Epilogue
Zander
Three Years Later
“I think this is good. Is it good?” Luka asked, chewing on his lip nervously as he looked around our living room.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him against me. He immediately leaned back, his body relaxing. “It’s perfect.” I pecked a kiss just under his ear.
He shivered and covered my arms with his, locking them in place. “I don’t know why I’m nervous.”
“Well, this is kind of a big deal.” I pressed another kiss against his neck, letting my lips linger for a few beats longer than I probably should have.
“Hmmmm,” he sighed contentedly. “You’d better knock that off before you get me all worked up.”
“Who, me?” I murmured against his skin.
“Yes, you.” He sighed and pulled my arms tighter around him. “How much time do we have until everyone gets here?”
“A few minutes.”
He groaned. “Definitely not enough time.”
“Not if we don’t want to risk getting caught with our pants down, literally.”
He turned to face me and angled his face toward me for a kiss. I happily obliged, pressing my lips to his and holding him tight.
Ding dong .
I pulled away at the sound of our doorbell.
Luka groaned. “Awesome. Now I have to answer the door with a boner.”
I dropped one last kiss against his lips, then let him go. “Good thing you’re wearing tight jeans so no one will notice.”
He huffed out a laugh as we headed toward the front door. “And to think I put them on so you’d stare at my ass all night, not to hide my dick while we let our friends into our new house.”
I gave his ass a little slap. “I’m definitely going to be staring at it all night, then have my fun with it when everyone leaves.”
He tossed me a glare, but the effect was ruined when the corner of his lips twitched up. “You’re evil.”
I tossed him a smirk and pulled open the door.
“Nice place,” Isaac said, squeezing past us to come into the house, his head on a swivel as he looked around.
“Thanks,” we said in unison, stepping back so Jamie could come in as well.
I was just about to close the door when I caught sight of Jesse and Sebastian pulling into our driveway. I waited for them to get out of their car as Isaac started asking Luka about our new house and what we thought of the neighborhood.
The last three years had been as incredible as they were eventful, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Luka moved in with me after our official six-month anniversary, and after a year of saving, I put my house up for sale, and we bought this place together.
It wasn’t much of an upgrade size-wise, but it was in a better area and had a massive garage that was twice the size of my old one and had already been converted into a workshop. Our new home was only a few blocks from where Jade, her husband, and their new baby lived. It was also close to Ivy and Mark, which was important to both of us since we’d decided to focus on being uncles and not have kids of our own.
We still worked at Legacy Mechanics, and we loved our jobs, as well as the family we’d found there.
The biggest change in our lives was that my mother had done a complete one-eighty and not only accepted our relationship but fully supported it and was an active part of our lives.
I credited Luka and his family with that, and I was so incredibly grateful that they put the effort into welcoming and accepting my mother into their family even though she resisted at first.
They’d given both of us the family we’d always craved, and Luka’s mother helped her reconcile having a gay son with her faith. Their friendship also helped my mother widen her social group beyond the church.
Luka’s family had welcomed me with open arms, and for the first time in my life, I was surrounded by people who not only loved me, but accepted me for who I was.
It was everything I’d ever wanted but never thought I could have, and for a long time, thought I didn’t deserve.
Things with Luka’s friends had also changed over the years, especially after he’d come out and announced our relationship.
Most of them accepted his sexuality, but a few hadn’t, and instead of pushing Luka aside like before, Dean stuck by him and was a fixture in our makeshift family. He also broke up with Elle for good and was now engaged to one of Jade’s friends.
Things weren’t perfect, and we’d had our fair share of struggles over the years, but we worked through them together, and they only made our relationship stronger.
“Nice place,” Jesse commented as he and Sebastian climbed the steps of our front porch. “It looks amazing, night and day from before.”
“Wait until you see the bathrooms,” Luka said as the men came into the house. “Quinn and the guys did an amazing job.”
Both Jamie and Jesse grinned proudly. Jesse’s older stepbrother owned a contracting business, and Jamie was his office manager. The house had been in good shape when we bought it, but the front had been badly neglected over the years, and both bathrooms needed major repairs and upgrades, which helped bring the price down and make it possible for us to buy into the area.
We’d hired Quinn’s crew to do the work and were beyond happy with the outcome.
I was just about to close the door when I saw Asa, Devon, and Nate walking down the block together.
I heard Luka offering people drinks and trying to shepherd them into the living room as I waited for the last of our guests to arrive.
