Roman glanced down at Ezra’s device, now resting on the table. “Do you have any more questions for me, cutie?”
“Not at this time. What about you? Do you have any questions for me?”
“There is one thing I wanted to ask,” Roman said, a little unsure as to how to begin. “I know myself pretty well. I’m pretty slow to trust and a little bit… territorial. Somewhat possessive…”
In the prolonged silence that ensued, Ezra said, “I’m happy to wear only your jersey from now on.”
Roman smiled because he wasn’t too far from the mark. “I want only you, and I want for you to want only me. I want us to be monogamous for the foreseeable future. I don’t know what our marriage will look like in ten or twenty years, but I think it would be very hard for me to share you with anyone else. I think that would hurt me badly.”
“I don’t want anyone else,” Ezra said simply. “You have my body, my mind, and my heart. You probably have my soul too, if you believe in such things.”
“And if you get curious?” Roman asked.
“I know what I like. I only tried broccoli because you asked me to do it. I would have been content to never know what it tasted like covered in American cheese, which was not good by the way.”
“Yes, you’ve told me that once or twice,” Roman said with wry grin.
“You’re the only one for me, Roman Reynolds.” Ezra trailed a finger along his beard. “You’re myXanthopan morganii praedicta.”
“And what’s that, cutie?”
“It’s the Madagascan sphinx moth, the one with the long proboscis,” Ezra said as if it should be obvious.
Roman smiled and was touched by Ezra’s words. “You’re the only one for me too, Ezra Powell, and yours is the only orchid I want to be pollinating.”
Ezra emitted a happy little sigh at that. “Now, that we have that covered, I think there is another question you’d like to ask me?” His smile was radiant as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the black velvet box.
Roman briefly considered going down to one knee, but this was the position where they’d always been most comfortable, Ezra on his lap with Roman’s arm draped around him, holding him close.
“Ezra Powell, you are the most interesting, thoughtful, and loving man I’ve ever known. You take such good care of me, and I want to take good care of you too, now and forever. Will you give me the honor of being my husband and marry me? Pretty please?”
Roman cracked open the box and even though it was not a surprise and Ezra knew exactly what to expect, his hands still fluttered to his open mouth and his eyes grew misty with tears.
“Yes, I would love to marry you.” He stuck out his hand so that Roman could place the ring on his slender finger, right where it belonged. His smile, which mirrored Roman’s own, was about a mile wide.
“I can’t believe you’re going to be my husband!” Ezra suddenly exclaimed.
“Believe it, cutie, because it’s true.”
22
Tighter
Roman married the love of his life that summer, just a couple of weeks after Ezra’s graduation with the ceremony being held in a non-denominational chapel in downtown New Orleans. Roman wanted it to be intimate and Ezra didn’t care for crowds, so their guest list totaled at around two dozen people. Jay stood at Roman’s side as his best man and Ezra chose his mother as his best woman.
Ezra wore an orchid bloom tucked into the lapel of his smart purple suit, and as they recited their vows to one another, Roman knew that he was the luckiest man on the planet. Or rather, the universe.
“I love you, Ezra Reynolds-Powell,” Roman whispered after kissing his new husband and sealing their commitment before the eager faces of their loved ones.
“I love you too, Roman,” Ezra said, starry-eyed and smiling up at him.
Dev was among the guests Roman greeted after the ceremony, and while shaking his hand heartily, said to his rival with a good-natured grin, “the long game just got a little longer, huh Dev?”
Dev only shrugged, nonplussed. “I’ve never shied away from a challenge.”
“Keep me on my toes then,” Roman said before catching up to Ezra and escorting him into the backseat of his Escalade, driven by his best man.
“Just because you two got married doesn’t mean you can start ignoring me,” Jay said. “After all, I’m the one who brought you knuckleheads together.”
