Page 117 of Trusting a Warrior

Using his hands as a megaphone, Grizz shouted, “Hey, fellas. Did you do it?”

“Yeah, did you do it? Did you do it?” Everyone else took up the chant, the volume escalating, until Shane raised his left hand to display a black ring encircling his finger.

“We did it!”

Immediately they were surrounded by their friends, who pounded their backs and grabbed them up in gigantic hugs, one laughing Black dude named Smudge refusing to let go as he walked around with Matt, whose feet dangled helplessly off the ground.

“Um, I’d like my husband back, please,” Shane requested politely, the grin he was sporting threatening to split his face in two. With a grunt, Smudge dropped Matt like a bag of rocks, but then pulled him close one more time and scrubbed his knuckles over his hair.

“So happy for you, man,” Lani could hear him say. “It’s about time.”

More champagne was opened and poured—with sparkling cider for anyone who didn’t drink, including Matt—and the toasts commenced. Some were irreverent, some were bawdy and inappropriate, which left the whole group in stitches. Finally Shane raised his glass.

“Thanks, everyone, for being here tonight. I know this day has been a long time coming, but we did it. We finally did it!”

Laughter and cheers all around, and then Matt lifted his glass. “Y’all punked me,” he said fiercely. “I thought I’d gotten my way with the city hall thing, and then I come home to find this shit.” He paused. “Thank you.”

Some scattered applause, some insults, before Matt shouted above the din. “I want to say something else, something I don’t say nearly often enough.” He put his glass down and turned to Shane. “I love you.”

His eyes shining, Shane leaned down for a kiss, but Matt wasn’t done. “From the first moment I met you, clown, you got under my skin. You pissed me off. There were days I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to kiss you, or punch you, or both.”

“Oh, you definitely wanted to punch me.” Shane slid his arm around Matt’s waist. “Repeatedly.”

“I tried so fucking hard not to want you,” Matt went on. “I kept pushing you away, pushing you away, convinced there was no room for you in my life.” Reaching out, he took Shane’s left hand in his, and lifted it to his lips. “Thanks for not letting me,” he whispered against his ring. “For not giving up on me. I’m so lucky—and so goddamn happy—to be yours.”

With a choked exclamation, Shane cupped his chin with gentle fingers and kissed him. “I love you.” Then he grinned. “Mushy Matt.”

“Annnd of course you had to go and ruin it,” Matt grunted in mock disgust, even as he twined his arms around Shane’s neck. “Fuckin’ clown.”

After that, the music was turned back up to a deafening level, beer cups were filled to the brim, and the SEALs settled in to party.

Devon slipped over to Lani at one point and pressed a folded ten-dollar bill into her hand. “He didn’t cry,” she said, her tone dripping with disgust. “Cool as a damn cucumber.”

Before she could saunter off, Lani grabbed her arm and hissed in her ear, “You’re next, lady.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Devon towed her into the shadows next to the garage. “Well, we, uh, actually got married three months ago. In Vegas.”

“What?”

“Don’t be mad,” Devon pleaded. “We were there, and we’d wandered into this cheesy little chapel. All of a sudden Rhys pulls a ring box from his backpack and says something like, ‘I’m tired of carrying this around, waiting for the perfect moment. Here.’”

Lani gasped. “He didn’t. Tell me he didn’t say ‘Here’ and shove your engagement ring in your face.” She looked wildly around for Rhys. “Where is he? I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind—”

“Simmer down, tiger.” With a laugh, Devon pulled her into a hug. “It wasn’t as bad as I’m making it sound, but Lani, it was just so us. Lots of laughter, a few snafus, and me marrying the love of my life. It was perfect.”

Tears stinging her eyes, she firmly pushed aside her idea of what Rhys and Devon’s perfect wedding should’ve been, and hugged her back. “We’re sisters now,” she whispered. “You know that, right?”

“Yeah.” Pressing their foreheads together, Devon rasped, “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Not long after that, the raucousness of the party quieted down as the single guys left for more exciting pastures. Couples with young kids and babysitters at home started drifting away, too, and soon it was just the six of them left, sprawled out among the wreckage.

“Great party,” Devon said drowsily, not even bothering to lift her head from where it was resting against Rhys’s chest. Curled up on Geo’s lap, Lani mumbled, “Thanks.”

Shane sat on the floor of the patio, back against a support post, Matt between his legs, arms wrapped around Shane’s upraised knees. Their heads were tilted close together as they whispered, every now and then sharing a lingering kiss.

Lani couldn’t help but smile, and Geo brushed his lips over her temple. “What’re you thinking about, sweetheart?”