Page 93 of Soren

Gabe hummed. “Idolike it when you have sex hair. Can I give you some now?”

Soren kicked his shin. “Focus, you big lug.”

Gabe sighed, his breath ruffling Soren’s strands. “It went fine. I was her brother again today. She seems to stay regressed to her younger years lately…but I was able to keep her calm and content.”

Soren finally relaxed fully into Gabe’s hold. He’d known his mate could do it, but he was still relieved to hear it had gone well. Gabe pressed a kiss to the side of his head. “I told her how you were doing as well.”

Soren tilted his head up to look at him. “But she doesn’t know who I am.”

Gabe shrugged. “No, but she doesn’t seem to mind the updates anyway.”

“You’ve been telling her I’m…what, exactly?”

“My boyfriend.”

“And she thinks you’re her brother?” He could feel Gabe nodding against his head. Soren was dumbstruck. “You’ve been posthumously outing your dead uncle?”

Gabe leaned back to grin down mischievously at him. “She said it wasn’t all that surprising. Apparently there was some neighborhood boy she always thought he had a crush on.”

Unbelievable.

It struck Soren, not for the first time, the change in his mate. Six months ago, Gabe would never have been able to joke about this. Soren was so goddamn proud of him.

“I told her we were getting married,” Gabe added.

Soren arched a brow. “Are we, now? If this is your idea of a proposal, then hell no. I want flowers. Candles. A chocolate fountain.”

Gabe smirked at him. “How cliché.”

“Is it cliché or is it classic?”

Gabe shook his head, hugging Soren tighter. “This isn’t me proposing. I will though.”

This idiot. “You’re not supposed to tell mebeforehand.”

“We’re mated for all eternity, and me wanting to marry you is supposed to be a surprise? Roman and Danny are married.”

Soren scoffed. “You want to marry me to copy your brother?”

Gabe reached a hand up, running a finger along Soren’s cheek. “I want to marry you because we belong to each other, and I want everyone to know it. I want a ring on your finger. I want a ring onmyfinger.”

Oh.Well.

Soren wouldn’t mind that part. The one downside of a happy, emotionally healthy Gabe was that he was now ten times more appealing. Ten times more…golden. People on the street eyed him like he was a big stack of chocolate-chip pancakes. And he was. But he wasSoren’sbig stack of chocolate-chip pancakes.

Everyone else needed to back the fuck off.

Soren still gave a huff for good measure. “I don’t want a courthouse wedding like those two did. So absolutely boring.”

Gabe shot him a teasing look. “We could get married in the woods. Out innature.”

“I’m divorcing you just for saying that.”

“We’re not married yet.”

“Preemptive divorce, then.”

Gabe kissed him, the jerk. “Come on, brat. Let’s go home. You can sit on my lap while I drive.”