“Are we late?” Asa asked as he bounded up the front steps. “It’s Dev’s fault if we are.”
“Traitor.” Dev ruffled Asa’s hair good-naturedly, coming up behind him.
“Nope, not late.” I stepped back to let them inside.
“Nice,” Asa commented, looking around the front foyer area. “Where’s the pool table?”
“In the dining room. Where else?” Luka said.
Asa tossed Isaac a grin. “You owe me ten.”
“Doesn’t count.” Isaac shook his head.
“You bet that they’d move the pool table to a different room, and it’s still in the dining room. Hence, I win.”
He shook his head again. “Nope. I said they’d move it to a different room, not that they’d put it in a room that wasn’t the dining room. This is a different house. Therefore, it’s in a different room.”
“We need to take a vote on this one,” Asa said, looking around at the group still crowded in our foyer. “Who thinks Isaac won?”
Isaac immediately raised his hand. “Hey.” He elbowed Jamie with his other arm. “Whatever happened to supporting your boyfriend?”
“I’ll support him when he’s right.” Jamie grinned. “You can’t out semantics a writer. You should know that by now.”
“Traitor,” Isaac grumbled.
“And who thinks I win?” Asa asked triumphantly.
Everyone else, including Jamie, raised their hands.
“Fine. I accept the verdict even if I don’t agree with it,” Isaac said, heaving a dramatic sigh as he dug his wallet out of his pocket.
“Happy housewarming,” Nate said, holding out an envelope to me.
“Thanks.” I took it. “But you didn’t have to.”
“Of course we did.” He shot me a secret smile. “This is a big deal.”
I nodded, biting the inside of my lip so I didn’t start grinning like an idiot.
We’d already told Nate and Dev about our announcement, and they’d kept it secret from the rest of the guys so we could tell them when we were ready.
“Open it,” Isaac encouraged. “It’s from all of us, FYI.”
Chuckling, I pulled out a card that simply said “Congratulations.” Inside was a thick stack of cash and everyone’s signatures.
“Holy shit,” Luka exclaimed, coming up beside me, his eyes as round as saucers as he stared at the cash.
“This is too much,” I said to Nate.
“You didn’t even count it yet,” Jesse said with a grin. “How do you know it’s too much?”
I quickly riffled through the bills, and my shock intensified. They’d given us five hundred dollars.
“This is too much,” I repeated.
“It really isn’t,” Dev said. “But we knew you wouldn’t accept more.”
“Like I said, this is a big deal,” Nate added.
“Wait,” Asa said suspiciously, looking between me and Nate. “What aren’t you telling us?”
“Whatever do you mean?” Nate asked innocently.
“Nope, not buying it.” He turned his stare on Dev. “You’re in on it too.”
“In on what?” Dev glanced between me and his brother.
“Something’s afoot.” Asa pinned Luka with a look. “Am I wrong?”
Luka just grinned.
“What did I miss?” Isaac asked, shooting me a curious look.
“A lot,” Jesse teased.
Isaac laughed. “You’re not wrong.”
“How about everyone head into the living room, and Luka and I will get drinks?” I suggested. “Be proper hosts and all that jazz.”
“What does everyone want?” Luka asked. “We’ve got beer, wine, soda, and water.”
“Are there snacks?” Isaac asked when everyone was done giving their answers.
“Like we’d invite you over without snacks.” Luka gave him a little shove toward the living room.
Isaac let Jamie drag him into our living room, and the rest of the group followed.
Tucking the envelope under my arm, I held my hand out to Luka. I could see his anxiety building and wanted to help curb it before it could get too bad.
He took it gratefully and squeezed, letting me bring him into the kitchen.
“I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” he said when we were next to the fridge.
“It’s a big deal.” I pulled him close for a quick kiss.
“It shouldn’t be. I mean, this is our family.” He pecked another kiss against my lips. “But I am.”
“It’ll be fine,” I assured him. “We just have to get through the next few minutes, and it’ll be over.”
He nodded and blew out a breath. “Thanks, babe. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I gave his hand one more squeeze. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” He smiled. “Let’s get those drinks so we can finally tell them.”
Asa came into the kitchen with Isaac as we were finishing up and helped us pass out the drinks.
“I feel like we need a toast,” Jesse said when we were all in the living room.
“Instead of a toast, how about an announcement?” I asked.
“I knew it!” Asa grinned triumphantly.
I smiled. “You did.”
