Page 3 of I Do, or Dye Trying
Emory chuckled and headed down the stairs. I followed behind him to lock the back door. “See you tomorrow,” I told him. My words were met with a wave as he headed down the porch steps. When I returned upstairs, Josh was in our bedroom watching Emory through the window.
“I’m worried about him,” Josh said.
“Emory?” I asked. I didn’t want to sound like a big baby, but wasn’tIthe one who received the dire warning? He’d been freaking out since Emory moved next door, but he was calm as a cucumber when he turned and walked to me.
“You being in danger wasn’t what brought him here, Gabe. Jonathon Silver is the reason he’s here. I’m not saying we ignore what he said,” Josh added when my mouth dropped open in shock. “But I told you that I’m not living in fear; I meant it.”
“Good, that means we march forward with our plans to buy Georgia’s mansion. I’m calling her lawyer tomorrow to tell him that we’re buying the place.” I pulled him tight against my chest and lowered my head until my lips hovered above his. “That’s not all we need to plan,” I reminded him. “I can’t wait for you to become mine.”
“I’m already yours,” Josh whispered back.
“I want it official before you change your mind,” I told him, earning myself a snort in reply. “I don’t want big and fancy like the weddings featured on your segments on Channel Eleven. I want it intimate and real with our closest friends and our families.” Josh’s hazel eyes softened at my words. “You know where would be a great place to get married in September? Our new backyard,” I said before he could answer. “We could set up an arbor and chairs in that big backyard where we’ll have barbecues, and our kids will play on their swing set someday.”
Panic began to replace the warm mushy feelings as I threw out a specific time frame. “This September?” he asked. “As in three months?”
“Yes, that’s plenty of time.” He opened his mouth to argue, but I silenced him with a quick kiss. “I’m going to marry you on September sixteenth, Josh Roman. Instead of arguing with me about it, how about we just make it happen.”
“Okay,” he said softly. “I will marry you on the sixteenth of September, but why that specific day?”
“It happens to be my parents’ wedding anniversary,” I told Josh.
“The sixteenth it is then.” I wanted to seal his promise with a kiss, but he jerked back and wagged his finger in front of my face. “Oh no, you don’t. If I’m going to marry you in three months, then I need to start organizing right this minute.”
“It can’t wait ten minutes?” I asked whiningly.
“When have you ever fucked me in ten minutes?” Josh replied. “Let me outline a plan, and then I’ll rock your world.”
“How about I rock your world now and then you can outline a plan while I fix us something to eat for dinner?”
Josh tipped his head to the side as if he was giving it some serious consideration. I unbuttoned the jeans he had purchased and snuck into my drawer. They weren’t the fit I preferred, but I had to admit I looked damn good in the tighter jeans and Josh went wild when I wore them. Lust replaced the determination that had been in his eyes as he watched me stroke my erection.
“Okay, maybe I’ll squeeze you in,” he said as if he was doing me a favor.
“You’ve never had a problem squeezing me in before,” I said, walking him toward the bed.
“Never cheesy,” Josh said, repeating one of our house rules, but his lips twitched from wanting to laugh. Once we were naked, he handed me a condom then reminded me of another promise we made to one another during vacation. “Last night with condoms.” We decided to get tested and give up condoms if the results came back as we expected.
There were several condoms left on the strip. It seemed like such a shame to waste them, so I didn’t give Josh the chance to start on our wedding plans that night.
IWAS WIDE AWAKEat the ass crack of dawn, my head spinning with so many thoughts that I feared it would explode. I eased out from under Gabe’s heavy arm and tiptoed into the bathroom to start my day. I don’t know why I bothered being quiet because there was no way Gabe could hear me over the sound of his snoring. I was fairly certain that I’d want to hold a pillow over his head to buffer it someday, but we were still in our “everything is cute” phase.
Buddy followed behind me with a wagging tail and a hopeful gleam in his eye that we were going for a run. “Yes, Buddy,” I told him as if he understood me, “but can a guy get a bit of privacy here?” I gestured to my cock with the hand that wasn’t holding it steady over the toilet bowl.
It didn’t take me long to scrub my teeth then throw on a pair of running shorts and a tank top. Gabe didn’t even twitch when I dropped a kiss on his cheek before I left. I locked the back door then set out to clear my head—or at least organize and prioritize my thoughts—with a hard run. A guy couldn’t think about everything all at once for fuck’s sake. Food and fucking were usually the top thoughts on any man’s list, but I neglected both of those that morning.
The biggest thing on my mind should’ve been planning my future with Gabe, but if Emory was correct, the life I wanted with him could be in jeopardy. It was a completely helpless feeling, and I had to find a way to come to terms with it or risk letting fear ruin every good thing in my life. I meant what I had said to Gabe; I was through with fear running the show. So, I decided I would examine what Emory said, look for any hints of what was left unspoken, process it, then tuck it away until I had solid evidence that I should be worried. What other choice did I have?
Emory hadn’t said much, and it didn’t seem like he was leaving anything out, so I was tucking it away like a spent dick before I even made it out of my neighborhood. I looked down at my faithful furry friend and noticed how the sunlight caught the diamonds in the ring Gabe had slid on my finger. It was such a beautiful band and remembering the look in Gabe’s eyes when he asked me to marry him never failed to get my heart pumping.Damn, I am one lucky man!
Wearing the ring while on vacation made it feel like we were on our honeymoon, which made me ponder if I wanted to wear the ring during our engagement or wait until after we were married. I was surprised how much I wanted to wait, even though the thought of taking it off made my stomach hurt. Gabe wasn’t going to like my idea, but I thought it was one of the times that I had to stand my ground about what felt right tome.
The thoughts of our engagement led to the biggest source of my hysteria—the wedding! Yes, I know how shallow that seemed considering Emory’s prediction, but the wedding was something tangible I could grasp onto where Emory’s words were just words—and vague ones at that. Gabe demanded a wedding in three months and hell if I didn’t want to make it happen.
I easily pictured an outdoor wedding in early September because fall was my favorite season. I would’ve loved an October wedding with the changing leaves in the background but the weather that month in southern Ohio was too unpredictable for an outdoor wedding. It could be sunny and seventy degrees, rainy and fifty degrees, or it could even snow. It was also possible to experience all of them before noon. September was the ultimate month for an outdoor wedding and ours would be spectacular.
I pictured a beautiful arbor with flowers and greenery woven in and out of the white arches. I saw my gorgeous man standing in a sexy, charcoal suit with an aqua striped tie and matching pocket square. Behind him stood Adrian dressed in a similar suit in a lighter shade of gray. He was beaming with happiness as he watched us exchange vows. I didn’t have eyes in the back of my head, but I knew who would stand with me on my big day. There was no way I’d say “I do” without Chaz and Meredith beside me.
Renting suits, chairs, and an arbor shouldn’t be that hard to do. The hardest part would be finding a caterer with only a few months’ notice. Luckily for Gabe, I had met an amazing caterer through the wedding series I filmed for Channel Eleven. Cliff had told me he’d be happy to cater our big event when Gabe proposed on set, but I was sure he expected more than twelve weeks to organize it. My nerves calmed considerably when I realized that I knew all the right people to make our big day go smoothly. I didn’t need a big binder with a detailed plan after all; I just needed to sit down with Gabe and find out exactly what we wanted on our special day before I called my new friends and begged for their assistance.