon.”
“We could go to Vegas again,” Angelo suggested. “See how things are doing. And maybe while we’re there, I could make an honest man out of you. Imagine Sonny’s face.”
I laughed at the idea of Sonny Vegas having to host us again. “That would be…” I trailed off as I registered exactly what Angelo had just said, and turned away from the spectacular sunset to stare at him instead. “Wait. Honest man out of me? Do you mean—” I broke off, my mouth hanging open, as Angelo pulled a small jewelry box from his Zegna pants pocket and got down on one knee in the sand.
“Yes,” he said. “Idomean. What do you think, Babyface? Maybe we’ve had an unconventional courtship, but I’m a traditional man at heart. I’d like to make vows to you.”
He opened the box. Inside were two rings, one for each of us, thick gold bands polished to a shine and nestled into a dusky blue velvet background. They were as classic and elegant as Angelo himself.
“Baxter Flynn,” Angelo went on, looking up at me, “will you marry me?”
I was so surprised that I said entirely the wrong thing. “Those pants cost three thousand dollars,” I choked out.
“My pants can get ruined for all I care. What’s your answer?”
I looked from the rings to Angelo’s unforgettable face, and then looked a little closer. He was actuallynervous.
As if there wereanydoubt about my answer.
I sank to my knees in the sand there with him and wrapped my hands around his. “Of courseI’ll marry you,” I told him.
And for quite some time after that, no more words were needed between us.
* * *
We madeour way back to the house when our kissing on the beach moved from passionate to downright X-rated, and although I wanted to pause downstairs and take it further right there, Angelo insisted we go up to the bedroom. When we entered it, already half-stripped of our sandy clothes, I saw why he’d pressed the issue: the bed was strewn with white rose petals.
“What the…when did you do this?” I demanded, stopping dead just inside in the doorway. Angelo had to push me further into the room.
“While you were grilling the steaks.” He paused. “I thought it would be romantic. You don’t like it?”
