“What?” I ask, loudly this time. “What do you mean?”
He slides out of me, heads to the bathroom and returns with a cloth. After cleaning up, he sits against the headboard and looks down at me.
“I hated being there without you,” he admits, looking a little sheepish. “It didn’t feel like home anymore, you know? So I made a decision. I’m going to move here, permanently.”
I sit up and straddle his lap, looking into his beautiful hazel eyes. “Are you sure that’s what you want? I don’t want you to regret anything.”
“I’m sure,” he says. “I would never regret anything to do with you, Trillian, never.”
He’s moving to Channon for me?
I reach down to my arm and pinch myself.
Ouch.
Yeah, it isn’t a dream.
“Did you just pinch yourself?” he asks, chuckling softly.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I reply. “I missed you so much when you were gone. I can’t think of anything better than you staying, but what about your family and work?”
He puts his index finger against my mouth and I nip at it.
“I’ll sort everything out. We can go and visit my family or they can come here. The business can be sorted out, too.”
I rest my forehead on his shoulder. “I kind of love you.”
“Good, because you’re kind of stuck with me.”
He kisses my lips, and I feel him getting hard again.
When he slides into me with one smooth, long thrust, a moan escapes my lips.
I could get used to this.
“Baby?”
“Yeah?”
“Marry me.”
“What?” I ask, stopping my hips. “Xander…”
“Marry me, Trillian. I know it’s soon and I know we’re young, but I know what I want. I want you.”
My breath hitches. He wants to marry me?
Do I want to marry him?
Fuck yes, I do. I want him.
There’s no doubt in my mind at all.
“Say something,” he pleads, hands running down my back. Gently sliding me off him, he goes to where his jeans are lying on the floor and pulls out a little black box. Crawling onto the bed, he opens the box and holds it out to me. The ring is stunning. Gold with a princess cut diamond. I love it.
“Of course, I’ll marry you,” I say, tears pooling in my eyes as he slides the ring onto my finger.
It fits perfectly.
Just like him.
*****
“All it took was one trip away from her, one, and you came back forever?” Zach says, slapping his thigh and laughing.
Xander just smirks and kisses my temple. “Laugh all you want. I get her, so I don’t give a shit.”
“It wasn’t one trip, he went away before,” I add, defending my man.
Zach shakes his head. “Yeah, but this was the new plan. Two weeks here two weeks there. One trip, that’s it.”
“Keep laughing, dickhead,” Xander mutters. “Looks like we’re going to be permanent neighbours.”
Zach sobers, his eyes softening a little. “Trillian could do worse, bro. I’m glad it’s you.”
I smile, looking down. “I’m glad you say that, Zach because I have something to ask you.”
“What?” he asks, standing straighter. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine,” I tell him. “I know it’s unconventional, but I was wondering if you would walk me down the aisle.”
I considered asking Grim, but Zach is the one who was always there for me, and he didn’t have to be. He was my friend, my family and my protector for so long. I love the hell out of him.
His eyes pop from his head. “You’re fuckin’ getting married?”
He looks down at my hand and I flash my stunning ring.
“You two are fuckin’ insane, you know that, right? Certifiably,” he mutters, his face looking a little pale. “Married? You want me to walk you down the aisle? Fuck, I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever asked me.”
“Is that a yes?” I ask, batting my eyelashes.
Zach’s expression softens on me, his pale blue eyes gentling. “Fuck. Anything for you, Trillian, you know that.”
I step to him and he wraps me in his arms. “You deserve everything, Trill. All the happiness in the world.”
I pull away from his embrace and lean up to kiss him on the cheek.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Xander says, only half joking, grabbing me by my hips and drawing me against him. “Keep your hands off my woman.”
Zach and I share a smile.
Xander grins at Zach and claps him on his shoulder. “Thank you. For everything.”
“I didn’t do anything,” Zach replies. “Always here for the two of you, you know that.”
I watch as his eyes lower to my stomach. “No reason to rush the wedding, is there?”
I purse my lips. “I’m not pregnant. And the wedding isn’t going to be rushed. I thought we’d wait a few years.”
“Good,” he replies, mouth twitching. “Just checking. Now, will you feed me? When you told me to come over, I thought I was just coming here for some food.”
I roll my eyes.
And then I feed the two most important men in my life.
Epilogue
Five Years Later
Trillian
It’s official.
I am going to swoon.
At my own wedding.