Every Shade by Nora Phoenix
Epilogue: A Year Later
Micah looked around the living room, finally happy with the way it looked after rearranging it four times.
“We good now?” Forest asked with the patience that characterized him.
Micah nodded sheepishly. “Sorry, I wanted—”
He stopped talking when he realized he’d uttered the forbidden word.
“Uh oh,” Forest said, putting down the box of books he’d just picked up from the hallway. “I heard that.”
“It was an accident,” Micah said, knowing it was useless to argue with Forest. The man had installed a rule a few months ago that Micah couldn’t apologize for himself anymore, not for things he couldn’t help.
“Nope, not buying it. Choose a punishment from the jar. I unpacked it first thing, and it’s on the kitchen counter.”
Micah pouted, but Forest merely laughed until he relented and got the jar from the kitchen. It held dozens of little notes, all written by Forest, containing all kinds of creative punishments for Micah. They usually involved him doing something weird, new, or daring. It was another fun way in which Forest constantly challenged Micah to push the boundaries of his comfort zone.
He’d grown more than he thought possible, his move to Colorado the biggest proof of that. They’d met each other kind of halfway after Forest had been approached about a job at an outdoors activity center that organized events like hiking tours in the Rockies and rafting. Micah had gathered all his courage and had asked his company for a transfer to Boulder, and they’d been delighted to have him. They’d bought a cute house on two acres of land, both excited to live close to nature.
Micah held the jar and with a dramatic gesture, took out a note. “I cannot wait to see what torture you’ve devised for me now,” he muttered, then folded open the note and read it.
Marry me.
His breath caught in his lungs and his head jerked up. Forest was sinking to his knee, holding out a small velvet box, and Micah’s eyes filled.
“Please, say yes?” Forest asked, and Micah didn’t even think.
“Yes! Oh god, yes. No one else but you,” he said, then caught Forest in the most awkward hug ever, which they quickly corrected into a passionate kiss.
“I love you so much,” Forest said with his lips against Micah’s. “And I don’t want to spend another day without you.”
He knew him so well, Micah realized, not making a grand thing out of this proposal, but doing it as low key as possible so it wouldn’t freak him out. “I love you,” he whispered. “And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
The End
