It’s a ring.
I slip off the bed, then lower myself to one knee.
Ben’s eyes, wide and unblinking and stunned, turn to meet mine. “T-Trevor … babe …”
I unclip the ring from Lancelot’s collar, then present it with annoyingly trembling fingers.
“Oh … my … God,” Ben breathes.
I swallow again, my throat dry, my nerves tightening all over as I bring my eyes up to meet Ben’s, which are wet with emotion. “Benjamin Gage …” I start.
“You’re doing this. We’re … We’re really fuckin’ doing this …” Ben looks like he’s about to spill tears of joy or pass out before I’ve even began.
“Benjamin Gage. The day you came into my life … I’d been a total wreck.” I tighten my grip on the ring, my palms sweaty, my heart thrashing against my ribcage. “My life was totally derailed. I couldn’t tell up from down. I lost my mind every time I saw you. And I have, ever since, been downright head-over-heels stupid for you, Benjamin … and it’s all your damned fault.”
“Oh, babe …”
“Benjamin Gage, my love … ever since that first day I saw you at the club, and then met you for the first time all over again by diving at your feet in that office … I knew it would be my fate: I’ve fallen hard for my boss.”
Ben’s lip starts trembling. For the record, I’ve never seen him like this. He doesn’t cry at movies. He doesn’t sob for anything. And this big muscular man is about to cry. He’s so undone by such a simple act as bending the knee and presenting a ring.
Who knew this would be his weakness?
“Ben, my love, my everything … will you marry me?”
He rushes off the bed so fast, Lance jumps back in surprise. Ben wraps me up in his arms and lifts me off the ground, spinning me around, then sets me down to kiss me deeply.
He pulls away just an inch to answer, “Yes,” to my face, his breath warm and wanting. “Yes, Trevor Woodard. Yes, yes, yes.”
The ring slips over his finger, a perfect fit.
And then he kisses me again, and it’s this kiss that I will, for years and years, remember.
I hope all our kisses compete relentlessly with this perfect, powerful kiss. I hope all the rest of our moments alive try with passionate fervor to compare to this one when the love of my life, Benjamin Gage, kisses me with a ring on his finger.
And I hope, from this day forward, every single breath I ever take dares to be like the one he just stole from my lungs with this kiss—wholly, tenderly, and with all his bossy, stubborn heart.
The End.