Page 82 of Xavier

“Wait, what’s happening?” Greyson’s gaze darted between Dexter and I.

“My dad proposed.” Dexter held out a hand to him, curling his fingers twice. “That means you owe me.”

What...

“Shit,” Asher muttered, taking out his phone. “You do CashApp?”

The alarm inside of the fire station had us all jumping apart. Flashing lights, along with the piercing sound shattering the quiet of the street, had everyone around us bouncing into action. Two of Gage’s coworkers grabbed at the garage door and lifted it open, the rest jogging inside to grab their gear.

“All right, you know the drill!” Captain Clarke called out, following them in. “Let’s get a move on, night crew!”

Gage quickly wiped his face, his expression steeling instantly.

Pride bloomed in my chest. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”

His face faltered for a split second, a small smile tugging at his lips before he schooled it back down. He gave us all a tight nod before spinning on his heel and jogging back into the station.

Asher, Greyson, Dexter, and I kept toward the back with the rest of the plus ones that attended the party. It took the station no time at all to gear up and roll out, the skeleton crew being the only thing left behind after it was all said and done.

Once the door to the garage was pulled closed again, everyone let out a small breath.

While it was no surprise that the station was getting calls from people setting their shit on fire with homemade fireworksdisplays, I was a little disappointed to have Gage ripped away from me so soon after proposing to him.

A pair of arms wrapped around me from the side, causing me to look down to see Dexter hugging me.

“Congratulations.”

Smiling, I brushed a hand over his head. “Thank you. You think he liked it?” I teased.

“I think you’re probably in for another bit of waterworks when he comes home.”

Oh, I have no doubt about that.

He pulled away from me with a small smile that turned rather devious when he turned back to the twins. “CashApp you said, right?”

“Shit, he totally remembered,” Greyson said, nudging his brother.

Asher nodded. “I was really hoping the fire truck stuff would distract him.”

“Nice try,” Dexter drawled.

I shook my head at them. “All right, you three brats, get in the car. You can sort out your betting pool when we get home.”

CHAPTER 33

Gage

I rolledmy thumb along the underside of my ring for the thousandth time, admiring the smooth metal that felt like silk against my calloused hand.

No matter how many times I touched it, it still didn’t feel real.

He’d fucking proposed.

That’s why he was acting so goddamn weird. He’d been carrying this ring around in his pocket for who knows how long and I bet it’d been burning a hole in whatever he’d stashed it in until tonight.

No wonder he’d been keeping me at arm’s length.

I had to slap my hand over my mouth to keep myself from dancing and screaming as I carefully unlocked my front door and slipped inside. There was a single light on in the foyer to greet me as I came in; an adorable gesture that I had no doubt was from Xavier.

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