Page 59 of The Entanglement of Rival Wizards (Magic and Romance #1)

Exuberant, so light I could float across town, I board a bus and text my coconspirators—a few of Thio’s coworkers—in Operation: Proposal and give them the all clear to set everything into motion.

They respond with thumbs-ups and I grin at my screen like a fool, eyes teary.

I get a few odd looks for the way I sniff and laugh randomly, but hey, we’ve all seen weirder shit on the bus.

It’s happening. It’s really happening. All these months of tormenting each other with planning lavish proposals, and I’m finally going to see my ring on his finger.

That confidence lasts until I get two stops from Thio’s work, and he texts me.

THIO

Did you hear from your dad?

Which isn’t suspicious. He knows today’s the day.

What is suspicious is the winky face emoji he sends after.

I shift upright, my work khakis slipping on the plastic bus seat, and glare at that emoji.

Why…

Why would he wink about that question?

Dad said he wouldn’t call Thio. Could Thio have found out some other way? My coworkers all know. Did Skogrin text him? That fucker—

By the time the bus lets me off, my dad hasn’t responded to my accusatory text and neither has anyone at Clawstar. Even Orok’s gone silent, and I know he’s glued to his phone today, too.

My eyes narrow, suspicion hot and demanding.

Fucking winky face.

I purse my lips and check that I still have his ring in my bag.

Thio is getting proposed to today if I have to do it in the middle of the street.

I power walk the block between the bus stop and Thio’s work, flipping the ring box over and over in my bag’s front pocket. The city emanates late summer heat like an oven, rippling rays making me sweat, but I’m blasted by the welcome chill of the AC as I duck inside the Harbor.

Orok used his pro rawball money to help us keep Thio’s mom at Blooming Grove for a few months after graduation, but taking money from a friend stressed Thio out as much as taking money from his family.

With help from Dr. Chrosk, we found the Harbor, and while in some ways it’s a far cry from Blooming Grove—we have to provide the potted plants in Dr. Holmes’s room ourselves, the horror—the staff here are every bit as caring.

They welcomed Dr. Holmes like she’s their mother, too, and they welcomed Thio with just as much love, shepherding him through first a desk job here, then encouraging him to become an RN.

During the employee evaluation I had after Thio started nursing school, I told Dr. Zuarashi straight-out why I was suddenly so focused on healing spells.

That’s all my boyfriend’s studying now, too, and if I can figure out ways to make his life easier by creating new healing spells or streamlining old ones? I will.

The attendant at the front desk is on the phone but flaps her hand excitedly at me and tips the handset aside. “It’s all set,” she whispers. “And he’s on rounds, so you can sneak right on up.”

I beam at her as I sign in. “You’re the best. Send him up in ten?”

She bounces back and forth in a shimmy-dance. “This is so excit—yes, sir, I’m still here.” And she’s drawn back into her phone call, but she throws me one last grin.

As I slip into the elevator, I dig components out of my bag, the remaining pieces to activate everything I have planned.

There’s no roof access via the elevator, but I take it as high as I can, head to the stairwell, and climb the remaining two flights to the roof.

As I reach the door, I’m already shaking head to toe, each quake jostling the need inside me, the need I’ve been suppressing the hell out of throughout this trial.

I want to be engaged to Thio.

I want to be married to him.

I want our forever, and I want it to start now.

The door’s silent as I shove outside.

The afternoon sun is high and bright in a cloudless sky, a vibrant backdrop to the cityscape around the rooftop.

I should be assaulted by the honking of horns and the shouting of pedestrians and the general chaos of Philadelphia, but it’s…

quiet. Which is one of the spells I set up, a sound-deadening bubble; and music’s playing. Which is also something I set up.

But I haven’t activated those spells yet.

I pause, door held open, brow furrowing.

A short brick wall rims the space, the lawn chairs for visitors pushed aside in favor of a picnic blanket.

Which is not part of my plan.

The red checkered pattern is set with food; by the smell, it’s that sun-dried tomato cream sauce dish that never fails to let Thio get in my pants. A bottle of champagne perches next to a vase of bursting red roses.

Roses that Thio is currently crouched next to, fussing over, muttering to himself as he tugs one to lay in symmetry with the rest. He hasn’t seen me yet.

This bastard is stealing my proposal.

I smirk.

Unluckily for him, I know my future fiancé quite well and anticipated something like this.

I hold the door open behind me for another beat, watching him.

He’s in a set of navy-blue scrubs, so he must’ve raced up here not long ago; or maybe he just knows I like him in his scrubs. His long hair is braided back and twisted into a bun at the nape of his neck, tattoos slashing harsh black lines against his neck and arms as he carefully adjusts the vase.

There’s a newer tattoo on the inside of his left wrist. It’s one of the runes we created that stops a wizard from draining their components. He didn’t get it as a magical tattoo, just the image.

He got it for me.

The wide-angled lens of this day contracts, bypassing the verdict, the lawsuit, proposing before he does.

Heart swelling, I let the door thud shut behind me.

Thio spins to his feet. He smiles, the corners of his eyes lifting, and a giddy laugh wants to burst out of me, that he still gets that look on his face when he sees me.

