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The bartender put two glasses in front of me, and I signed the check, billing the drinks to our room. I walked over to the table and put one in front of West before taking a seat next to him.

I held up my glass and grinned. “This calls for a toast. Here’s to Claude Aames, without whom none of this would have happened. We miss you, Claude.”

West and I touched glasses and sipped our drinks. “This is really good.”

I nodded. “Yes. Tonight calls for a good drink. This trip has opened my eyes to a lot of things, especially when it comes to the quality of my life.”

West’s face turned somber. “Oh? And what about it?”

“This past year, I’ve gone from just sleepwalking through my life since my divorce to actually living it. With you. By my side. I’ve fallen in love with biking again. It’s not just my job, it’s my passion, and you’ve helped me remember that I started building bikes for a reason.” My voice betrayed my feelings as I dipped my hand into my pocket and toyed with the token of my affections.

It took me a month to figure out how to measure his finger, and I finally figured out how to do it when he was asleep. Alexis had proposed to Stephanie not long after West’s accident. She’d said, “God, if I died without having that woman for my wife, how sad would that be?” It struck a chord inside me, too.

West smiled at me. “I’m glad I had you to guide me through this clusterfuck. If any of this changes one person’s mind regarding our community, I have you to thank.”

I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, baby boy, but I think you have yourself to thank. This was your brainchild, and you made it happen. That’s why—”

“There they are.” I turned to see Alexis, Stephanie, and May rushing through the bar, all smiles and giggles. It was nice to see them, but their timing sucked.

We all embraced and greeted each other, and the rapid-fire inquisition began. I scooted closer to West and took his left hand in mine. Maybe their timing wasn’t so bad?

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring I’d designed and had entrusted with a ring maker in New York. I’d picked it up the day before we left, and I was pleased with the results.

While May was asking West if he had hemorrhoids from the ride—which was a weird thing to ask—I gently slid it on his finger and leaned into his ear. “Please marry me.”

West jolted at my words and rubbed his thumb over the white gold band before he smiled. “No, mother, I don’t have hemorrhoids.” He then turned to me, “I’d be honored to marry you.”

The women went silent, which was a surprise to me. Alexis had a huge smile on her face, and May’s eyes were tearing up. “What did we miss?”

I turned to see Mom and Dad standing next to the table with big grins on their faces. Edmond was coming through the bar with a grin. Having our family with us was better than I could have planned.

“West has agreed to marry me.” I held up his hand to show them the ring with a diamond mounted in what looked like a bicycle rim. Biking brought us together. It felt perfect to have that symbol in the ring to remind us.

The ride to the Rainbow Equality Alliance offices was two blocks from our hotel, so West biked and I jogged. He nearly ran into a parked car admiring his ring, which made me laugh.

“Don’t make fun of me. I never thought about being a diamond girl, but I think it looks lovely on my finger. When do you want to jump?”

“Jump what?” I knew what he was referring to, but talking kept him from getting nervous, so I’d talk to him about anything all damn day.

We got to the crosswalk to turn down 19th Street from Market Street. West got off the bike to walk it across with the crowd, so I put my hand on his neck, caressing the soft skin under his hair.

“When do you want to jump into walking down the aisle? What kind of wedding do you want?” West waited for everyone to get out of the street before he got back on the bike. Our family was already at the venue waiting for us, and we were about ten minutes early, so there was no rush.

“I don’t care about the wedding. I want the marriage,” I answered honestly.

West grinned. “I love you. We’re driving the RV home, let’s swing through Vegas and do it. I don’t want to wait, and I don’t want anything fancy. What do you think about that?”

I kissed him there in front of the crowds of people going about their everyday lives. When I broke the kiss, I stared into his beautiful golden-brown eyes. “I think that’s perfect.”

And it was.

West had done a small press conference at the building, explaining his reason for doing the ride in the first place, and when we went into the building for cake and champagne, he discreetly gave the director of the Alliance a post-dated check for his personal donation to the organization. Now, we had to hope the check didn’t bounce because the Board might not vote for him to take over Aames Investments.

On Saturday, we attended the San Francisco Pride parade. West was invited to be the Grand Marshall, and I rode in the fancy convertible with him, waving to the thousands of folks lining the streets. It was a big party, and everyone was having a fantastic time.

That evening, we got into the RV and headed for Vegas. West fell asleep for a while but woke with a startle just outside of the city. “Where are we?”

“We just crossed the Nevada border. We should be in Vegas in about an hour. Did you have a nice nap?”