His face dropped into utter shock and his eyes widened comically. “OH NO YOU DIDN’T.”
“Oh yes I did.”
I knelt down on one knee, praying nothing popped or cracked onthe way down while I was already feeling vulnerable. “Steven January Devore.”
His eyes narrowed and hissed, “You shut your whore mouth.”
He hated his middle name even though I thought it was delightfully simple. His mother rolled her eyes and mouthedI’m so sorryat him.
“My life before you was like the gray elephant,” I began. “And then I met you. Now my life is an explosion of color. I get to live this life with you in full color all day every day, and it’s been the greatest gift I’ve ever received.” My voice broke as I saw my mom and dad making their way through the crowd toward us. They’d met Stevie, Jodi, and Willow already, but I’d invited them for the Hootenanny because I wanted them to see Stevie shine.
“Baby, I love you more than I can possibly express in words. You are capable and smart, fun and loving. You make me… us… laugh every single day, and I know you are going to do amazing things with your life. I want to be along for the ride if you’ll let me. Stevie, sweetheart, will you marry me?”
Navy blue liquid eyeliner streaked down his face, and his hair flopped over as he shook his head in wonder.
“Yes, but…”
My mother and a few other onlookers gasped. Sassy stood behind Nico and giggled because she obviously knew the joke.
“Don’t call me a butt when I’m proposing marriage to you,” I said softly with a smile, still looking up at him from where I knelt on the hard ground.
His hands were in front of his mouth, and his forehead was creased again with the strength of his tears. “I told you I was a hot mess.”
“I’m a firefighter, sweetheart. Hot messes are my life’s blood. I eat hot messes for breakfast. I have a degree in how to handle hot messes.”
“I love you so much, Evan,” he whispered through his snotty tears. “Of course I’ll marry you, Chief.”
The crowd that had quickly gathered around us cheered as Ilurched up and grabbed my love around the waist, kissing and hugging him as I lifted him off his feet and spun him around.
After I set him down, I pulled out the ring to slide onto his finger. It was charcoal tungsten with a tiny purple pinstripe running through it. He let out an “eep” when he saw it and clapped his hands with excitement. “You got this for me? I love purple!”
I looked at his hair, his eyes, his shorts. “I know, baby. That’s why I picked this one. I hoped you’d love it since you’ll have to wear it forever.”
He jumped at me again, throwing his arms around my neck and his legs around my waist. I held on to him as if my life depended on it.
Because it did.
STEVIE’S EPILOGUE
Later That Night
I couldn’t takemy eyes off the sweetest engagement ring on the planet. “Tell me again where you found it,” I asked, sliding my foot up his torso in the cool, bubbly bathwater. We sat on opposite ends of our enormous bath pool as I called the jetted tub in our master bath. We’d both been covered in sweat, sugar, and festival grime when we’d finally staggered home half an hour earlier from the Hootenanny. As much as I’d wanted to hump my future husband, I needed to wash the crowd off me first.
As I’d run the bath, Evan had run back downstairs to mix us up some icy-cold cocktails before the two of us lowered ourselves into the refreshing bath.
“Guy selling corn on the side of the road makes ’em,” he said, soaping up my foot with the bar of sporty man-smell soap he used. I normally used a floral-scented body wash, but whenever we bathed together, the dude marked me with his man-scent like I was some kind of conquest.
Of course, I secretly loved it.
I flicked water at him with my fingertips. “Liar. You had Tibetan monks pray it into existence.”
His deep laugh filled the bathroom and my cock.
“Close. I got it at the pawn shop. You know, the one next to the Sip and Save?”
“Never mind. You’re impossible. And, quite frankly, you’re skating the line into dad-joke territory.”
“Mpfh,” he grumbled, causing me to bark out a laugh.
