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“You okay?” I asked, breathless.
“Yeah. We’re just playing around,” he said. His eyes twinkled up at me and I noticed from that close up just how flushed and happy he was. It made my heart hammer fast and hard in my chest.
Lucky clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Aww, how sweet. Ash’s knight in shining T-shirt.”
Xander and Bennett stood behind him, chuckling at Lucky’s comment while I reached out to scoop Ash up in my arms.
“Fuck! Put me down,” Ash said through a laugh. “What the hell are you doing?”
“If I’m the knight then you’re the maiden. I’m taking you back to the castle and locking you in a tower so I can have my wicked way with you.”
I got as far as the blanket before I set him down. Bear was excitedly yipping and jumping around, trying to get close enough to lick Ash’s face. Ash was laughing and trying to shove the beast off. When they finally settled down, I leaned forward and kissed Ash lightly on the mouth.
“Having fun?” I asked quietly between kisses. I could vaguely hear Lucky in the background moaning and groaning about gross adults kissing.
“So much fun,” Ash panted. “More kisses, please.”
“Always,” I said before leaning in and obliging him.
Bear nudged himself between us, insisting on his own kisses. Bennett, Xander, and Lucky joined us on the edges of the blanket and grabbed the cooler of drinks to pull out some water bottles.
Xander turned to Bennett. “Are they coming to see us?”
Bennett nodded. “Aiden is. Ash, what about you? Will you please come see us in a couple of weeks in Colorado? There’s a retirement party that will also be a welcome back party for us, and we’d love for you to come meet some of our friends and family there.”
Ash knew they were moving and how nervous I was about saying goodbye to Bennett. He glanced at me with a quirked brow.
“Please come with me,” I said.
He turned back to them with a grin. “I guess I’m coming to Colorado. Sounds fun. I’ve never been there.”
As Lucky went into a long description of the gorgeous Rocky Mountains, Xander made eye contact with me and tilted his head to the side as if asking to speak to me in private.
“I’m going to head to the restroom,” I said.
“I’ll come with you,” Xander said immediately.
When we were halfway there, Xander spoke.
“So, ah… listen,” he began hesitantly. It wasn’t like him to sound so unsure around me. Our friendship had gotten off to a very rocky start the year before, but we’d gotten much closer as the months had gone on. Xander had agreed to move to New York for a year while Lucky’s adoption went through. Now that they were moving to Colorado, I was happy for him. Even though I was selfishly sad for myself.
“Spit it out, dude,” I said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, well. It’s not easy to say out loud… The thing is…” He took a deep breath and then snorted, running his hand through his hair. “I’m going to pop the question.”
I felt my mouth break into a huge grin the minute the words were out of his mouth. “No shit?”
“No shit. So I was hoping to do it while you were around to help us celebrate. I wanted to make sure I could count on you to be there that weekend in Colorado.”
I reached out to stop him with a hand on his shoulder. “Yes. Absolutely. I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Xander. I’m so happy for you.”
“Well, he hasn’t said yes yet,” he said, looking at the ground.
“You’re a fucking idiot if you think there’s even a chance he’d say no.”
He looked up at me then with a sheepish smile. “Maybe. Hope so, anyway.”
I pulled him into a hug and smacked his back.
“I’m so fucking happy for you, Xander. I mean it,” I assured him.
We pulled away from the hug and found ourselves grinning at each other. After turning to continue to the restroom, he turned the tables on me.
“What about you? When are you gonna pop the question to that sweetheart back there?” He gestured behind us in the direction of the man I loved with all of my heart.
“Good question,” I said. “Someday. Someday for sure.”
Chapter 24
Ash
It had been a couple of weeks since Bennett, Lucky, and Xander’s goodbye party, and I was feeling sorry for Aiden. Even though we had plans to visit them this weekend in Colorado, I knew he was missing knowing Bennett was in the same city.
The three of them had packed up their things and left town the Friday before, and I’d convinced Aiden to take me back out to the beach house for the weekend to get his mind off their departure. But now we were back in the city in the middle of the work week and things were beginning to fall back into a comfortable routine.
