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Once the bottle was up on a high shelf where it wouldn’t accidentally get knocked over, he stood and surveyed the area. Even with all the new space in the basement, the supplies were still strewn about, so he began stacking the leftover boxes of drywall mud and the paint buckets. His muscles were pleasantly sore from all the work…and from that mind-blowing shower fuck the night before. It wasn’t the easiest place for that with Ian being so much shorter, but his lightweight body was fun to hold up. It was fun for everything.
He thought about Lucas’s mention of his wedding again. It had been eerily close to something he’d been thinking upstairs. Hollis had never planned to get married, never wanted to get married. But his Ian was a romantic down to his very core, and he would want the whole shebang. And though he’d probably be happy to propose, in his heart, Ian would want to receive a proposal. The knowledge had been simmering in the back of Hollis’s mind at all times. Would he change how he felt about the institution for Ian?
In a heartbeat.
Pausing in the middle of the room, he stared at the concrete floor as his body broke out into a cold sweat.
He was going to propose. And he did want to be married. He wanted the whole fucking shebang, too. Wanted to put a ring on his finger and let the world know Ian was off limits. Wanted that sweet man in his bed and in his life forever.
The image of the first time he’d seen Ian at Lucas’s penthouse formed in his mind, the day he’d felt a punch unlike anything he’d ever felt before. The lust had been instant, but when Ian had walked to him and handed him that soup, Hollis had taken one look into those sincere brown eyes and understood he wanted to know the man. Inside and out. And he’d turned out to be everything Hollis never knew he needed. He couldn’t imagine a future without Ian Pierce.
That day had been September 7.
That’s when he was going to ask Ian to marry him. And he’d find the perfect rings and dig really damn deep to come up with something that would delight his romantic boyfriend. He might even enlist one or two of his new friends for help with ideas, but he was going to do this. And do it right.
“You lingering down here hoping I’d come for some more loving?”
Hollis blinked back into the present, bringing those brown eyes he loved into focus. Ian looked a lot more alert than he had when they’d arrived this morning. And fuck, he was cute. He apparently did have old clothes he could get dirty but fit his taut body so much better than the baggy ones he’d borrowed from Rowe yesterday. And they still had that unique, fashion-conscious flare Hollis would never completely get. He wore dark blue skinny jeans with cuffs and tattered areas of white thread in the thighs, and a fitted beige T-shirt—probably designer—that did look as if it had been through the wash a few times.
Yeah, he was most definitely cute, but he was also sexy as hell and as usual, Hollis’s body took notice. It was a wonder any blood made it to his brain when Ian was around.
Something in his expression must have surprised Ian because he halted, tilted his head to the side, and regarded Hollis with an astute gaze.
“You look like you’re up to something, but you also have this sort of…I don’t know how to explain it, euphoric expression.” He looked around. “What is it about this basement?”
“It’s not the basement. I was just remembering the day we met. When you told Lucas, ‘You always love me hard because you know that’s how I like my loving.’ It made me think of last night.” Hollis crooked his finger and lowered his voice. “Come here.”
Ian took a quick step back, shaking his head. “Well, you know that better than anyone now, but no. I recognize your expression and if I get close, we’re going to do something that will actually get us caught this time. Sven returned with the food and they are all around the top of the stairs. Yesterday was unusual for me—I’d rather not have an audience.”
Hollis knew that. It was why he’d been so surprised when Ian had dropped to his knees. He groaned thinking about it. “Just a kiss, GQ. Come on.”
“You’re bad. You know I can’t resist you.” Ian walked to him, stopping so close he had to tilt his head back to look at him. He stretched up on his toes. “One kiss. I mean it.”
Hollis cupped his neck and stared at him, almost giddy with the knowledge that he was going to tie himself to this man for life. He wasn’t even sure he could wait to ask until September now that he’d decided he wanted it more than anything.
