Page 64 of Capitally Engaged

“Michelle says you’re responsible for getting my boxes back out of here. She maxes out at one move.”

“Does that mean...” He tried to keep his face neutral, but I detected the hopefulness in his voice.

“I think it’s time for me to be brave and not so afraid of the future and what it might bring. I might not be great at it. I might still have moments of doubt and panic. But I’d like that future to be spent with you, for as long as you’ll have me.”

“That’s great. But you robbed me of a chance to use my line.” He actually crossed his arms and pouted. It was adorable.

“Go ahead.” I interlocked my hands in front of me, waiting.

“Jax, will you marry me? Because I’d like to date you.”

I burst out in laughter. “Did you just quoteThe Proposalat me?”

“I’ve fallen asleep to that movie at least once a week for the past two months, so yes. And besides, who wouldn’t want to be Ryan Reynolds, even if just for a moment?”

“You’re a nerd, Brandt.”

“And you wouldn’t have me any other way.” He closed the gap between us, pulling me into his arms and bending down to put his lips on mine. After a moment, he pulled back, saying, “So, about that couch sex...”

I pushed him away. “Definitely not. There’s no chance one of your brothers has a truck or something, right? I’m going to tank my profile rating using ride shares to cart my stuff all over the city.”

“I bet Duncan has someone who can help us out. I’ll give him a call.”

Preston did that while I gathered the few things I had unpacked since yesterday’s mad dash. I felt a little sheepish about the whole thing, but I think in some ways I needed Preston to come after me. That sounded dramatic and a bit self-centered, but after having to fight for myself for so long, having someone else fight to keep me might have been necessary.

“He’s going to have someone here within the hour,” Preston reported as I grabbed toiletries from the bathroom.

“Oh, that’s great. Let him know I owe him one.”

“He already knows. He says he has us signed up for volunteer events from now until forever.”

I laughed. “I can think of worse things. At least we’ll be together.”

Preston’s smile was as close to the definition of “from ear to ear” as I’d ever seen in real life.

“So let’s go be together on the couch while we wait for Duncan’s ride?” Preston waggled his eyebrows, somehow moving them independently of each other.

“Fine, but only hand stuff. No one wants someone else’s naked ass on their couch,” I said, trying to sound exasperated, but eager to get my hands on Preston too. Emotional declarations of affection were growing more comfortable for me, but that didn’t mean I wanted to stop the physical ones anytime soon. Not having to wait until we got back home wasn’t the worst idea in the world.

Home. That word again. As Preston pulled me down to his lap, feeling the safety in his arms around me, I knew I found my home in him.

Chapter

Twenty-Five

Jax

NOVEMBER

The week my story broke, I made an agreement with the senator that I would go down to part time until the election. Now that the campaign was ending, Senator Marsden could promote from campaign employees to fill any vacancies left on his DC-based staff. Preston and I decided we wouldn’t ask him about the Buzzfeed article, and he never offered any hints confirming he tipped off Katie. I did catch him readingWild and Wicked, the first book in my most popular series, on a flight shortly afterward though, so I think it’s safe to assume it was him.

I found a therapist as one of my first acts with my part-time schedule. My tendency to bolt when events created upheaval and the way it related back to the loss of my parents and grandma wasn’t something I should grapple with alone, especially with Preston in my life. He even joined me for a few sessions so we could work on our communication and talk through howmy leaving had affected him. I hated knowing it hurt him, and appreciated the opportunity to talk through it with a professional.

Preston and I started referring to each other as partners, instead of fiancés. Even though I moved back in with him, I didn’t put the ring back on. We decided we wanted me to wear the ring because it was right for us, not because we had made an agreement over wine and French food when we barely knew each other. So not quite a Sandy and Ryan level move to keep dating each other, but our own spin on it. We eventually told all his brothers the truth. Hayden took it the hardest. Duncan threatened to make us plan the next service event for BII in “all our spare time.” But when they saw nothing in our relationship changed except a ring, they accepted things and moved on.

Election night arrived on a crisp night in Rhode Island. The energy at our election night party buzzed cautiously optimistic. As the senator predicted, we took a slight hit in the polls afterTheDispatch’sstory ran. We recovered from it stronger than before after Senator Marsden demolished his opponent in their debate last summer. It honestly wasn’t even fair, and I almost felt for his opponent when I caught him crying in the wings after the event. But then I remembered he called me a hussy for what I wrote, and I got over that in no time.

None of the rest of Preston’s family could make the trip tonight, but that didn’t mean they weren’t making their support known. A group chat had officially been set up for the brothers and their partners. Charlotte and I looked forward to some more non-Brandt energy joining the thread. We were hopeful another addition was right around the corner.

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