Page 95 of Tangled up in You

“I just…” Mark shook his head. “Maybe it’s a cop thing. Butsomethingabout her didnotset well with me. Was she cute? Yes. But so was the first girl you were talking to.”

Christopher’s face heated and he stared out the passenger window, not bothering to respond.

After another ten minutes of uncomfortable silence, he felt Mark’s hand on his thigh. “I’m sorry,” Mark softly said.

“It’s not your fault.” Still, Chris didn’t face him.

Mark’s hand stayed on his thigh for another uncomfortable quiet spell.

Then, “I might have also been a little jealous I missed seeing you go outside with her.”

Christopher sighed and laid his hand over Mark’s. He finally looked at him. “And you sayIhave issues?”

“Thankfully, Mark smiled. “Ihave issues—youhave subscriptions.”

Christopher squeezed his hand. “She needed to grab ear plugs from her car. When we walked back, the deck was right there, and I didn’t want to have to shout over the music. I wasn’t trying to ice you out.”

The quiet now felt more relaxed, comfortable. Mark kept his hand on Christopher’s thigh, their fingers laced. They were still twenty minutes north of Gardiner when Mark spoke again.

“We have to guide that scientist through the park,” he said. “How about we take a couple of days off after that, drive over to Bozeman, make this official, and spend a weekend in a hotel where we probably don’t know any of the people working there so we can spend some uninterrupted quality time together?”

Christopher blinked, needing a moment to process that. “Are you proposing?”

They approached a scenic turnout. Mark pulled in and shifted the truck into park, turning to Christopher. “I am,” he said, meeting Christopher’s gaze. “I wouldn’t mind wearing a wedding ring. Which is something else we can do in Bozeman—go ring shopping.”

“Don’t you usually want to strangle my autistic ass?” Christopher half-joked.

“Sometimes.” He smiled, his hazel eyes glinting with mirth. “But you’re my sparkly vampire unicorn. You put up with me. And I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else.”

Christopher studied him. “You saying we’re ending our unicorn hunts?”

He shrugged. “They haven’t been a priority for either of us, right? I’m not saying we can’t still do that if we’re both in the mood and in agreement. Just like tonight. But I’m not going anywhere. And I know you’re not going anywhere. Soo…”

Mark shrugged again. “We’re both building our savings and if something happens to me, I want you making the decisions, not my mom or step-dad. And if the worst happens, I’d want everything to go to you, not them.”

Christopher leaned in, cupped the back of Mark’s neck, and kissed his guy. “Yes,” he quietly said. “I would love to get married. Just one condition,” he added as he nuzzled his forehead against Mark’s.

“What condition?”

“We also get a set of those silicone wedding rings to wear when we’re working. Because sometimes we’re doing stuff that we don’t want to risk getting our fingers ripped off. And if we lose a silicone ring it won’t hurt our hearts or wallets so much.”

Mark laughed. “See? That’s why we’re perfect together. You think about the little details.” He kissed Christopher back. “I was even thinking maybe we could talk about looking at houses. I don’t mind our staff cabin, but it’s notours. And while I like stacking money in savings, I don’t like the fact that the park service could boot us without warning.”

“Yeah. I like that idea.”

MARK

Relief flooded Mark. “I mean, if you want some of your family here for the wedding, we can?—”

“No,” Chris said. “I’ll tell them we eloped. I know it won’t hurt their feelings that we excluded them. It’ll relieve them that I didn’t ask them to put themselves out coming, or force them to have to come up with an excuse they think won’t hurt my feelings as to why they can’t.”

Mark hadn’t planned to propose tonight, like this, but something about the night’s events had shifted everything in his mind, like a gear slipping into its proper place.

“I think it’s safe to say you’re not telling your family, huh?” Chris asked.

Mark snorted. “Fuck, no. No offense.”

“None taken. So what happens if we go back for a family visit with your family?”

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