“Working for the Senators must have helped.”
“Yeah. Turns out Mr. Johnson, the majority owner, is friends with the current AD. Pretty good reference to have.”
“That and you’re awesome.” Liam smiled as they walked toward the café. It had been their little meet-up so many times the last four years. He didn’t know when they’d be back. Harrison would always be special, but now that Coury was going to be a Carnegie Mellon Tartan, they were going to be doing a lot more things there and a lot less at Harrison.
He hated getting so maudlin. It was time. They needed to move to grow, professionally and personally. Coury wasn’t wrong about their own place.
Glancing over, Coury was as lost in thought as Liam. If anything, leaving Harrison was harder on him. Coach Brophy had helped him get a foothold in baseball.
“You okay?” Liam asked.
“Nervous. You know how I get.”
He rubbed Coury’s arm. “Don’t be. You’re going to be awesome.”
They rounded a building and the coffee shop was just ahead. Coury pulled him to a stop.
“I’m not nervous about the job or the move.” Pivoting, Coury faced Liam. “I need to say something.”
Before Liam could speak, he dropped to one knee. “I can’t imagine my life without you. You are the most amazing man. Kind, sweet, loving. I love you so much.
Coury pulled out a box and opened it. A thin silver band sat nestled in the deep blue velvet. Someone noticed them and said, ‘Oh my God, look!” but Liam couldn’t take his eyes off Coury. This man he’d loved for so long always found a way to make things better.
“Marry me, Liam?”
“Are you kidding me?” He hauled Coury to his feet. “Of course, I’ll marry you. Yes!”
He leapt at Coury and kissed him a dozen times. People clapped around them.
Blushing, Coury pulled the ring from its cushion. “I promise to get you a better one when we have more money.”
Liam swallowed the lump in his throat. “Don’t bother. I’ll never love it more than this one.” He wiped a tear from his cheek and kissed Coury.
“Come on. Let’s get that coffee and head home.”
Still processing what had happened, he didn’t remember how he crossed the remaining yards to the café. Coury pulled open the door and motioned for Liam to go in first.
A banner with his name on it hung across the back wall and tables beneath it had been pushed together. He was about to ask Coury what was happening when Beckett rounded on them. His brother looked at Coury and an instant later smiled.
“Congrats, Squirt.” He pulled Liam into a fierce hug. “You, too, C-man. We’re finally going to be brothers.”s
Coury turned to Liam. “Is it too late to back out?”
“Fuck you,” Beckett said. He laughed and wrapped his arms around Coury. “Come on, everyone’s here.”
Liam spotted his parents and Coury’s, Pop and Helen, faculty members, and a few of their friends. The love of his life had found a way to turn his sad day into a perfect one.
“Ready to start the next stage of our lives together?” Coury asked with a dimpled grin.
“Yes.”
Together.
* * *