Page 121 of Cross the Line

“Did I do it wrong?” Theo worries aloud. This is why he always plans things, but being with Alec means he keeps throwing plans out the window. “I should have waited until I could do it right with a party and?—”

“Fuck the party,” Alec sniffles, throwing his arms around Theo and pulling him down into a bruising hug. “The answer is yes, a million times yes. I’ll marry you. Right now. Today.”

“You’ve got a birthday party today,” Theo reminds him, overcome with happiness. He reaches for Alec’s hand, bringing it up to kiss the empty ring finger, hardly able to believe he gets to put something there so that everyone who looks at him will know who he belongs to.

“We could turn my party into a wedding, I bet.”

Sometimes it’s impossible to tell whether Alec is joking or not. If he’s learned anything in the last ten months, it's that Alec is full of surprises.

“No shotgun weddings.”

“Only shotgun proposals,” Alec teases. “Don’t pinch your face like that, I love it. Ten out of ten, best proposal ever. I sucked your dick so good you clearly couldn’t let me go.”

“That had nothing to do with it,” Theo interjects. At Alec’s raised eyebrow, he laughs. “Okay, I mean you are great at sucking cock, but that’s not why I love you.”

“Feel free to tell me why, in great detail.” Alec folds his arms under his head. “I have all day.”

“You don’t have all day if you want to make your appointment with Riley and Hunter. Unless you changed your mind about jumping out of a plane, because honestly that sounds absolutely horrible and very risky, and I support you changing your mind.”

“You think everything is risky,” Alec snorts, sitting up. He glances at the clock on the bedside table. “And no, I haven’t changed my mind. I want to do this. I have to do this.”

Much as Theo wishes he could talk Alec out of jumping out of a plane from ten thousand feet, he knows it really is something he has to do. After the accident and months of physical therapy, there’d been so many times Alec didn’t trust his body. After a lifetime of feeling in control he’d felt anything but, and though he’d healed fine physically, there was still a mental block sometimes.

A few weeks ago Riley suggested this for Alec’s birthday as a way to feel empowered and free, and Alec had jumped at the idea, eagerly roping Hunter into their plans. According to Alec, the only thing that would’ve made it perfect was if Antonio had been in the country to come with them, but since he was in Mexico for a few weeks before he started with his new team, it was just Riley and Alec today.

Privately, Theo hates it, but he’s kept it to himself. While he doesn’t get the draw since you couldn’t pay him to jump out of a plane, he knows that it’s important to Alec so he’s staying quiet. He’s also staying home, because if he had to watch Alec jump out of a plane, he’d probably pass out or have a panic attack. That and he has way too much to do to get ready for the party later.

“I guess I better shower, but only if you give me my ring, fiance.” The smile on Alec’s face is bright enough to light up Theo’s entire life. He really is devastatingly beautiful when he smiles.

“The ring,” Theo echoes, rolling off the bed and shuffling to the dresser. He opens the top drawer, digging around until he finds a pair of black socks he never wears hidden in the back corner, unfolding them to reveal a small box that he carries back to the bed. Somehow even though Alec has already said yes, he can’t help but feel nervous. He wants Alec to love it, to look at it on his finger and remember this moment, remember how precious he is.

“Well?” Alec’s grinning, one hand outstretched.

Holding his breath, Theo opens the box, pulling out the delicate band. All gold, smooth except for the single blue topaz stone in the center. Proud of his steady hand, he slips the ring on Alec’s finger, exhaling a heavy sigh of relief when it settles at the base in a perfect fit.

“It’s beautiful.” When Alec lifts his eyes to Theo’s, he whispers, ”Thank you.”

“Everyone will know you’re taken now.” Theo lifts his hand, laying a single kiss atop the ring. “Forever.”

“Theodore James, are you being possessive? You want me to get a shirt that says ‘belongs to Theo’ for when we go out? I will. Actually, that’s a great idea.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Theo chuckles, absolutely certain that Alec would in fact wear a shirt like that if he could. “Between you and me, I don’t need to see you in a special shirt or ring to know you’re mine. I feel it every time you look at me.”

“Are you turning into a romantic, Theodore?”

“For you,” Theo answers. “Anything for you.”

“Anything?” Alec smirks.

“Anything except jumping out of a plane.”

“Damn,” Alec laughs as he slips out of bed, though not before dropping a kiss to Theo’s head. “By the way, don’t tell my brothers about the engagement when they come over later. I wanna do it. I wanna be here when they find out.”

“Who says they’re coming over? I don’t have anything planned,” Theo lies, wondering how on earth Alec figured out he’s planning a surprise party. He’s been so careful. Or at least he thought he had. Maybe he’s not as good at hiding things from Alec as he thought.

“Uh-huh. Sure.” Alec turns to look at Theo with a playful grin. “Whatever you say future husband of mine.”

Pausing to appreciate the difference a full day's work makes, Theo places his hands on his hips and surveys the small backyard. This morning it’d been in horrible shape, the last few months of Alec’s recovery taking precedence over yard work. Even once he was better, there were far more important things to do, like spend every second with his pretty boyfriend, rather than worry about weeds and grass. Thankfully as soon as Alec left with Riley this morning, Jason came to help Theo tackle his problem. Together they mowed the lawn, pulled the weeds along the fence line, set up a few tables and chairs and rearranged and cleaned the patio furniture. Once that was done, Theo strung up a few new strings of white lights from the patio to the fence line in case the party went late, which knowing the King family, it would. Meanwhile Jason built the new fire pit he bought. All in all the yard looks amazing and pride fills Theo’s chest.

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