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In fact, Nolan and I had followed a similar trajectory on this trip as we had last time. We just hadn’t told my parents we were in town. We spent a few days with my brother and his family, and we visited some of my old friends. Then we came up here to visit Nolan’s family.

It hurt. I couldn’t lie. It sucked being estranged from my parents. But it was also a huge weight off my shoulders. Was this what closure felt like? Probably.

Maybe someday, they’d come around and decide I was more important than their hangups about queerness. In the meantime, in addition to my brother, I had Nolan, and his family had accepted me into the fold as if I’d been here from day one. I could live with that.

His mom had made some noise about wishing we lived closer, but she understood that we both liked Okinawa. In fact, she and John were coming to visit us in a few months.

We’d be there a while, too. I’d reenlist in a few months, and I’d be staying on Okinawa for another three years. Nolan was going to start negotiating orders for his own reenlistment soon; the detailer thought he had pretty good odds of getting reassigned to Okinawa, but she couldn’t guarantee anything yet.Either way, we’d figure it out. If we had to do the long-distance thing for a while, fine. We could make it work.

He’d also started going to school recently, working toward a Bachelor’s. He still had several years left before he retired, which gave him plenty of time to lock down the degrees he needed for a teaching career. I would start taking classes myself soon; I’d procrastinated a bit because I still didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I’d finally talked myself into at least getting the core requirements done. Maybe by the time I’d finished those, I’d have a direction in mind.

I just hoped that wherever the future took us—whether we were on active duty or venturing into the post-military civilian world—it took us there together.

“I still can’t believe your mom talked you into this.”

Nolan turned a grin on me, and he shrugged. “I compromised. I told her I’d only do it if they letbothof us go out.”

“Still.” I gestured at the ice, the crowd, and the Jumbotron beyond the Zamboni gate. “This is a lot.”

“It is.” He touched my waist and kissed me softly. Then he raked his eyes up and down my body and winked. “But it was an excuse to get you into your dress uniform.”

My face heated, but I also shamelessly looked him up and down. “Like I’m going to complain about anything that gets you into your dress blues.”

He grinned and blushed.

I didn’t think my dress whites were that hot—the traditional Sailor uniform was what it was—but the Marine dress blues? Hoo, boy. The Corps knew how to dress their people. Put thatscorching hot uniform on a body like Nolan’s? Good thing no one was expecting me toskateout onto that ice, or I’d fall on my ass while I checked out his.

A man with a headset approached us. “You gentlemen ready?”

We both nodded.

“All right.” He gave a sharp nod. “When the gates open and they roll out the carpets, you’ll walk out to the second one. Make sure you’re back far enough for the anthem singer”—he nodded toward her—“to stand in front of you.”

“Will do,” we both said.

He nodded again, and then he was talking into his headset.

The arena lights changed, and after a hype montage, the team’s opening lineup was introduced. While that was happening, a pair of black carpets were rolled out in front of the Zamboni gates. When the man with the headset gestured for us to go out, we did. I went out first with Nolan on my heels. On the black carpet, we stopped and faced center ice.

The Jumbotron shifted toHometown Hero Salute, and the announcer said, “The Seattle Breakers would like to welcome Staff Sergeant Nolan Tyler and MA1 Riley Sweet.” The crowd cheered and applauded, and the announcer continued, “Staff Sergeant Tyler is currently stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa, Japan. He has been awarded numerous commendations and medals, and served two combat tours in Afghanistan.” He paused to let the crowd roar their approval. As that died down, he said, “MA1 Sweet is stationed at Naval Base White Beach, also on Okinawa, and his medals and commendations include two Navy Achievement Medals.”

Under his breath, Nolan muttered, “Showoff.”

I snorted, fighting hard to keep a straight face with the cameras pointed at me. From the way Nolan’s lips pulled tight on the Jumbotron, he was fighting the same battle.

“MA1 Sweet has served a combat deployment in Iraq, as well as two shipboard deployments to the Persian Gulf. Between them, Staff Sergeant Tyler and MA1 Sweet have a combined twenty-eight years of active duty service.”

The applause ticked up, and admittedly, my throat got a little tight. Sometimes I thought all the“thank you for your service”stuff could be more performative than anything, and to some degree, this probably was too. But it still got to me tonight.

Maybe being happy and in love had just turned me into a sap.

As the cheering died down, the attention shifted to the anthem singer. The announcer instructed everyone who was able to stand and remove their hats and helmets, and we stayed behind the singer, both at attention. When she’d finished, the announcer said, “Thank you for your service, Staff Sergeant Tyler and MA1 Sweet.”

This was where we weresupposedto turn and head back into the Zamboni gate behind the singer, but Nolan turned toward me instead. I was about to gesture for him to go the other way, but…

Oh.Fuck.

We suddenly had a spotlight on us, and—grinning broadly—Nolan went to one knee. The crowd caught up in the same instant I did, and they roared so loud, I almost didn’t hear him say, “Will you marry me, Riley?”

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