I walk out to the living room where Tristan is waiting for me excited for what I have planned for the evening. He looks up at me and smiles.
“Hey, sexy. I’m dying over here.”
I grin. “Happy birthday, Tristan. You’re officially twenty-one. No more fake ID’s.”
He laughs. “Feels good to be legal.”
“I’m so happy I get to share this night with you. I’m so happy, Tristan, to share my days and nights with you. I didn’t even know I could be this happy.”
Tristan’s eyes soften, tearing up a little. “Hearing that feels amazing. I always want to be the source of happiness in your life.”
“I know.” I cup his face. “I have something I need to tell you. Something important.”
He nods. “Okay.”
“There was always something about you, Tristan. Meeting you stirred emotions and desires in me I didn’t know were there. Before you, my heart was locked away, my feelings hidden beneath the surface, but you came and ripped the door open. You unleashed my wild side, and I wouldn’t change a thing abouthow we started. I needed it to know that what we have would endure and overcome any challenge in our way. I had to do all the things I did before you to recognize how you were different. Now, you’re such a part of me, I don’t know where I end and you begin.” I exhale slowly. “What I’m trying to say, Tristan, I want to put words to what’s been in my heart for a very long time. You deserve the words, but I needed to make sure I would never take them back.”
Tristan watches me with curious eyes. “Please.”
I smile. “My life is perfect now. This love we made changed me. I love you, Tristan. So much. I want to spend my life with you.”
He throws his arms around my neck as I rub his back. We fall back on the couch and I just hold him. I waited my entire life for him.
After a few minutes, he sits up and smiles. “Take me to bed and fuck me up, Bishop.”
I laugh softly. “Don’t you want your cake?”
“Later. Right now, I need you inside of me.”
I lean forward and flick my tongue over his lips. “As long as you promise you’ll return the favor.”
He groans. “Count on it.”
“Wine, Trinity?”
She smiles lifting her glass. “Thanks, Bishop.”
I fill her glass, then sit next to Tristan, who basically climbs on my lap. “How’s the new build coming along?”
“Good,” she says. “Are you coming by Monday to see it?”
I gaze up at Tristan. “Are you ready finally?”
“Yeah, I’m just nervous. It’s our first house.”
“And it’s awesome,” Trinity says, smiling. “I think you’ll be proud of us, Bishop.”
“I already am.”
Trinity starts chatting about backsplashes and pillows while Tristan teases her about her shiplap fascination. I watch the two of them, still in awe that this is my life. Six months after leaving college, he’s a permanent part of my life. I can’t imagine it without him. Telling him I loved him was like some kind of emotional rebirth. We both cried, recognizing what a step it was for me, but since admitting it to myself, I can’t get enough of him. I know I’ll marry him in a few years, but for now, our life is essentially perfect.
The addition of Trinity has been an interesting one. She’s fun and creative and actually a damn good designer. Tristan and his team do the remodels and on her school breaks, she designs. Until next year when she graduates when she can go full time.
And Rocco. What a friend and father he is. So supportive of his son and our love, it pulls at my heart. I feel Tristan’s hand on my cheek and gaze up at him.
“Yeah, babe?”
“I asked if we were ready for bed.”
