Page 56 of Embraced in Ink

They ate, drank, and laughed. Nobody grilled him, or her. Didn’t make any sense to him. They should be interrogating them. They should be wondering how the hell they had decided to become engaged out of the blue, but nobody was asking. Maybe they were too afraid that if they did, the bubble would burst, and everything would go back to the way it was. But it couldn’t go back to the way it was. Marcus wasn’t sure he would let it.

“So, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Bristol said, taking out her hair clip and rubbing her scalp.

Marcus set down the empty Tupperware, not that the cookies were all eaten, and took out his wallet and keys, toeing off his shoes. It felt as if they were coming home after a long day, where they lived together, and this was their future. It was a glimpse of it. They hadn’t nailed down where they would live or when their wedding would be, but they would get there. He figured they would do this dating thing for a while and just be. And then the rest would come. Because if he stressed himself out too much, trying to figure out exactly what was going to happen, it wouldn’t work out.

“I don’t think it went bad at all. For you.”

“Simply because your sisters cornered you while their husbands laughed didn’t mean it went badly.”

“See, I don’t know how I ended up on the outside of this because my sisters are on your side. They love you. Because you’re a woman. And then my brothers-in-law are on your side because you’re going to be part of the family. How did I end up on the outside of both versions?”

Bristol laughed and put her hands on his chest. “You know you’re not on the outside. Not with my family, and not with yours. And the fact that they were giving us space to figure this out is a little shocking and quite worrying.”

Her words echoed his thoughts, and he nodded and tucked her hair behind her ears. “Yeah, I think they all know something’s different. But they’re letting us figure it out on our own.”

“Which doesn’t always happen with our families.”

Marcus snorted. “Yeah, not even a little. That should worry me, but I don’t want to focus on it too much. You know?”

Bristol nodded and then went up on her tiptoes to kiss his jaw.

He grinned and slowly slid his hands down her sides to grip her butt. She smiled.

“Well, hello there, Mr. Marcus.”

“You’re right. This squirrel shirt does give you curves.”

She punched him in the chest.

“How dare you?”

Marcus snorted. “If that little fist of yours had done any damage, maybe I’d be a little offended.”

“My hands are insured, mister. These babies are my livelihood. I’m not going to hurt them by punching you.”

“At least, you didn’t tuck your thumb in.”

“Of course, I didn’t. My brothers trained me. And those self-defense classes I took.”

“I forgot you took those,” Marcus said, his voice lowering.

“Liam made me take them before my first tour. Remember? Before my birthday.”

Marcus let out a breath. “I remember. The birthday that seemed to change everything.”

“Yeah, but for the better, right?” she asked, her voice low.

Marcus didn’t know what to say, because he thought so, but what if he was wrong? What if this was only the beginning of the end?

He let that dreadful thought slide through him, and instead of answering, he pressed his mouth to hers and moaned.

He kissed her, putting everything into it, putting himself into it.

There would be a time soon that kisses and touches wouldn’t be enough. They would have to face what their future held.

But for now, this wasn’t it.

For now, they would breathe, and they would just be.