CHAPTER 49
TREY
Engagement made everyone insane.
Paula’s mother wanted dates.
Trey’s mother wanted guest counts.
Julian wanted a bachelor trip.
Danielle wanted dresses.
Anthony wanted to know whether he could design something.
The moment itself refused to behave like the version he had rehearsed.
Paula interrupted him. He laughed at the wrong time.
Something nearby made noise. None of it mattered.
In fact, the imperfections made the scene feel more theirs.
Trey had spent years learning that control was not the same thing as care.
He could not control the moment. He could only be fully present inside it.
Nia wanted branding.
Marcus wanted everyone to calm down.
Malcolm wanted bourbon.
Trey wanted Paula.
Paula looked at Trey and said, “I want quiet.”
So they disappeared for one weekend.
No wedding talk.
No venues.
No family.
At Trey’s house, Paula put her ring on the nightstand before bed.
He noticed.
“Why’d you take it off?”
“Because I’m not scratching you with a diamond.”
“Practical.”
“I contain multitudes.”
He smiled.
They had sex slowly that night, no structured scene.
Afterward Paula traced his chest.
“Are you scared?”
“Yes.”
She looked up.
“Of marrying me?”
“Of failing at it.”
Paula was quiet.
“Me too.”
Trey nodded.
“I think that’s why we keep doing the work before something breaks.”
Paula looked at him. “Before something breaks.”
“Exactly.”
She pinched him.
They talked until three.
What they had learned.
What still scared them.
How easily Trey’s care could become control.
How easily Paula’s independence could become distance.
How their kink required communication that ordinary life also needed.
How love had not cured either of them.
It had simply given them a reason to keep doing the work.
Paula rested her chin on his chest.
“I want counseling before the wedding.”
“Agreed.”
“You didn’t even hesitate.”
“No.”
“I want us to know how to fight married.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do.”
Trey kissed her forehead.
Premarital counseling would become another doorway.
Not because the relationship was broken.
Because they intended to build something strong enough to survive being real.