By the time we finally stumble out—flushed as hell, chuckling, our boards in hand—we’re shoving each other like damn kids, trying to tackle each other as we jog for the waves. And I swear, my heart hasn’t been this full in fucking forever.
The sand kicks up as we race each other to the shoreline, whooping loud enough to startle a few gulls, before we crash into the surf like we’ve been counting down the days to this, and Ihave.Shit, how I have waited for this.
Salt hits my skin, cold and electric, and Jace laughs as a wave knocks into him sideways, that stupid beanie thank fuck left behind in the hut. We paddle out under a sky streaked in soft orange and pink, the last light of the day stretching across the water like a piece of damn art.
Eventually, we’re far enough that the beach is just a soft blur behind us and we sit on our boards, gently rising and falling with the rhythm of the waves, waiting for the perfect one. No noise but the sea and the wind and the content sigh of my lover.
Jace leans back slightly, tilting his head toward the sky with his eyes closed as he pushes the damp blonde strands back. Iwatch him exhale, like the sun and salt are calming something fundamental in him.
He’s absolutely, unapologetically stunning like this. His face lit by the dying sun, cheekbones sharp, lips soft, a quiet, easy smile curling at the corners. His feet dangle beneath the surface, toes moving back and forth in the current, and all I can think is—
This. Right here. This iseverythingI’ll ever want. Ever need.
Him. Me. The ocean under us and the sky above—vast, endless, hauntingly beautiful.
Ineverwant to be without this. Ineverwant to lose him. Not to the public, not to pressure, not to the fucking visa situation, or whatever else might try to pull us apart.
And before I even register I’m speaking, the words are already out of my mouth.
“Marry me.”
They hit the air with no damn warning, no buildup whatsoever. It’s just raw, honest, mine.
I wince as Jace’s head snaps toward me. His gray eyes, glowing almost gold now in the reflection of the sky, go wide. He blinks once, then presses his lips together in a barely suppressed smile.
“Did you actually mean to ask that just now?”
I groan up at the sky. Loud. Embarrassed. Hopelessly gone. No, I wasn’t planning on it. Not here, not now, not…yet. But shit... the sunset, the sea, the fucking sand. Our damn trifecta. It’s perfect. He’s perfect… It just… happened.
“I won’t marry you for a green card, baby…”
“I know,” I sigh, dragging a hand through my hair. “That’s not why I— It’s not about that.”
“I will, though,” he adds quietly and my heart fucking stutters. “I’d marry you in a fucking heartbeat. You know that.”
My chest clenches. His voice is so sure, so soft.
“Good,” I say, my voice rough. “Because the same applies. You and me? We’re inevitable, Jacie. You’re my finale, my endgame, my encore.”
He smiles then. It’s slow, real, and so heartbreakingly devastating. It lights him the fuck up.
And god, I love him. Wholly, fully, completely.
“So it’s a no?” I tease, even as my heart hammers.
“Not exactly.” He shakes his head, eyes still on mine. “It’s anot yet.”
I stare, swallow the nerves away. He keeps going.
“We only get one life. And shit, I want to live it with you, however we can make that happen.Whereverwe can make it happen.. And I fucking swear to you, I’ll say yes someday. Ask me again when there’s no deportation hanging above our heads and I’m going to say yes. Promise. But I want us to besure. I want to say yes when it’s aboutus, and nothing else.”
My throat is tight, but I manage to get the question out: “You don’t think we’re too young? Too inexperienced?”
He laughs, light and low. “Sure. Maybe. But so what? Most people spend their whole lives trying to find what we already have. Why should we pretend it’s not real just because it happened early?”
I can’t answer right away, because I’m still trying to breathe around how much I fucking love him.
The corner of his mouth pulls into his trademark smirk. “I love you more than I love French fries, Ty. That’s a whole lotta love.”
