Page 92 of Since Always

"Go get her," Steph says, and winks at me. With a last nod towards Jana, I move past them and over to the love of my life. "Where'd you go? I was looking for you," I ask her.

"I wanted to freshen up before midnight. I know there will be pictures."

"Yeah, I guess this year we should be in them."

She purses her lips. "I don't know. I did really enjoy the way we rang in last New Year's." She leans in so her mouth is close to my ear. "With you inside me, you know?"

I groan, not letting myself even follow that train of thought in the fight to stay decent.

"We could go down before..."

"There's only ten minutes. You're killing me here, Sloane."

"Owen! Cass!" Chris calls over the music, waving to us from beside the door to the patio. I know the time is coming, and everyone is getting in their places. I pull Cassidy behind me, and over to where Jessica and Chris are waiting.

"I thought we could be outside at midnight for the fireworks," Jessica says. "It's been a long time since we watched them. I'm usually so busy, I forget."

We follow her onto the crowded patio, grabbing glasses of champagne from the outdoor bar and fielding conversations from the people already gathered outside. There are a couple of side-eye glances as we make our way across the patio and through the crowd, but mostly it is friendly smiles.

After we started leaking our relationship and going public with it, there was, of course, some fallout. The photos of my wedding to Kaitlyn, and others of Cassidy and I when she was young, made the inevitable media rounds. We fought them by telling our story, as openly and honestly as we could, using my social media to keep the conversation between me and my constituents directly.

The thing I underestimated, in all my worrying, was the one thing I shouldn't have: the pure and utter charm of Cassidy Sloane. After a couple of weekends of letting cameras catch us out and about after her graduation, she posted a picture on her social media accounts with a caption lovely enough that it brought tears to my eyes and stopped a lot of the gossip before it even began. A few days later, we did a live-stream on my Vidtalk account, and Cassidy, who I know was nervous in front of all of those people, was nothing but charm and grace. They fell in love with her, and I think could feel the chemistry between us.

It didn't stop all the negative press, of course, and there will always be a faction of people who believe our relationship is wrong. In truth, I don't know yet if I will win my next election, but I have a few years to garner enough support. As I've been reminded time and time again since going public with it, politicians have weathered and come back from much worse than being madly in love and in a monogamous relationship with another consenting adult.

So, for now, we are doing what we said we would—we are getting through it together. And we have never been better.

We find our area of the patio underneath one of the giant heaters and all gather around, chatting with one another, raising our glasses, and toasting to both the year that has passed and the one to come. If Cassidy has noticed that all of her closest friends seemed to have gathered in this one spot, she has not showed it. She, Lexi, and Becca are chatting and giggling together, and any nerves I admit I was feeling a moment ago disappear as her face lights up with joy.

From inside the house, a loud counting begins.

"TEN," cries the crowd, and I grab Cass from her friends and pull her into me, hugging her close. I breathe her in, as grateful now as I have been for the past several months to have her by my side. It has not always been easy, but it has always been right.

"FOUR," they cry, and now we are yelling with them. "THREE, TWO... ONE. HAPPY NEW YEAR."

The DJ inside plays Auld Lang Syne, and the sound of trumpets flow through the doors. Fireworks over Aspen explode, but all I can see is the beautiful woman in front of me. I lean down to kiss her.

"Happy New Year," she smiles.

I pull back from her and drop to one knee.

The surrounding crowd, our closest friends and family and some other party guests turn to watch us. Some knew this was coming and yet still, they cover their mouths in surprise. Jessica chokes back a sob and Chris wraps his arm around her.

Cass stares at me. Her jaw dropped.

"Owe—"

But she stops abruptly when I open the box I have pulled out of my pocket. The four-carat, emerald-cut diamond glistens under the fairy lights overhead.

"Cassidy Jane Sloane," I say. "I cannot imagine, I never want to imagine, my life without you in it. You have always been there. You were a friend to me long before you were anything else and, more than anything, I want your friendship for the rest of my life. But I also want more than that. I want to wake up every day next to you, and I want to fight every battle with you by my side, and someday, I want my children to call you Mom. I want to start every year kissing you. I want to be your husband. Will you marry me?"

There are flashes from cameras around us as Cassidy nods, not able to speak through her tears. I slip the ring on her finger and she pulls me up to face her.

"I love you," she says, smiling from ear to ear. I kiss her, tasting her tears on her lips. Around us, there is cheering.

When I pull away from her, Jessica is there; grabbing her daughter to wrap her in a big, tearful hug, just as I am being pulled into one by Chris.

"I'm so happy for you, brother." he says, and I laugh and shake my head in amazement.

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