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“I want all that too,” I told him, sinking into those ocean-green eyes.

He snorted. “Just as well. Because you know how I hate sharing my personal shit in front of people?” He shot a glance to the patio doors and I turned to see a bunch of our friends and family staring back at me. Drew and Gary, Rhys and Beck, Alec and Hunter, George, Ty, JJ, Kevin, and even my parents. And I didn’t doubt there were others.

I grinned and squeezed Chris’s hands. “Yeah, I know how much you hate it.”

He sighed. “Good, because I wanted them here to show you just how certain I am about all this. How much I love you. How much I’m. Not. Going. Anywhere.” He pumped my hands as he said it, so fucking earnest.

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “Keep going, baby. I can’t fucking wait.”

“Yeah?” Chris looked suddenly unsure. “Because I can stop now if you don’t want—”

“Don’t you dare.”

He relaxed, but there was a tell-tale shimmer to his eyes. “That’s good news because I’m here to stay. I want to build a life with you.” He dropped one of my hands to pull a wide plain gold band from the pocket of his sweatpants.

I drew a sharp breath and stared at the ring he held out. Exactly how long had he been planning this?

“And so—” The ring shook in his trembling fingers. “I was wondering if maybe you’d like to marry me... sometime... when it suits? Not right away, of course.” He eyed me. “Unless you want to... because I’d be down with that... but... soon... ish?” A blush stole over his face, along with another one of those shy smiles. “Because I’d fucking love that.”

“Yes.” I stood and hauled him off his knees and into my arms. “Yes, of course, I will. I can’t believe you just did that. I love you. Of course I’ll marry you. Oh, baby, come here.”

His legs wrapped around my waist, and I cupped his arse and held him up as he smothered me with kisses before burying his face in my neck. Picking up on all the excitement, Alfie appeared from the garden, barking and running circles around us. And over Chris’s shoulder, through the patio doors, I watched as my mother and father reached for each other while around them everyone cheered and raised their glasses our way.

But all of that faded into the background when Chris pressed his lips against my ear and whispered, “You’ve got me forever, sweetheart. This is just the beginning.”

The End

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