Epilogue #3
Seven couldn’t answer right away. His throat closed, his pulse thrumming erratically under Enzo’s fingers. The air felt thick enough to drink, and his lungs didn’t know what to do with it.
“Believe what?” he finally managed.
Enzo cupped his face. “That I’ll always choose you. No matter what. It’s you and me.”
“Stop,” Seven whispered, tears threatening for the thousandth time. His laugh broke into a sob. “Jesus, your romance game is lethal. I’m gonna need you to wield this power carefully. Turns out, I’m kind of a marshmallow.”
Enzo laughed softly. “You just bring it out in me. I like spoiling you. You’re shockingly easy to love.”
“You’re the only person who thinks so,” Seven promised him.
“You know that’s not true,” Enzo said. “My mom hand-picked you for me five minutes after you met. There are three dozen people out there, who showed up more for you than me. I was coached, coaxed, and outright threatened over this proposal. No fewer than three people gave me the shovel talk tonight alone. Both our moms said they would end my life if I fucked this up.”
“You’re lying.”
Enzo shook his head. “You know I’m not. Your father isn’t everybody. He’s just the loudest voice in your head, that’s all. But you have a literal army of people who love you, and their love is louder than his hate.”
Seven couldn’t fight the tears streaming down his face. They came hot and quiet, the kind that made his throat ache. “You’re going to break me with this. I’m a mess. If you keep romancing me like this, I’m going to melt into a puddle, and then what will you do?”
Enzo took Seven’s left hand, thumbing over the ring.
He then turned Seven’s wrist and kissed his pulse point, the scrape of stubble and metal sending a shiver racing up Seven’s arm.
“Just let me be sappy and cringe and over-the-top tonight,” he said.
“Tomorrow, I’ll go back to being the boring, unglamorous person you know. ”
“You consider buying a gaming system that costs more than a car boring?” Seven teased, fishing the crumpled-up handkerchief someone—probably Felix—had handed him earlier from his pocket to swipe at his runny nose.
“You needed it. It was practical.”
Seven gave him a flat look. “And the whole new wardrobe?”
“I was being selfish,” Enzo answered, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. “You can’t be my law partner and wear someone else’s designer clothes. What will people think?”
“Demanding the chefs at Mama’s make me food that’s not on the menu?”
“A good chef must always be ready. It’s simply a skill check to make sure they’re doing their jobs properly.”
“Cooking for me every night?”
Enzo gently bit the tip of his nose. “I cook for me. I just share with you.”
“Yeah, sure.” Seven laughed. “They’re gonna want to celebrate with us, huh?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“There’s no way we can just go home?”
“What do you want to do at home?” Enzo asked. “Gonna propose to me now?”
“I was planning to get on my knees. What I do after depends entirely on you, Daddy.”
Enzo gave a pained groan of regret. “Ma’s throwing an engagement party for us at the restaurant, but luckily for you, there’s no place in that restaurant I don’t know.”
“Gonna fuck me against the vintage wines?” Seven murmured, tone flirty.
“If that’s what you want. This night is all about you,” Enzo said.
Seven shook his head. “No, it’s about us. Just us. And three hundred of our closest friends and family members.”
Enzo laughed. “We do have a village…”
As if on cue, the sound of heels growing closer had them looking up. Felix appeared, no longer in his cosplay, but an FNM original suit that fit him like a glove, looking regal as a queen. He held two garment bags.
“I thought for sure I’d catch you fucking back here,” he muttered.
Enzo snorted. “You sound disappointed.”
“Oh, I am,” he retorted, giving Enzo a hard once-over that had Seven play-kicking him. “What? He’s hot. We’re all curious.”
“What do you need?” Seven asked, drawing his attention away from Enzo.
“If you don’t go let your mothers hug you right now, one of them is gonna rupture something.
They’re absolutely feral waiting for you to go back out there.
Party now, fuck later. Here. I made you these so you look good in your pics tonight.
And, yes, before you ask, I got pictures and video of the proposal. You’re welcome.”
With that, he turned on his heel and sashayed away.
“Did he say he made us clothing?” Enzo asked.
“Are you surprised?” Seven countered.
Enzo frowned. “He doesn’t even have my measurements.”
“I’ll bet you a thousand dollars whatever he made will fit like a second skin. He has a creepy sixth sense about these things.”
“Huh. No bet. Should we get dressed now so we don’t have to make the drive back home in body armor?” Enzo asked.
“Is it weird I kind of don’t want to take it off?”
“I mean, we do own the costumes.” Enzo gave him a heated look.
“Meaning…?” Seven murmured.
Enzo reached down, gently biting his lower lip. “Meaning I’ve seen the mod scenes of Ser Thalos and Rowan Thorn Vale celebrating their…vows. We started the night roleplaying. No reason we can’t end it the same way.”
“I like the way you think,” Seven whispered, drawing him in for a deep kiss. It was both hungry and sweet, their armor clinking together.
“Think Rowan ever called Ser Thalos Daddy?” Enzo asked, mouth moving over Seven’s.
“This one does,” he said softly.
Felix’s voice cut through the quiet, even from a distance. “Let’s go. Now. Or the next voice you hear will be your mothers’. Plural.”
“Oof, that’s a mood killer,” Enzo grumbled.
“Yeah, it is.” Seven grimaced, then took a step back. “Care to join me in the changing room?”
“Lead the way, brat.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
They’d only made it two steps when Enzo stopped him, pushing him up against the wall, the impact soft but decisive, knocking the breath out of both of them. He stared deep into Seven’s eyes.
“What?” Seven asked breathlessly.
“I forgot to tell you I love you.”
Seven blinked at him. “I’m pretty sure it was implied in the proposal.”
“I just don’t want you to look back and wonder if it was all for show. I love you so much.”
Something in the way he said it—quiet, unguarded—hit harder than the roar of a thousand fans.
Seven was sure his skin had to be in literal flames. “I love you, too. Now, stop saying stuff like that or we’re never getting out of here.”
Seven pushed away from the wall, gasping when Enzo’s hand connected with his ass with a loud crack.
“Brat.”
“Your brat,” he shot back.
“That’s right. All mine,” Enzo purred. “Don’t you ever forget it.”
And just like that, the lights, the crowd, the world outside the curtain, all of it fell away. It was only them, the knight and the ranger, still writing their vows one moment at a time.
Seven’s smile had Enzo’s brow going up. “What?”
Seven heaved a happy sigh. “Guess Ever wasn’t the only one to get his fairy tale ending.”
the end