“You can have whatever you want. All defenses are down,” I say, chuckling.
“Whatever I want?”
He’s about to say more when my gaze zeroes in on the wall behind him. “The fuck is that? Is that… a roach?”
Dalton looks sleepy when he looks back, but then actually smiles at the sight of the disgusting insect. “Yeah, but that’s just Travis,” he says as if that explains anything.
I can’t breathe. This time for terrible reasons!
“What the hell? Is he yourpet?”
Dalton rises on his elbow, but even as he gives my lips a peck I can’t take my eyes of the cockroach, because I swear it moved. “Kinda. It’s just the one, so I didn’t have the heart to kill him.”
“There’s never just one, Dalton!”
He chuckles like this is a joke. “You said I can have anything. Can we take him to yours?”
I know he’s joking—because he must be—but I still wish I’d added terms and conditions to my promise. “I’m not adopting insects as pets. Over my dead body. Travis can choke to death on a sugar cube.”
Dalton laughs and rolls to his side but pulls me with him, so we’re still in a tight embrace. “What about this pest?” He points to himself.
I genuinely can’t stop thinking about the cockroach perched on a nearby wall, but if it hasn’t yet eaten Dalton from the inside or planted eggs in his brain, I think I’m safe enough for now. “I’m doing a good job at domesticating it.”
“Would you still love me if I was a cockroach?”
“No,” I say without hesitation, and he starts laughing so hard he has tears in his eyes, and I end up snorting with laughter, which I never do.
This is what I love about him, the easy way in which he can rail me like a monster then make me smile.
He is never stepping in this apartment after tonight, and by the end of next week, he will be my husband. I can’t believe I almost let such a catch slip out of my grasp.
Chapter 31
Dalton
Everyonelookslikeabug to squash when you’re in a monster truck. But this one is driven by a chauffeur and blasts “Marry You” by Bruno Mars, so I suppose there will be no squashing today.
I admit that I didn’t expect Corvus to agree to my request for our wedding ride, since he’s all about the gothic aesthetic, and the gothic revival church in a small Upstate New York town demands a carriage, or at the very least a fancy vintage car.
He is somewhat embarrassed by our choice of vehicle, and his family will surely poke fun at him for it, but he actually cares about fulfilling my dreams too. So here we are, arriving to our wedding in a monster truck and I’m having the time of my life.
Corvus must really love me to have agreed to this.
I lean in to kiss him when the monster truck parks as close as it can get to the church. One thing’s for sure, the Van der Horns are gonna remember this wedding until the end of their lives once I’m done putting my stamp on it. I might have gone a bit all-out with everything from the decorations to the food we’ll be having later, but I neverclaimed to be responsible with money. I choose to blame Daphne, since we did spur each other on. After all, if Corvus was unhappy with it, he would have made that known.
Instead, he slides his fingers to the back of my head and pulls me closer to the sound of some hooting and cheering down below.
I’m so proud of him. He’s been thrust into coming out, fell into the relationship with me, struggled with how he feels about his sexuality, and here he is, out and proud at my side.
He loves me. I know he does.
“Come on now, lovebirds, no stalling,” Remo says, shoving closer a movable set of stairs, complete with a railing adorned with black lace. He’s sporting a new bruise, even though the old one is still fading, but I suppose that for people like us it’s almost like wearing makeup. The right person loves a man with scars.
I know how many guests we’ve invited, but it’s still a shock to see the massive crowd filling the churchyard and spilling into the old graveyard. Fresh snow has fallen earlier today, and while it’s been swept from paths, piles of white fluff are draped on trees stretching their branches above the yard.
It gets dark early in January, but the silvery Christmas lights are still up, and they shimmer everywhere around us as my feet touch the ground.
For a moment I consider giving Corvus a hand on the last steps, but he doesn’t need my assistance. What hecoulduse is a warmer jacket and a hat, but my man is too vain and went with whatever suited the rest of his look best. It might be worth it, because he’s stunning in his elegance, dressed in all black, with just a burgundy cravat matching the color of my suit. His outfit isn’t particularly flamboyant, with theexception of the orchid in his breast pocket and a large bejeweled cross pinned to his tie, but Corvus doesn’t need to be flashy to stun, his sharp cheekbones and beautiful blue eyes do that for him.
