Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 67432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
The dance slowed, and Eric took a step back, gaze locked on me, his fingers slipping through mine. “You’re my one, Colton. I know it now, I knew it then, I’ll know it for the rest of time. I feel like I’m myself with you, and that’s rare to find, even rarer to find it twice. But I did.” He let go of my hands and reached into his pocket. That’s when he started to drop to one knee, and everything clicked into place with the intensity of a roaring freight train.
Holy crap, he’s proposing, oh my dear gay god in heaven, he’s proposing.
“Colton, you complete me in ways I didn’t even know I needed. You make me a better person every day, just by wanting to be better for you. In the grand scheme of things, I know we’ve been together a relatively short amount of time, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to spend the rest of my life with you. So, Colton Jimmy Dean Rogers Cooper, will you marry me?”
He opened the black velvet case to reveal a glittering silver band set in a silky blue pillow. I surprised myself by laughing and crying at the same time, something I didn’t realize was possible until that very moment. I nodded, moving the hand from my mouth so Eric could hear my answer clearly. “Yes, absolutely fucking yes, I’ll marry you. Yes.”
Eric slipped the ring onto my finger and stood up, his grin reaching from ear to ear and lighting up his entire face.
“Also, my grandma would be impressed with your middle-name game.”
“Thanks. Thought of them on the spot.”
I shook my head, smiling, kissing him, my man—my fiancé. Holy shit. We were getting married.
“You’re the best,” I said, unable to keep my lips off him, the rain beginning to stop as the thick gray clouds moved away and let the full moon shine bright in the sky.
“Come on,” Eric said, tugging me toward the house. “You said something about a round two?”
“And three and four. This ring is doing something to my libido.”
“Wait until you see the other ring I got you, then,” he said with a wink and a laugh. I wasn’t sure if he was serious, but I didn’t care, having already gotten the only ring I cared about. I followed him all the way back to the bedroom, where we fell into bed and didn’t get out of it until well past noon the next day, having only gotten a total of four hours of sleep and still waking up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Guess that was an effect of waking up next to the love of your life and soon-to-be husband.
EPILOGUE
Tristan
Eric and Colton looked the happiest I’d ever seen them. When my best friend FaceTimed me a couple of months ago, I was expecting the worst. My brain was a trap of pessimism and anxiety, with slight dashes of impressive creativity, which meant that I sometimes thought up the worst situations possible: car crash, helicopter crash into an active volcano, eaten whole by a whale shark. I flashed through all kinds of reasons why my best friend would be randomly FaceTiming me before I accepted the call and was greeted with two beaming faces on the screen.
Of course they were calling to tell me the news of their engagement.
I couldn’t be happier for them. Eric had talked to me about Colton on a couple of different occasions, before they had bumped into each other at the coffee shop, always mentioning him in a way that made me think he was Eric’s “one that got away.” Thankfully, life had other plans for them.
Now we were in Disney World, celebrating the couple at the happiest place on Earth with all our closest friends. The entire book club was here, all of us wearing shirts with Eric and Colton’s faces printed onto them. Noah had made them before the trip, insisting that we all had to wear them, even though it was supposed to be upward of a hundred degrees by lunchtime, and Noah hadn’t exactly splurged on the most breathable fabrics.
Still, we were all having a blast, even if I had to take the shirt off and tie it around my waist. Sweat was already soaking through my black tank top, which made the Mickey Mouse Popsicle I was currently sucking on all the more necessary. I sat on a bench outside of the exit for Space Mountain, Jess and I waiting for the gang to get off the ride since neither of us did roller coasters.
“Jesus Christ, it’s hotter than a blacksmith’s ballsack out here.”
I looked to Jess, my eyebrows raised.
“Sorry, I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy books lately.”
We both started to laugh. “No, you’re completely right. I think that’s a better comparison than I could have come up with, and I’m the writer of the group.”