Epilogue - Asher - 6 months later
“Come on, we’re going to be late,” Micah called to me from my— our living room.
I was still getting used to sharing a space with him permanently, still reeling with the happiness I’d felt when he’d agreed to move in just a month ago.
I rummaged through my sock drawer to find the tiny, discreet wooden box I was after and stuffed it in the pocket of my jeans.
“I’m coming. Give me a minute.” I ran my thumb over the smooth corner of the wood to reassure myself that it was there, waiting, before I made my way out of the bedroom and down the hall.
Tonight was going to be the night. It had to be.
I had to stop carrying this damned box around and actually do what I’d set out to do.
I wanted Micah more than anything, and I was desperate to show him just how much I loved him.
“There you are,” Micah said, tugging on his favorite warm boots. “If we don’t go now, we’re going to be late.”
I shrugged and pulled him into my arms, giving him a long, slow kiss. “Who cares?” I murmured when I broke the kiss.
“I’m actually not sure,” he said dreamily.
“You want to stay in and skip the party?” I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I wasn’t particularly in the mood to go be around a ton of people. I had other things on my mind.
Micah sighed and let me go. “No, I guess not. Get your shoes on. Have you seen my scarf? The good one?”
“The furry one?”
He scoffed. “It’s cashmere.”
“Fine. The hairy one. Happy?”
He snorted a laugh and shook his head. “Sure. Have you seen my hairy scarf?”
“Bedroom closet, I think.”
“I don’t know how I missed that. I’ll be right back.” He kissed me once. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Courage seized me. I didn’t want to wait any longer to do it. Once he’d disappeared down the hallway I sank to one knee, pulled the little wooden box from my pocket, and waited.
I could hear him rummaging through the closet and a moment later, the closet door shut and his footsteps in those heavy winter boots were loud on the hallway wooden floor. My heart leaped into my throat and my stomach churned.
“Babe, I really think we should consider—” He froze when he spotted me.
I raised one eyebrow and smirked. “Consider what?”
“What are you doing?”
“Come here,” I said, my voice soft.
As if he were drawn to me by a rope, he stepped forward slowly until he was directly in front of me. “What is this?” His voice was thick with disbelief.
“Micah,” I said, forcing myself to hold back the emotions that threatened to spill out and ruin my proposal.
“You were my first best friend. You’ve been my support since the moment you returned to Port Grandlin.
You took care of me when I was hurt. When we’re apart, I feel like a piece of me is missing.
I love you so much. I want to take care of you when you need it, to support you through your work, to be here for you no matter what. Will you marry me?”
His eyes flooded with tears that threatened to fall as he nodded.
I opened the ring box slowly to give him the ring I’d selected, a silver band with a woodgrain-like pattern running through it.
“This is beautiful,” he whispered as I slipped it on his finger.
Once the ring was on, I rose to my feet and pulled him close to kiss him, slow and deep, taking my time to show him how much I loved him.
Micah broke the kiss, his soft brown eyes fixed on me. “How long have you been planning this?”
I shrugged and raised my eyebrows in an attempt to be coy. “A while.”
“Asher.”
“Two months.”
“Asher!”
I laughed and tightened my grip on him. “What?”
“Since before Christmas?”
With a quick kiss, I nodded. “I’ve been looking for the right opportunity.”
“And you chose tonight? The night we’re supposed to go to some sportsball thing at Jackson’s place?”
Another kiss. “I didn’t want to wait any longer.” I slid my fingers lower until I found the hem of his shirt. “We don’t have to go, you know.”
He slapped my shoulder gently. “We said we’d be there.”
I moved my hand past the waistband of his jeans and boxer-briefs to skim the top of his bare ass. “I can text him and tell him we’ll be late.” I leaned in and nipped at his neck gently.
Micah groaned and I could tell I was winning by the way his body softened under my touch. I moved my hand around to the front of his jeans and unfastened the button. “We said we’d go,” he murmured weakly.
Moving my hand low enough to touch his cock, I gripped it and chuckled when his eyes fluttered closed and he let out another soft groan. “I don’t think you really want to go anymore,” I teased. “I think you want me to fuck you instead.”
He hissed and dropped his forehead to my shoulder as I ran my thumb over his slit. “I guess we can be a little late.”
I pulled my hand from his jeans and cupped his jaw, holding him close for a deep, slow kiss. “So what is it you really want to do?”
Micah let out a little whine. “Please fuck me.”
“Where?”
“Bedroom, kitchen, here, I really don’t care. I just want your cock in me as soon as possible.”
I groaned and nodded, yanking his Henley up and off before tossing it aside. His chest was bare and I ran my hands over it, reveling in the expanse of skin that I still couldn’t believe was all mine. “Hands on the sofa. Bend over.”
“Fuck,” he hissed, and did exactly as I said.
Once he was turned with his back to me, I worked his jeans down enough to expose his ass.
One of the nice things about living together was that we didn’t have to worry about roommates finding anything, so I grabbed the bottle of lube I’d stashed in the drawer of the side table and poured some on my fingers.
I spread it along his ass, Micah rocking back against my fingers as I worked him open.
He spread his legs as far apart as he could manage and bent over at the waist, dropping his head between his shoulders.
When he was prepped and ready, I shoved my own jeans down, yanked my T-shirt up, and gripped my cock in one hand. For a second, I dragged the crown along his hole, teasing.
“Ready?”
He whimpered and nodded. “Yes.”
Without another second of hesitation, I slid inside him, deep, burying myself fully. Micah let out a deep moan and rocked against me, trying to take me farther. Moving my hands to his hips, I pushed him forward and tugged him back onto me.
“More,” he said.
I knew how he liked it—hard, fast—and I did what I could to give him exactly that. I fucked into him, pulling him back against me as I thrust, drawing loud, desperate, wanting sounds from his throat.
The long, beautiful expanse of his back, the muscles of his ass flexing and gripping me, and the way he sounded as I fucked him took me apart quicker than I wanted to admit.
Seeing that ring on his left hand as he white-knuckled the couch was something else.
It didn’t take long for the heat to build in my gut and soon my orgasm rocked through me, waves crashing over me as I came deep inside Micah.
He babbled encouragement as I came, Micah nodding and gasping as my cock pulsed and unloaded inside of him. “Yes, fuck me, please,” he begged. “More.”
When I was spent, I pulled out slowly, making Micah whine. I spun him to face me and he leaned in for a kiss, but instead, I dropped to my knees and took his cock in my mouth.
“Oh, God.” He dug his hands into my hair and guided me as I sucked him. Once I’d gotten a rhythm up, I moved a hand to his ass and thrust two fingers inside his slick, ready hole, fucking him with them.
His voice broke in desperation as I sucked him hard, letting him thrust to the back of my throat as I buried my fingers deep inside, pressing against his prostate, my fingers messy with lube and my own cum.
I moaned as I worked him, loving every second of having my fiancé’s cock in my mouth and feeling him come apart by my touch.
A few moments later, Micah was gripping me harder, grasping my hair with one hand and holding the back of my head with the other as he came, groaning, his orgasm bursting down my throat. I swallowed eagerly and moaned as he finished in my mouth before looking up at him with wide eyes.
“Jesus Christ, Ash,” he muttered as I scrambled to my feet. The second I was steady, he hauled me in for a deep kiss, thrusting his tongue in my mouth to taste himself there.
“Yeah?”
He chuckled weakly and dropped his forehead to my shoulder. “I think I need a second.”
I kissed the side of his head. “Take all the time you need. We have forever.”
The End