Page 71 of Men in Shorts

Fergus opened his eyes. “Do you understand what I’m asking?”

“Asking?” John tilted his head. “You didn’t ask?—”

His heart thudded to a stop, then began to pound faster than ever.Oh God.

“John.” Fergus’s face shone with sweat and steam and something more. “If you say no, I won’t be hurt. It won’t change a thing between us, I swear. But I’d truly love to be your husband.”

The last several words had tumbled out so fast, and with all the background noise—the water’s burble, the music’s throb, and the other men’s moans—John wasn’t 100 percent certain what Fergus had asked.

“Yes,” John said anyway. “I’d love to be your husband.”

Fergus’s jaw dropped, and John wondered if he’d in fact misheard.

“That was what you asked me, aye?” John said. “To marry you?”

Fergus just stared at him, then nodded mutely.

John’s pulse raced faster. “Did you expect me to say no?”

“No, I-I didn’t expect to ask the question now.” Fergus looked as shocked as John felt. “I was going to wait until tonight.”

John was confused. “So…should we pretend this didn’t happen?”

“No!” Fergus wrapped his arms around John’s waist again. “I’ve thought about making this permanent every day since we moved in together. But I know I’m not always easy to live with.”

John wanted to laugh at the absurdity. “Fergus, you’re the easiest person I could ever live with, because you’re the one I need to go on living. Without you, my lungs would say ‘sod this for a lark’ and just give up.” He shook his head. “Och, that came out pure gibberish. But aye, let’s do it. Let’s marry.”

“Yes!” Fergus shouted. He turned to the lads at the other end of the pool, whose configuration had grown even more pretzel-like. “We’re getting married!”

The guys looked confused. The Asian one asked, “Is this still part of the game?”

John laughed, remembering how he’d told the trio about the hide-and-seek as he’d dashed through earlier, searching for a hiding place. “It’s for real,” he said. “We just got engaged. Right here. Right now.”

The men erupted into high-pitched cheers, splashing the water around them.

“My sister’s a wedding planner,” the blond lad said. “I can leave her card for you at the front desk. Unless you’re away now to celebrate?”

“Slip it into my locker.” John recited the number off his tag. “I think we might be here a wee while.” Then he lowered his voice to speak to Fergus alone. “Shall we go downstairs now and commemorate the occasion?”

“We could—or we could pop by the clinic and do that testing thing first.” Fergus laced his fingers with John’s. “So we can have a more thorough celebration.”

John’s mind, body, and soul lit up at the thought. “Yes,” he said, then kissed Fergus to let that light flare between them again.Yes. Yes. Yes.

Chapter4

“We don’t getmany couples in here,” said Bruce the nurse as he sat behind the desk with a pair of sheets Fergus hoped were their test results.

“I can imagine,” Fergus said, trying to ease his death grip on John’s hand. They’d slid their chairs close together—and not just for emotional comfort. This office was rather chilly to be wearing nothing but towels. Fortunately, he and John were the clinic’s only patrons this afternoon, so it had taken a mere half hour total for the blood draws, then individual exams and interviews with the nurse.

While John was in the exam room, Fergus had had time to consider what he’d done. He was now having second thoughts about the proposal—not out of fear, but out of guilt.

“We’re not boyfriends,” John told Bruce. “We’re fiancés.” He beamed at Fergus. “Just got engaged in the Jacuzzi.”

The nurse gaped at them. “Well. That’s a first for us.”

Fergus tapped his heel on the floor, aware there was a faint chance this man could ruin their day. “So, our results?”

“All negative,” Bruce said. “You’re cleared for takeoff, so to speak.”

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