Chapter 35 #2
There’s this little joint in Durango that serves the best pizza. The dough is fried and covered with the best sauce, basil, some pesto, and a ton of cheese. I always top it with their homemade pepperoni slices.
“I fucking love how this isn’t all fancy,” I say, reaching for a slice and placing it on my plate.
“Well, the thought crossed my mind, but I felt you’d like your favorite pizza more.”
“Hell, yeah. Brilliant, babe.”
I take a bite of the fried crust with an orgasmic groan. It tastes that good.
After we eat, our server sets a platter of cupcakes for dessert on the table. Not any cupcakes, but they’re a rich teal color, and the icing is a swirl of blues and purples, all topped with stars. The sky and stars have been our thing since our trip two years ago.
“Are these from Angie’s Bakery?” I ask.
“They are.”
“God, I love you.”
I shove a cupcake into my mouth, finishing half of it in one bite. Julien is resting his chin on his palm, watching me eat with a soft smile on his face. The candlelight warms his features. He’s so beautiful. Always.
“You haven’t eaten much,” I say.
“You know why.” He reaches for my face and swipes his thumb across the corner of my mouth, then he suckles it. “Icing.”
I’m going to be inside him tonight. I wasn’t sure, so I’d also prepped, but all that work went out the window when I saw what we were eating.
He sips the champagne, then looks at our server. “You can go now. Thank you so much for setting this up for us and bringing the food.”
The man nods and smiles. “You’re welcome, Mr. Kendrick.” He also gives me a little bow and a polite smile, while I wave to him. “Mr. Sokolov. It’s been a pleasure.”
“Are we looking at stars again?” I ask, seeing the telescope sitting on the ground, pointed at the sky.
Julien winks at me and stands. “Yep, but this time is different.” He gives me his hand, palm up, and I take it. He helps me to stand and leads me to the blankets and piles of pillows on the grass. “This is first, then we make love.”
He sits down, spreads his legs, and I sit between them. “Now that I’ve set this up, I’m starting to question it.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“You’ll see. Look into the telescope.”
I peer inside and stare at the night sky that’s become as familiar to me as a good friend. I’ve learned all about most of the important constellations by now. “What am I looking for?”
“Two stars at the top right corner of the telescope. They’re both blue stars that orbit each other. Blue stars burn hot, and because of that, they don’t live as long, maybe a few million years before they explode into supernovas.”
“Oh, cool. What constellation are they a part of?”
“I don’t know, but they belong to us.”
I lean away from the telescope to look at Julien. “What do you mean?”
“I bought them, baby,” he whispers against my neck, his fingers pressing into my stomach. “I want to immortalize us. I named them Romeo and Julien.”
My stomach dips, and I’m filled with this profound sense of love for Julien, more than I thought possible. I didn’t think that was possible, but apparently, I can.
“You… bought us stars?” And there go my leaky eyes. “You named them Romeo and Julien?”
“Is… that okay?”
I turn around to face him and yank him against me. “Of course, it’s okay. God, what an amazingly beautiful gift, Julien. So fucking thoughtful. I love that we’re immortalized. When we die, we’ll exist in the stars together.”
“That’s the plan.”
I take his face in both hands and press my lips to his. Our kiss is slow, and our tongues languidly caress each other. When we come up for air, our foreheads rest against each other. “So fucking special,” I whisper. “You and your gift.”
I drop my hands, sit up, and dig in my pocket for my own gift to give him. I curl my fingers around the ring and look at him. No dips in my stomach. No racing heart. That means I know this is the right thing. I’m not nervous at all.
I hold out my hand, my palm flat, and the ring sitting in the middle.
“This is for you. The ring was made over at that jewelry place we like.” I hold up the ring next to the firelight.
“These are our mountains that we see every day on this beautiful land. You gave us a home, a safe place to love and live without fear. For the first time in my life, since meeting you, I have a future. Jinx and Nutmeg do too. Now, you’ve immortalized us. I’d like to… take it a step further.”
Julien plucks the ring from my fingers and inspects it closely. “This is gorgeous, baby. I absolutely love it. Thank you.”
Before he puts it on the wrong finger, I hold his hand steady, grin, and roll my eyes. “It’s an engagement ring, Sugar. I want us to get married. Can we? Can we get married? Like right here on our land, by the river and mountains?”
“You want to get married?”
I nod and bite my bottom lip.
Julien stares down at the ring. “I never thought I’d get married. The idea kind of scares me because I’m terrified that I’ll end up like my mom or Holt.”
“Never. You’ll never be like them.”
There are those nerves. He’s having doubts. I hadn’t considered that he had those fears since we haven’t really talked about things like marriage or kids.
“I’d love nothing more than to marry you, Aleks.”
“But?”
“No buts. I’m afraid, but not enough to stop this. I fucking love you, and I would love nothing more than to make it legal and be your husband. You already have all of me and everything I own. Now you can have my soul.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him. “Thank you. God, I was worried there for a second.”
“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to. Although I do have a stipulation.”
We separate, and I wait for his conditions. Anything. I’ll accept anything for him. “Yeah?”
“No kids. I can’t do it. I… don’t trust myself. Maybe this is something I should talk to my therapist about. For now, I just can’t do it.”
“Good, because I don’t want kids either. Give me all the animals, though.”
Julien snorts a laugh. “Oh? Even a… warthog?”
“Especially one of those.”
“What about a… tarsier?”
“Eh, I don’t know what that is, but if it’s cute, I’ll take it!”
Julien tugs me into his lap and kisses me. “I’ll give you the fucking world, baby.”
“I don’t need the world. You know that. All I need is you.”
“You’ll always have me. Now, let’s have some hot sex.”
The End