Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
“Thanks for hosting the party,” Knox said to Ezra on the way out of Frank’s home. The beers he’d drank had given his cheeks a healthy flush, and Liv couldn’t wait to kiss him all over.
Oh well, if he chickened out before reaching home, he could always pretend the rose petals were there as a birthday treat. Though he’d be disappointing Frank and Ezra, who both knew about his plans for the afterparty. Frank had even helped Liv make the ring, so it would be personal and not cost an outrageous amount of money. He couldn’t have afforded anything fancier after all his savings had gone toward Knox’s heart surgery, but neither he nor Knox were into luxury goods.
It should be fine, he thought as he got into the passenger seat of their pickup truck and tried to stretch his tense neck.
“The pasta was so good,” Liv said to fill the silence that for once felt choking.
Knox smiled at him, dispersing some of the tension. His blond hair now reached his collar bones, and the nose ring Liv had put in himself made Knox look edgier, wilder. He was so cool, and Liv couldn’t wait to make Knox his. To put a ring on that finger and make sure this man never slipped out of his grasp.
“And Ezra made the cake actually sweet. Just for you.” Knox laughed and leaned in to give Liv a kiss.
It was incredible that within just two years he’d gone from being stuck with Amanda and stewing in homophobic juices, to reaching the place where he was always meant to be—at Liv’s side.
They’d lost touch with their useless parents, they were no longer wanted by the police, and lived a life they maybe didn’t deserve, but which they appreciated. They even had a dog. What was there not to like?
“I suspect Dex might have added more sugar behind his back,” Liv said as Knox drove away from Frank’s place, the truck licking the piles of junk with its headlights.
“I want to show you something,” Knox said and instead of turning right, toward their home, he headed in the opposite direction.
Liv blinked and moved his hand, finding the little ring box in his pocket as his flesh heated. “Oh? We’re going off-plan?”
What the hell was wrong with him? Liver Polk was Mr. Spontaneous. That was the literal reason the two of them had gotten a chance to become an item in the first place, so why was he so nervous now? Everything Liv knew was telling him Knox would say yes, and yet doubts were eating him up.
“Just a little.” Knox winked at him. “You didn’t think your birthday night was over, did you?”
They drove through the labyrinth of furniture, then a valley of rusted cars, but Knox knew this place like the back of his hand, so Liv was pretty sure they wouldn’t be getting lost. Though this detour did throw a wrench into his plans, since he’d intended to propose at their home. But it wasn’t as though he’d lost the ring. He could do it later. Like, tomorrow.
“Oh, will you cover my eyes with a silk tie too?” Liv asked, resting his arm across Knox’s shoulders.
Knox rolled his eyes. “Dumbass. I don’t know why I love you so much.”
Liv’s heart leaped like a happy goat, and he kissed Knox’s jaw. “No? Not even a bit of secrecy?” he asked, frowning when he saw the fence surrounding the junkyard. Why were they here of all places?
“You’ll see soon enough anyway. Aaand… here we are.”
Knox stopped the truck after one more turn, and the headlights illuminated the fence where a six-pack of beer was attached to the wire with two red ribbons.
Liv chuckled and kissed Knox again, then got out of the vehicle. “Is this a picnic? With beer tasting? Sounds right up my alley,” he said, eyeing Knox, whose T-shirt rode up a bit as he left the truck, revealing some skin above his belt. So fucking hot.
Knox kissed him, his eyes becoming softer when he grabbed Liv’s hand and guided him to the fence. When they approached the cans of beer, Liv noticed that a protein bar was taped to the booze.
“A little trip down memory lane. This is where we crossed into the junkyard.”
Liv’s cheeks tingled, and his chest expanded as the perfection of this moment dawned on him. Of course. This place, where they’d started their new life together two years ago, was the perfect spot for a proposal.
He got on one knee, and in the blinding glow cast by the truck, he produced the ring box.
Knox blinked, staring at him with his mouth slightly open. Damn, he was such a fine man. And the bond they shared made him even more beautiful in Liv’s eyes.
“Wait… what?” Knox whispered.
Liv’s tongue felt like a wooden stick trapped in his mouth, but he braved the stiffness in his limbs and opened the box with the flick of his thumb, revealing the simple sterling silver ring that had their names etched into its circumference.