Page 331 of Sticks and Stones
Both men relaxed.
“He needs you, Will,” Gene admitted. “The bottom line is he’s stupid in love with you, and mourning having to set you free so that you can have a chance in life. He was trying to put you first, so don’t be angry with him.”
Will would do what it took, and knowing why he did it helped him not be angry.
“I love him, and I’m not letting him break up with me,” he stated. “My mind is made up. I won’t let him shove me out of his life.”
That’s what they needed to hear.
“Can you handle him while we work his original case?” he asked. “We handled the people who hurt him. Now, it’s about the ones who were found dead.”
Will nodded.
“I won’t ask how they were handled, but I hope to God that it was painful, bloody, and you left pieces of their dicks all over the goddamn place. Better yet, I hope you cut them off and fed them to them.”
Gene stared at him.
“Counselor, that was…something.”
He laughed.
“I can’t help it. I’m particularly bitchy when someone hurts the man I love. Oh, and by the way, he can’t propose to me,” he stated.
They stared at him.
“Why?” Ethan asked.
To show them, Will reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black box.
Oh, they all knew what that was.
When he flipped it open, inside were two rings. Both were gold, and in the metal, there were two stones embedded for each of their birthstones.
It looked like Corbin wasn’t the only one who moved fast, and knew it had been love at first sight.
He explained.
“Because I planned on proposing to him. I bought these a week after we started dating. On New Years, I made my resolution. It was to be married to Corbin by Christmas.”
Gene grinned.
“Do it,” he said. “You two are meant to be. You’re both thinking about the same thing.”
Yeah, he planned on it—once he got Corbin to understand that they were meant to be.
Will tucked them away.
“I’ll keep asking,” he said. “Even if he tells me no, I’ll keep asking him every day until I wear him down. I won’t give up.”
That was the best thing they’d heard all day.
“Well, he’ll wander out of his room a little later. There’s aspirin on the counter, food in the fridge, and if he needs to eat, cut it up for him. He’s awkward with a broken arm. His jaw is sore, and his teeth…”
Will stopped him to clue him in.
“I’m taking time off this next week. I’ll get him to the dentist, and I’ll make sure he gets to any doctor’s appointments he needs. You guys do your thing, and now, I’ll do mine. I’m on soon-to-be husband duty,” he said with so much determination that both men believed him.
Oh, and hoped he pulled it off.
