Chapter 24
DEAN
“I’m so glad we could find a sitter,” Becky said, leaning hard against Craig’s side. Her hand rested right atop her stomach. She was just beginning to show, and the way Craig looked down at her, his eyes warm and soft—
Well, I couldn’t begrudge him a single damn thing.
His family was his life, and it was growing. And still, they’d both made time to show up for me.
I was so fucking lucky. Even when things changed, my friends held on tight, offered to pick me up and take me to the venue, kept showing up even when that was an objectively ridiculous thing to do.
Hell, basically everyone I knew from Landon and Lucas’s office were standing out there in the audience, and I had the bizarre impression that nobody had even had to twist their arms.
“You’ll have to put me in soon, coach,” I said, laughing. “Landon makes a mean French toast, and we’d love to look after Kimmy while you two have a date night.”
“A collapse-in-bed-at-six night?” Becky suggested.
I snorted. “Nobody said you had to go out. Ordering in is a wonderful thing.”
“Deal,” Craig said, grinning broadly. “If you can promise the world’s best pillow fort. We got a new couch and the cushions don’t come off, and Kimmy’s world has basically ended, so—”
“Done. Easy. Landon’s couch is perfect. You wouldn’t believe how good of a pillow fort we can make.
Right, babe?” Landon had wandered closer while we talked, and when he got to my side, his hand slid across my shoulders, his curved nails leaving a trail of shivers behind.
For once, he was taller than me. I’d perched on a box in the back to chat.
“Huge,” Landon agreed. “Seriously, any time you two need a night off, we’ll be available. Dean, I think the opener’s about done. I wanted to come back and wish you good luck.”
“We should find a spot out there,” Craig said and led Becky out onto the floor while she waved and told me to break a leg.
Back here was dark, the walls painted black to keep from distracting from anything happening on the smallish stage. It was warm and a little stuffy, with old posters pasted to the walls so thick they made a collage.
Landon pressed against my side, swinging in and trusting my arm to loop around his waist to keep him upright. “You ready?”
I grinned. “As I’ll ever be.”
I hadn’t told him yet, but I’d gotten an email from a label. It was a small company—more of a startup than anything, run by a singer who’d set off on her own and had some experience in the business side of things.
It wasn’t the biggest deal ever, and maybe I should wait for something more lucrative to come along, but so far, I liked the way she talked, her initiative and commitment. I thought we’d get along, and it was at least worth having a conversation.
A serious conversation.
One I kind of wanted to include Landon in, because our relationship was, well, pretty serious.
And frankly, if I broke his heart, it was a tossup whether Mom or Lucas would kick my ass first.
They’d be right to, because Landon had rearranged my whole world. He’d made days worth waking up early for, beer at trivia nights taste more like relaxation than distraction. He made bookshops fun and full of adventure behind every cover, restaurants packed with magical delights.
Every second with him cured my heartache and banished the ennui that had gripped me for years.
So whatever came next, whatever decisions I had to make, I wanted to make them with him.
I stood, lifting my guitar, and Landon stepped back. “You’ll be great,” he promised.
When he looked at me like that, I couldn’t imagine being anything else.
With one more kiss, he disappeared.
I got on stage to see him surrounded by familiar faces—Riley and Craig and Becky, yes, but also Lucas and Julia and all the people from Crescent. As I introduced myself, I stared into Landon’s eyes.
When I sang, I sang to him.
The show flew by, and a surprising number of voices rose to sing the choruses along with me. That was what I’d always loved about the band—making music together.
I’d never imagined I could have that again, like this, a venue full of people there to share this moment with me.
After the show, Landon bounced up the stairs and gripped my hand as I went back stage. I was hot from the lights, a bit sweaty, and adrenaline was making my heart pound.
It was the show, sure, but it was him too.
I’d closed out the set singing a new song, one about bright forevers and promises that lasted. He’d held my eye while I sang and—
He had to know it was for him.
“New song?” he squeaked, squeezing my hand.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“You haven’t played it for me before.”
I shrugged. “I wanted tonight to be special. Did you like it?”
Landon bit his lip. His eyes were glassy. “I really liked it, Dean. I loved it.”
And then it hit me—this was not the place I wanted to pour my heart out to him. Backstage smelled a little like stale beer, and there was cigarette smoke wafting in from the open back door. It was too dark.
I leapt up, grabbed his hand, and walked fast for the door.
“Your stuff,” Landon protested as I pulled him out the back.
I caught sight of Riley, leaning against the wall and chatting up a very tall woman in a black leather bustier and jeans that hung way low on her hips. She was smoking, and Riley was biting their lip, looking like there was something else entirely on their mind.
“Riley,” I called.
Their head popped up. “Yeah?”
“Can you watch my shit?”
They snorted. “Sure thing, boss. I’ll throw it in Craig’s car if you want.”
“Perfect. Thank you!”
I pulled Landon past the alley, around the front of the venue and along the sidewalk.
I didn’t know what I was looking for until I found it—a little brick garden, boxed in with planting beds full of short trees and blossoming flowers. Perfect.
There was a street lamp above us, and it buzzed softly. Otherwise, the night was quiet when I pulled him to a stop in the small courtyard.
“What are we doing out here?” He swung his head, looking around. There was a shadow on a bench that might’ve been a person, but they were tucked in the corner of the garden and uninterested in us.
Or it was a newspaper.
Or a trick of the light.
Right then, only one thing mattered to me.
I caught his cheek and he went still. It wasn’t enough until I put my other hand on his face and drew him in for a soft kiss.
“I love you,” I whispered, dropping my forehead against his.
“I love you too,” he said at once. “Are you okay?”
Right. I was acting weird, and he was probably freaking out. Might as well put his fears at ease.
Nothing was wrong.
I wasn’t even that nervous. We’d talked about this—what the future looked like, what family did, where we meant to go next.
I didn’t think he’d say no; maybe “not yet,” but I could be patient. Landon was worth waiting for.
I slid my hands down his arms as I knelt on the ground in front of him. His breath caught, even before I pulled a little box out of my jacket pocket.
“You,” I started, hoarse around the lump in my throat, “are the best person I’ve ever met. Every day I wake up beside you feels like a gift. Everything ahead of us is an adventure. I want—Fuck, Landon, I want to marry you. Would you like to—”
“Marry you?” Landon piped up.
I nodded, opening the ring box for him as I stared up into his beautiful face.
It was a simple band, and he probably deserved something more expensive, but I liked this one.
It was made of hammered titanium, the shining surface flattened in a way that caught the light beautifully and reminded me of all the blows that he’d taken that had made him strong enough not only to save himself and come out here and build a life of his own, but to put me back together too.
Once he’d put it on his finger, Landon frowned down at it. I had a split second to worry that it wasn’t right before he asked, “Do we . . . have to have a long engagement?”
“Is that a yes?”
He bit his lip against a smile, nodding quickly. “Yes.”
I beamed up at him. “I’ll marry you tomorrow if you want. I mean, I don’t know if courthouses do it so fast but—” I fell silent when his brow puckered.
He considered me for a second, his smile fading into something more contemplative. After a moment, he shook his head. “I want a real wedding,” he whispered, “so we can have our friends and family there.”
I surged to my feet, wrapping my arms around him tight. I was so fucking proud of him.
“Nothing would make me happier,” I swore, and when I bent down, he raised his chin to meet my kiss. The streetlamp above popped and went dark.
Landon laughed, and I’d swear that the spark between us that we’d nurtured these past months had stolen that light, because when Landon smiled at me, it shone through his amber eyes.