“A what?” I turned my head to look at him.
“You know, like our names meshed together to form one word. Like our relationship name,” he explained, staring at me with amused gray eyes. “Fuck you’re old. You really don’t know what a ship name is?”
“Shut up.” I gently elbowed his stomach. “But anyway, what about your fans?”
Corbin nipped at my neck before resting his head back on the pillow and holding out his phone again for us to see. “Turns out, our names fucking suck. They were having a hard time finding one, so one of them created a poll and people are voting on which one they like best.”
“Corber?” I asked as I read one on the list. Then I snorted as I saw the next suggestion. “Huntin. That makes us sound like rednecks.”
“Oh, it gets better,” Corbin said with a smile in his voice. “Keep reading. Take a look at what’s currently in the lead.”
When I saw it, I had to do a double take. And then once it registered what I was actually seeing, I choked out a laugh. It was completely awful, but funny as hell.
“Are you fucking serious?” I said, fighting another wave of giggles. “Out of all the possible names on this poll,Cunteris winning?”
Corbin started laughing too, and we read a few comments from his fans. Of course, there were the homophobic assholes that never seemed to mind their own business, but the majority of the comments and mentions were in support of us.
ShyGuy:Thx, Corbin_Taylor! Becuz of u, I came out 2 my parents. Dad was kinda pissed, but I think he’ll come around. Ignore the h8ters.
After that post, there were over a hundred more. We got up to make our coffee before sitting down at the kitchen table and reading through as much as we could. Although he tried to hide it, Corbin’s eyes watered as he went through them. So many kids reached out to him, and some were guys our age too.
He started replying to them, and as he did, I sat back with my coffee and looked out the patio doors into the backyard.
Ever since the night I’d said I would move in with him, I’d gradually started bringing my stuff over. I was renting my house, so I had another month on the lease before I could officially be out of there. I’d brought over everything except for my furniture and appliances, like my refrigerator, washer and dryer, and the temperamental toaster that sometimes worked, sometimes burned everything.
We had taken one of the spare rooms and were in the process of turning it into my home office and study. All of my books would go in there—inside the built-in bookshelves—as well as sitting chairs and my desk. There was even a fireplace in there too, which reminded me of those classic detective movies where the men sat in their studies in front of the fire and smoked tobacco out of a pipe. Not that I’d do that, but that’s the visual I got when I pictured it. Like a Sherlock Holmes type setting where instead of solving cases, I’d grade papers and recite Shakespeare.
I loved the images that came to mind when I thought about me and Corbin a year from now. Two years. More than that.
Us sitting together at breakfast, sleeping beside him every night and waking up to him every morning, hearing him laugh as we worked outside in the garden he wanted to build, and feeling his strong arms around me as we cuddled on the couch. They were all things I looked forward to.
He was my soulmate. It might’ve been overly sappy to think such a thing—especially since I was a bit of a skeptic and had a hard time opening myself up to most things—but I knew, without a doubt in my mind, that Corbin and I were meant for each other.
“What are you thinking?” Corbin asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Us,” I answered. “And how happy I am. When you first came back here, I never thought I’d let you back into my life. But now, I can’t imagine my life without you. You said in your post that I make you a better man, but, Cor, you do that for me. I’m better for knowing you. And for loving you.”
Corbin cleared his throat. “Can people stop fucking making me cry today? Damn.”
I left my seat and kneeled in front of him, taking his hands in mine and looking up into his watery eyes.
“Will you marry me?” I asked, feeling my heart beat faster. Maybe it was from hanging out with the bachelor party guys the night before combined with my own happiness, but I couldn’t stop the words. I realized I didn’t want to, even if I could. “Not right now because you have a lot going on in the upcoming months. But when your season is over and you’re home, I’d love nothing more than to be your husband, Corbin Taylor. We can’t change the past, but we can make the most of every day and create a future together. I don’t have a ring, because I just now thought of this—”
Corbin grabbed my face and joined our lips.
He tasted like coffee and his own familiar taste, and I swirled my tongue with his, feeling like my heart was about to burst. With love, joy, excitement. All of it. He hadn’t said yes, but his actions said it for him.
“Damn you,” he muttered after breaking our lip lock, staring down at me with playful anger. “I wanted to propose toyou. You devil.”
“Too bad, so sad,” I said and grinned when he snarled his upper lip. I met him for another slow kiss, and I ran a hand up his bare chest, loving the warmth of him. “So on our wedding invitations, it should say, ‘you are invited to witness Cunter’s union,’because we might as well take advantage of our awesome ship name.”
Corbin laughed, and my stomach fluttered at the sound. I wanted to spend the rest of my life hearing that sound.
“I thought the invitation could say something like this,” Corbin said before clearing his throat. He focused on me with a serious expression, but I noticed his lips twitch a little. “Two households, both alike in dignity—”
“Hell no,” I said before shoving his chest. “You ass. We arenothaving aRomeo and Julietwedding. Forget it.”
“Ah you killed my dream. Killed it, I tell you.” Corbin grabbed his fork and held it upward, staring at it with a gleam in his eyes. “This is thy sheath,” he quoted from the play. He brought it down on his stomach. “There rust, and let me—”
