Page 85 of Changing the Play

“I don’t have a ton of space, obviously, but I have an air mattress in the closet if you guys want to crash here?”

Devon gestures toward Levi. “If someone can help me get him on the couch, we can sleep there if you three want to take the air mattress.”

“You’re both going to sleep on the couch?” Darcy asks with a yawn, narrowing his eyes a bit.

Devon flushes. “Yeah, it’s uh—not a big deal. I don’t mind.”

Parker points down the hall. “Anything in there I should be worried about before I go poking around in your closet?”

I laugh. “No. Air mattress is on the top shelf, and I’m pretty sure the pump is on the floor. There’s also a bunch of extra pillows and blankets in there.”

Parker nods, heading down the hall with Lan. By the time we’ve got the living room clean-ish, and I’ve helped Devon get Levi on the couch, Parker and Ben have the air mattress blown up and blankets and pillows distributed to everyone.

“How boring are we that we’re all going to bed before midnight?” Parker asks with a yawn.

“Not boring, baby. Sleepy,” Ben answers, pressing a kiss to the side of Parker’s head.

Parker scoffs. “Stop calling me that.”

I shake my head with a laugh, and usher Darcy from the living room and into mine. They’re all big kids in there. They can handle themselves, or at least I hope so. We brush our teeth side by side and when we climb into bed, Darcy reaches past me and grabs my worn copy ofPride and Prejudice.“We have like ten pages left. We have to finish.”

Before I can agree with words—not that I planned on denying him—he’s pushing it into my hand and curling up against my chest.

I keep my voice low as I read, not wanting to disturb everyone in the living room, but also not wanting to break the intimate bubble we’ve created in my bed. When I read the final line and close the book, Darcy’s bright eyes find mine. The smile playing on his lips is my favorite thing in existence, so I pull him up to kiss him, reveling in the taste of his joy.

Epilogue

Darcy—1 year later

“You’re such a nerd.”

I roll my eyes and glare up at West. “He says as he readsJane Eyreout loud to his boyfriend.”

West gives me a sweet smile and laughs. His eyes go a little soft as he brushes his thumb over my cheek. “I’m just distracted, thinking about what I’m going to do without you for the next eight million years.”

“I’m getting a PhD, West. Not going to space. It’s not like I won’t be coming home to you every night. Pretty much nothing changes. Besides, you’ll be plenty busy with those teenagers of yours.”

He sighs, letting his fingers trail up my face and into my hair. “That’s fair.” For a moment, he doesn’t say anything, just gazes down at me and plays with my hair. “Do you want me to keep reading?”

I hum, settling deeper in his lap. “Yes, please.”

I close my eyes, not needing any encouragement to listen to his voice. He chuckles, but a few seconds later, goes back to reading. I let his voice wash over me, let my mind see the picture he’s painting with his tone, with the highs and lows, the joy and the love. “We should get married. I want you to be my husband.”

My eyes pop open, my heart fluttering wildly in my chest. “I don’t quite recall that line inJane Eyre.”

He bites his lower lip, fighting a smile. “It’s a special edition. Only available in my head.”

I let out a laugh. It’s breathless, and I work way too hard to get my pulse under control. “It’s indecent to slip a proposal like that into Brontë. Almost criminal.”

West grins. “I’ve been trying to come up with some sweet, romantic way to ask, but then here you are, lying in my lap with that stupid, gorgeous smile on your face and—I don’t know. This felt perfect.”

My heart squeezes. His fingers leave my hair and drag down my jaw before he brushes his thumb along my bottom lip. “You’re serious?” I whisper.

“Dead serious. I want a million nights like this. Reading with you in my lap, watching your goofy history documentaries I pretend to hate, listening to your monologues about the bad and good guys of the past, spending my nights with you wrapped around me like you might die if you can’t get closer.”

I blink at him, my stomach doing acrobatics and my heart swelling to the point of almost pain. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” West says, laughter in his voice. “Think of the dominos, baby.”

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