I cross the roof to him, taking in his setup with an appreciative whistle. “Well, damn. Whoever did this—” I motion at my ear, the lack of city noise, the music. “Pretty talented wizard. Nice romantic atmosphere.”

Thio’s smile doesn’t waver, but his head cocks. “I… yeah. I am a pretty talented wizard.”

Um. “What? I did this. I set up these spells.”

He snorts. “I know when I do spell work, baby. I set this up a few minutes ago.”

Oh my gods. He didn’t steal the spells I set up; he just had the same ideas as me?

Well, some of the same ideas. It ain’t over yet.

My grin is wicked, and Thio seems confused, but he’s still smiling, too.

“And why, oh, why would you go to all this trouble?” I ask, making my eyes big, feigning ignorance.

He grabs my shirt and tugs me into him, into an onslaught of his cologne and the essence of him as he nips at my mouth. “Why, indeed? Brat.”

“ Brat? You’re talking about yourself, right? Because there’s no way you could know we have anything to celebrate, since I told my father to not call you with the news. However you found out was through dishonest means and doesn’t count.”

“Except”—Thio puts his finger on my chin—“ I had your father call me first.”

I scowl at him. “No, you didn’t.”

“He told me about the verdict two hours ago. When did he call you?”

“I—” I calculate. “Gods damn it.”

Thio beams, smug in his victory, and I let him have this.

I like him happy.

“You’re conspiring with my dad behind my back.” I sneak my thumbs under his shirt, wanting skin contact. “Which is fitting, honestly, since I’ve been conspiring with your coworkers behind your back.”

Thio’s head jerks, wonder pulsing over him.

I activate the last spell.

Dozens of floating lights sparkle to life around us, delicate hovering flickers that coat the air. I made them green and spelled them to take the shape of ivy vines, so we’re encased in our own secret fairy garden on this roof.

Thio gazes up at them, the lights shimmering in his eyes, enhancing his awe.

But his head snaps down, surprise mixing with love and hope and promise.

We hold in a beat of watching each other, absorbing the moment, the anticipation.

Thio moves first—he steps back and slides a ring box out of his pocket.

My pulse quickens at the sight, and I almost feel bad for stopping him.

Almost.

He’s been with me through every fucked-up moment of this lawsuit.

Through it advancing to trial, through my testimony and how I was basically catatonic for days after.

He’s been there as he was juggling nursing school and his job here.

He’s been there, even when his family tried to go after him for what I was doing. He’s been there .

He starts to sink to one knee—

When he bursts up with a squawk.

Thio whirls around, rubbing his ankle, frowning at the picnic blanket. “What the—?”

By the time he’s facing me again, I’m on one knee, my own ring box out and open.

“Thio,” I say, shocked I can talk at all with the intensity bearing down on me, happiness as unyielding as a dam, like it’s trying to force the question not to come too fast.

His lips part.

But he doesn’t stop me. Doesn’t fight to be the one to do it.

He just stares down at me, eyes tearing.

“I love you,” I get to tell him. “I’ve loved you through thinking I hated you. I’ve loved you through figuring out how to rely on one another. I’ve loved you through not knowing why you love me at all. Every day, getting to love you remains the greatest honor of my existence. Will you marry me?”

Thio gasps a laugh, composure threatening to topple him sideways. “ Baby .”

My nose scrunches in a smile. “Yeah?”

“That was—” He looks behind him again.

A plate of parmesan cream sauce pasta vanishes, bite by invisible bite.

“Nick,” Thio realizes, and Nick rumbles, a happy little purr.

With a heaving breath, Thio faces me, his tongue working the inside of his cheek. He’s exasperated but his eyes are sparkling, not just in the emerald lights that dance around us.

“Is that a yes?” I prod.

He opens the box he’d had in his pocket and shows me a silver band. “Of course it’s a yes. I’ve wanted to marry you for years. It’s why I told your dad when this lawsuit started that, regardless of how it ended, he should tell me the verdict first.”

My brain slips right over his yes . “You’ve been planning to do this since the lawsuit started? For four years ?”

He nods.

Heat crawls across my chest, up my face. “Why—” My tongue feels too big for my mouth, my throat closing over. “Why’d you wait?”

How did he wait, more like; I’ve only been planning this for the past few months, and even waiting this long was torture.

Thio’s expression tempers, ineffably sweet. “Regardless of the verdict, I wanted the lawsuit to be behind us so we could count this as a fresh start. I wanted to be able to plan a future with you, for you to have that future, too, unmarred.”

I shut the ring box and launch to my feet.

Thio teeters back in surprise, but I seize the collar of his scrubs and haul him into me.

“Propose,” I say. “I want you to propose to me.”

“But you—”

“I know. But I want you to do it, too.” I put my mouth on his. “Ask me, Tourael.”

He hooks his hand around the back of my neck, joy toying with the edges of his mouth. “Marry me?” he whispers.

I nod into the kiss, grinning. We both are, smiling so hard my face will get stuck like this, but I let it.

I don’t want to look back anymore. I want to, am able to, look forward now.

And the only thing ahead of me is him.