Chapter 33
Moving on
Three months later
Carter
I slid into the booth, refusing Shelly’s offer to help me sit down. I looked around Pete’s to check if anyone noticed her fussing over me, but luckily it was a slow night.
“Stop it, Shel,” I protested. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m fine. More than fine.”
My recovery took longer than expected because the knife damaged the ligaments below my shoulder. I have been wearing a shoulder brace as a precaution, but at my latest exam the doctor told me I was as good as new.
“Exactly,” Bruce said, sitting down next to me. “They’re acting as if we’re both invalids or something.”
Bruce went through heart surgery and a long recovery process, but he was getting back on his feet again. He was still on sick leave, while I was supposed to return to work next week.
When Bruce reached for the potato chips, Shelly slapped his hand away.
“No way, not on my watch,” she exclaimed. “You’re on a diet, remember?”
“Then, so are you,” he countered, taking the glass away from her.
She rolled her eyes but let him have it. “Speaking of, it’s karaoke night. Do you have it in you, Brucie?”
“You bet!” he replied, standing up. “Buckle up, guys, because you haven’t heard anything yet.”
I watched him head to the stage when suddenly a kiss landed on my cheek. I turned my head, only to meet the mesmerizing blue gaze. Sky blue, and my favorite.
“What’s up, partner?”
“A few things,” I replied, as he sat down next to me. “Except that I love you, there’s something up in my lap.”
He lowered his gaze and smirked.
“What about those sedatives you have been taking?”
“Fuck the sedatives.”
“What about your wound?”
“Fuck my wound.”
He grinned. “We’ll take care of your little problem, don’t worry. Tomorrow.”
I whined. “Oh, come on. First, it’s not a little problem. It’s a big problem, and I have had it for the last three months because you refuse to touch me. Second, the doctor said I’m fine.”
Tye shrugged. “Well, then, let him confirm it at your appointment tomorrow, and we won’t be having this conversation again. Besides, you’re overreacting. I have been touching you.
“Handsies and blowies don’t count,” I said in a low voice. “It’s as if you don’t love me anymore.”
I gave him an innocent look, but he merely shook his head. “Nice try.”
Fuck, he knew me too well.
On the stage, Bruce was butchering “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,” but I had eyes and ears only for the man by my side.
“So,” Tye murmured, kissing my lips with just enough tongue to make me feel frustrated. “Your place or mine, partner?”
We were mostly at his place because he had a bigger bed, but I had other ideas, namely moving in together.
“How about we make it ours?” I suggested.
“How about we make it official?” he one-upped me.
“How official?”
“Very.”
I blinked in confusion as he reached behind him and pulled out a bouquet of pink and white roses, similar to the one on our first date.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way,” he said, looking serious. “I firmly believe that even the manliest of men, such as yourself, can be gifted a bouquet of flowers.”
“Oh,” I said, smiling. “No, that’s nice. What’s the occasion?”
“Erm, it’s…”
Next to me, Shelly gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth, staring at us wide-eyed.
After a slight hesitation, Tye took my hand in his, glancing at me under his lashes.
“Look, I... I love you. You’re the only one I want, and I want us to last forever. I want us to grow old together, and maybe even... fuck, maybe even have kids one day. I want everything, Dom.”
I gulped, realizing where he was going with this.
“Oh, my God!” Shelly exclaimed, standing up and waving at Bruce maniacally. “Brucie, get your ass over here! Tye is proposing!”
“Erm… I’ll just ask you,” Tye said, looking anxious. ““Do you want me to kneel?”
For a moment, I was speechless. First, I thought I was dreaming. Then I thought I’d died from that knife wound, and now I was in heaven. Only the loud cheering around me told me it was real.
“Hell, yes, I want you to kneel,” I said, making him laugh.
I actually didn’t want him to kneel because everyone was staring at us, but I knew I would remember this moment for the rest of my life.
“I knew it,” Tye murmured, blushing as he went down on his knee. “You’re getting back at me for those apology kisses, aren’t you?”
I grinned. “What can I say? Payback is a bitch. Besides, I love to see you on your knees.”
He smiled, but he still looked nervous.
“Marry me, partner?” he said, gulping. “‘Cause you’re the one for me. I don’t need years to find out, because I already know. Please say yes and put me out of my misery.”
The last three months we spent together were the happiest months of my life. Tye and I have been inseparable, apart from his time at work and my time at the physiotherapy clinic. He was teaching me how to cook, and I was reading books to him in between cuddling and make-out sessions. We were just… perfect together. So, it was an easy answer for me.
“Yes,” I said, chuckling when he breathed a sigh of relief. “Of course, I’ll marry you, you big ape.”
Then we kissed, and everyone around us started to clap and cheer. At some point, I felt Tye sliding a ring on my finger, but I was barely aware of it.
Was it sudden? Yeah, it was.
Was it something I expected to happen in my life? I sooner expected to be struck by lightning.
But was I in?
Hell, yes, I was in! Because, as I once said to Tye, when you know, you know.
And he was right too.
I finally found a place to belong, but it wasn’t a place at all.
It was a person.
THE HAPPY END
Thank you!