Epilogue
GAbrIEL
Three Years Later
There was a window seat in our new home that I absolutely loved, looking over the small backyard where I planned to put a garden.
We were acclimating to life in Denver after a cross-country move last month.
Kai relocated here not long ago, so it seemed as good a place as any.
He and his partner were coming over for dinner later that evening, and the scent of enchiladas baking in the oven wafted in from the kitchen.
Neither Taylor nor I had wanted to leave LA, especially Margo and the Ace of Baes, but I needed some space from my parents, and Taylor wanted to give me a backyard.
Even after Tay didn’t have the medical loans weighing him down, we still couldn’t afford a backyard in Los Angeles.
So, I went full-time with Plant Daddy Botanicals, and Taylor joined Kai in his new accounting practice in Denver.
I was curled up with a blanket in that window seat, watching the leaves change. I wasn’t sure I was prepared for my first winter, but I could talk Taylor into extra cuddles, so it wasn’t all bad.
Speaking of the man making all my dreams come true, I had plans to propose soon.
I figured it was time to show Taylor how serious I was about him, just in case moving across the country with him hadn’t been convincing enough.
I had a ring picked out and everything, hidden in a porcelain frog that my monstera, Magdalena, was guarding.
But every idea I came up with for the actual proposal didn’t feel quite right.
I was startled out of my daydreams by a sudden movement and a tap on the window in front of me. A paper airplane had landed on the bench. My eyes darted around the living room, but I couldn’t see Taylor. I couldn’t help smiling, though, remembering the paper airplane that had started it all.
Sometimes, we still liked to send each other messages this way. I flipped through my mental calendar to see if I’d forgotten an anniversary. Nothing came to mind, but that didn’t mean anything. I wasn’t all that great at remembering dates.
My heart raced when I recognized the paper as the one I’d pulled from a recent journal and tucked into my nightstand drawer. I’d written out all the various combinations I could take for my married name just to test them out. You know, for science.
Gabriel Thomas
Gabriel Rivera-Thomas
Gabriel Thomas-Rivera
With that buzzy, lovey feeling in my chest, I flipped the airplane over to find four words written on the backside in Taylor’s handwriting that froze me in place.
Will you marry me?
My mouth dropped open in shock.
“Are you serious?” I said aloud.
“So serious.”
When I surveyed the living room again, I could see Taylor inside the doorway, down on one knee with a small black ring box in his hand.
I attempted to jump up and run to him, but my legs tangled in the blanket I was wrapped in, and I collapsed on the floor.
We ended up crawling toward each other, laughing.
When Taylor finally reached me, he pulled me into his arms.
“Gabriel, you gave me my life back, and now that I have it, there is no one I’d rather share it with forever. Be my husband?”
“Yes, yes, carino,” I rushed to say. “I will absolutely marry you.”
Tears filled my eyes as he slid the gold band on my finger. I pushed his chest as they spilled over onto my cheeks.
“You ass, I was planning an epic proposal, and you beat me.”
Now we were both laughing and crying.
“I’m sure you were, angel.” Taylor rubbed his thumbs over my dimples and pulled me into a kiss.
I melted against him immediately. Feeling the security of his chest against mine and his strong arms around me, I almost couldn’t believe I’d be able to kiss this man whenever I wanted for the rest of our lives.
“You can propose, too, if you want to,” he said. “I am not opposed to wearing your ring sooner rather than later.”
“I’d hope so, considering you just signed up to be my husband.” My heart swelled. Husband. “I love you so much.”
“Te amo.”
He was pulling out all the stops tonight, even whipping out the Spanish. He’d been trying to learn more so he could communicate better with my family, and it made me swoon just thinking about it. I kissed him again, grabbing his ass and tugging him closer.
“How long do we have before Kai is supposed to show up?” I asked, as I broke the kiss to pull off his shirt.
Taylor grunted as I sucked a hickey above his collarbone. “About an hour, I think.”
“Plenty of time.” I sighed as my fingers worked on opening his jeans, pulling his pants down his thighs, and letting his cock free. “He’s never on time anyway.”
Taylor tore my shirt over my head next, then bent down to suck my nipple into his mouth, playing with the ring between his teeth.
It sent shockwaves straight down to my dick, and I groaned.
His hands slid under my sweatpants and pushed them down.
We toppled over onto the rug with our legs still in our pants but unable to keep our hands off each other.
“I wasn’t sure about proposing at home,” Taylor said through heavy pants as he ground his hips against me. “But at the moment, I’m glad I did.”
I laughed, but it was abruptly cut off with a moan when Taylor traced around my foreskin with his finger, collecting my precum.
Then, his slick hand was around us both, jacking us off together.
I awkwardly freed one leg from my sweatpants so I could hitch my leg up over his hips to bring us closer together and get some leverage to rut up into his fist.
Even after all this time, I still got feral when he touched me.
Maybe we should have had some drawn-out, romantic lovemaking after a marriage proposal instead of a quick and dirty orgasm on our living room floor, but it felt exactly right. Everything with Taylor felt right. In no time at all, the waves of pleasure spread through my body from my groin.
“Fuck, Taylor, I love you.”
I practically shouted as cum poured out of me, pooling on his smooth stomach and dripping into his belly button. I pulled him into a fierce, claiming kiss and swallowed his moans as he followed me over the edge, his cum mixing with mine.
“I love you too, angel.” He leaned back just enough to look into my eyes before diving into another deep kiss.
Once our lips were puffy and our heart rates slowed, we finally kicked off our pants completely.
Taylor pulled me up from the floor, paper airplane in hand.
Walking to the bookcase, he grabbed the shadowbox he’d given me for our first anniversary: a small wooden box with photos, ticket stubs from things we’d done together, and the Chinese takeout flyer I’d pulled from my glovebox and written my number on.
He opened the top and added his proposal paper airplane to the pile.
I came up behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist and standing on my toes so I could peek over his shoulder.
“I like Thomas-Rivera,” he said as we looked at the shadowbox together.
“Mr. and Mr. Thomas-Rivera.” Warmth expanded in my chest.
Taylor turned his head to smile at me. “Yeah, that one.”
“Sounds perfect.”
And it was. We had our moments like any couple, but I’d never take anything as seriously as I took loving Taylor.