“We’re going to hell.” But he couldn’t stop laughing.
Ben kissed Gavin again, rolling his hips one more time. “I go where you go, Gav.”
Yeah, Gavin knew that. It’d taken them a long while to get to this point, but Gavin was sure now. Ben would never kick him out again. Ben would never leave him. Ben was his and his alone. “Good answer,” he whispered, meaning to tease, but given everything they’d been through the last several months—hell, the last year—he sounded more serious than he’d intended.
“You’re all my answers,” Ben whispered. And wasn’t that just like him?
“I love you.”
Ben pulled back to see his face, caught Gavin’s eye. He kissed him, barely a brush of his lips against Gavin’s before saying, “I love you too, Gav. Always will.”
Yeah, Gavin knew that too, but it was nice to hear. “I know.” He wrapped his arms around Ben when Ben tried to pull away, tried to clean them up. Ben settled against him again, sheltered Gavin from the world, from the cool air around them, from reality. He ran his fingers down Ben’s back, traced the tattoos he couldn’t see, couldn’t even feel, but he knew them well enough to get close. “Let’s just stay here for the week.”
“I’m all for that, but I like being able to pay the mortgage…”
“Oh, that,” Gavin said with a soft laugh. “I guess that’s important too.”
Ben kissed Gavin’s temple, trailed his soft lips down the side of Gavin’s face. “And we should probably wash your ass print off the kitchen table.”
Gavin had nearly forgotten. “I should probably make us some dinner.”
“Or we could go grab our clothes and wipe down the table and then come back in here and pretend we’re asleep.”
“That could work.”
Ben nodded against Gavin’s shoulder, shifted over him before he finally pulled away. “I’ll grab the clothes, you clean the ass table?”
With a sigh, Gavin watched Ben sit up, clean them off with the corner of the sheet. “Meet you back here in five?”
“Three.”
“Deal.” Gavin got to his feet and practically raced Ben for the door. They laughed and nudged each other, bare naked, not caring at all as they stumbled down the hall together.
Gavin had almost given up on the idea, but they’d found each other again. In the nick of time.
Epilogue
Ben
They’d written their own vows, which Ben thought was a ridiculous idea. But—just like the tux and the flowers, the string quartet—it meant everything to Gavin, so of course. They’d walked down the aisle together, holding hands, just the two of them. That was Gavin’s idea of simplicity. No big wedding party. James wasn’t the ring bearer, Anna’s little girl didn’t sprinkle flower petals at their feet. When the moment of truth came, Ben wished they’d had all the rest of it. He would’ve liked the kids up there, distracting the crowd—over two hundred people. Ben hadn’t realized they even knew two hundred people. But of course they did. Everyone who ever met Gavin loved him, and he wanted everyone there. Even Maggie had shown up. She sat next to one of Ben’s cousins who flew in from the east coast for the celebration.
Ben and Gavin stood in front of the minister—a friend of a friend, a tough-looking woman draped in rainbow robes, surrounded by candles and sheer fabric. That was something else Ben thought was a bad idea, but so far, so good. Nothing had caught fire. Yet.
“Gavin,” she said, smiling. “It’s time for you to recite your vows to Ben.”
Ben reached for Gavin’s hand, turned to face him. Gavin nodded and exhaled a shaky breath.
“I think I loved you from the moment I met you,” Gavin said, his voice hushed, reverent. He was so quiet, Ben wasn’t sure anyone else could hear, but he supposed they didn’t really need to. “Maybe even before that,” he added, glancing at Nora in the front row with Tina and Anna, Derik and all the kids. Gavin caught Ben’s eye again. “And I know we’ve had ups and downs, and I know we have more to come, but I promise you, Ben, that I’ll be true to you, true to us, for the rest of my life.” He paused, looking like he needed to collect himself before he could go on.
Ben squeezed Gavin’s hand, as if he were the strong one, as if he weren’t about to crack too.
Gavin looked at him again, half smile at the corner of his mouth. “I promise to love you and take care of you and to be there, always.”
“Shit.” Ben hadn’t meant to say that, hadn’t meant to make everyone chuckle. He hadn’t wanted to stand there in front of everyone with his vision blurred because he had tears in his eyes either, but there was no going back now. “I should’ve gone first,” he whispered to Gavin, getting another grin from him. He cleared his throat and said, “Gav, you’re everything to me. You’re my heart, my family, the reason I love my life. You’re my home.” Ben had to stop himself, inhale deep, steady himself. “I promise to be there for you, to keep you safe. I’ll be your anchor in still waters and your shelter in the storm.” He leaned closer, rested his forehead against Gavin’s, and whispered, “I promise to keep you close, never push you away. Never let you go.”
When Gavin threw his arms around Ben’s shoulders, when Ben kissed him hard and held him tight, even the minister laughed.
“Simmer down, boys,” she said as she reached into her robes and pulled out the box with their rings. “One last step.”
Gavin let out a wet laugh, nodding as he pulled back a bit. Ben didn’t let go of him, though. He kept one hand around Gavin’s waist as they reached for their rings. Gavin went first, slipped Ben’s ring on with ease, held his hand for a beat. Ben wanted to kiss him again, but he didn’t. Instead he held Gavin’s ring, trembled slightly as he slid it down Gavin’s finger. He watched as the simple platinum band covered his own name. It seemed like a fairy tale, like magic, as if this was supposed to happen all along. Ben couldn’t help a breathy laugh, thinking how right Gavin was. He really was cheesy.