“So what’s the announcement?” Isaac asked, shoving a handful of pretzels into his mouth.
I took Luka’s drink and put it on the coffee table with mine.
“So, we kinda did a thing last weekend,” Luka said, shooting me a quick look.
“What?” Jesse, Asa, and Isaac asked together.
Instead of answering, we reached into our pockets and pulled out our new wedding bands.
“Holy shit!” Isaac elbowed Jamie in the side. “Holy shit,” he repeated excitedly.
“Really?” Jesse asked, his eyes round as we put our rings on.
“I knew it!” Asa beamed at us.
“What?” we asked together.
“How?” Luka asked when Asa didn’t say anything.
“You kept touching your ring finger while we were all standing in the foyer,” he said to Luka. “You’ve never done that, so it was either you got hitched or engaged, and knowing you, I’m going with hitched.”
“You’re way too observant for your own good.” Luka shook his head incredulously.
“Wait, are you married ?” Jesse looked between us. “I thought you were announcing your engagement.”
“We’re married,” I confirmed. “We eloped over the weekend.”
“Oh my god!” Isaac tore across the room and threw himself into my arms to give me a bear hug. “This is amazing.”
I rocked on my feet from the impact and wrapped my arms around him to hug him back. “Thanks.”
Isaac released me a moment later and threw himself at Luka, setting off a chain of hugs and congratulations that left us grinning from ear to ear.
“Okay, now we need story time,” Jesse said when everyone was quiet again.
I glanced at Luka.
“Well,” he started, a blush painting his cheeks. “I kinda proposed to Zander by accident a few weeks ago.”
“How do you propose to someone by accident?” Asa asked. “Because that sounds exactly like something you’d do.”
“It was very me,” he confirmed with a laugh. “I was trying to think of the perfect time and place to do it, but nothing felt right. I called Ivy to see if she had any ideas, but I didn’t realize Zander had come home.” He shot me an embarrassed grin as everyone laughed. “He came into the room at the exact second I said ‘I need your help figuring out how to ask Zander to marry me.’”
“Yeah, there’s no way to misinterpret that,” Asa said, poking Luka in the side as the rest of the group laughed and made similar comments.
“Nope.” Luka grinned. “I heard him gasp and whirled around, and there he was.”
“Then what?” Jamie asked. “I don’t believe that’s the end of the story.”
“No way,” Sebastian agreed. “There’s definitely more.”
“There is,” Luka confirmed. “I panicked and dropped to one knee, but I was so shocked I couldn’t say anything coherent. So instead of saying ‘Will you marry me’ like a normal person, I just stared at him.” He shook his head. “Luckily he understood and said yes.”
I took his hand in mine. “It was perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.”
“Me either.” He smiled, his eyes filled with soft affection and love. “Except maybe the bruises on my knee from hitting the floor so hard. That was less than fun.”
“You guys are so stinking cute,” Isaac said.
“And you decided to elope so you wouldn’t have to deal with the stress of a wedding,” Asa said knowingly.
I nodded.
“Who were your witnesses?” Jamie asked. “I’m assuming your moms and your sister were there.” He flicked his gaze to Luka. “Was that it?”
“Ivy was there too,” I said. I’d been the man of honor at her wedding and it hadn’t felt right to not have her at mine, even if it was just a courthouse one.
“You already knew,” Isaac said to Nate and Dev.
Nate nodded.
“They told us so we could change their paperwork and do all the legal stuff on our end for their benefits and all that,” Dev said.
“Can we throw you a bachelor party?” Isaac asked. “Nothing crazy,” he added quickly. “Just something to celebrate where you don’t have to plan or host?”
I glanced at Luka, my heart so full of love and gratitude for our friends that a lump formed in my throat.
A part of me had worried they’d feel left out only finding out now, but of course they were being their amazing selves and understood why we’d taken the route we had.
“That would be really nice.” Luka cleared his throat, as moved by their support as me.
I half listened as everyone started discussing what kind of night they wanted to plan for us.
For nearly thirty years, I’d felt like a stranger in my own life. Like I was watching it from the outside, alone and lost.
Now I had the man I loved, my husband, by my side, and we’d built the life we wanted surrounded by people who’d chosen to love us.
Things between us might have started in an unconventional way, but just like everything else in our life together, I wouldn’t change a single thing about it.
What happens when Asa has to move in with his stepbrother and not only learns about his online side gig, but can’t keep things in the business zone when they start working together?