She looks back to me and her green eyes fill with tears, each drop breaking my heart.
"When I walked in and saw that woman here, I remembered you. I remembered who you are and who you have always been. I love you, Marshal. I always have. Our friendship works because we’ve always accepted each other, faults and all."
I stiffen my shoulders. "I have faults?"
"You have faults," she confirms. "And I've never had a problem with them, but I can't...not after what Jack did. Not ever. I can't be with someone who would cheat on me."
With the pad of my thumb, I wipe away a big fat tear that's rolling down her cheek. "Sami, I've never cheated on anyone. I've never been in a relationship. I've never wanted to be. Different women on different nights. Before that it was different girls...hell, that was what I wanted until I got a taste of something much sweeter." I lift one cheek to give her my lopsided grin. "And honey, it’s more than that. You’re real. You’re a concert shirt and The Suds’ cheeseburgers. You’re also a sexy black dress and The Rooftop Restaurant. You’re everything I never knew I wanted until I almost lost you."
“Lost me?”
“I would walk on hot coals for your smile, Sami. I know you told me not to look at you in those pictures, but I did.” When she starts to look down, I lift her chin again. “Honey, you’re fucking sexy, but what struck me was how sad you looked. If you’ll agree to make one last amendment to our agreement, to be mine forever and always, I will work to keep your smile bright and no sadness.”
“Life has sadness, Marshal.”
I nod. “It does, but I’d rather focus on what makes us happy.”
“What exactly are you saying?”
“I want all of you. I want” —I can barely believe the words I'm saying— “us. I want to wake up and fall asleep with you. I want to piss you off and make up. I want to taste your honey and I want you on your knees. I want us to make love all night long and when you’re ready to give up your newfound freedom, I want to take it further.”
With each of my statements, Sami's eyes widen.
“Further?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. This is new to me. Marriage, kids...grandkids.”
Her lips come together as she swallows. "What if," she asks, "after Jack, I'm not ready?"
"Then I'll wait...as long as you let me do all the other stuff, starting today."
She shakes her head. "Marshal, are you really talking forever and always. You said you never wanted that."
“Blame it on my inability to see what is right in front of me. The way I look at it, who better to live the rest of my life with, to spend my forever and always with than my best friend?"
Her serious expression breaks into a smile, yet the tears continue to fall. “When?”
“Tonight, Saturday night, or in five years. Sami, it's up to you.”
“You’ll let me wait and not push me?”
I lean against her. “Oh, honey, I’ll push you. I’ll keep pushing you to try new things. I’ll push you to smile and laugh. I won’t push you for a date to marry you, but when you’re ready, I’d like to buy you a ring, one you help pick out, and one you’re willing to wear forever.”
“Forever and always.”
“Can we agree?”
“I agree to an engagement. I love you, Marshal. I think I always have.”
“Fuck, I’m engaged.”
“So am I.”
“That is convenient,” I say.
Sami reaches out and frames my cheeks just before she pulls my lips to hers. When we finally break away, she says, "I do, Marshal."
"Aren't you supposed to save that for the ceremony?"
She shakes her head. "I do—like it when you're bossy."
"Good, because I'm going to take off this pretty little dress and claim the one part of my best friend that will be only mine."
"Marshal?"
I kiss her again. "No arguing, honey, it was in the fine print of that agreement that you said yes to. I get all of you from this day forth."
Instead of reaching for her dress, she begins to unbutton the front of my shirt. “Only after I get to tend to your monster cock on my knees.”
Oh yes. She can be bossy, too.
Sami
Six months later
I can’t describe the way I feel on Marshal’s arm as his fiancée.
It’s right.
It’s easy.
It’s light.
Even dressed up for a party at Marshal’s boss’s home, the stuffiness and pretense I hadn’t realized surrounded me at events like this with the person who now and forever will be referred to as tiny-dick is gone. There is no wondering if Marshal will approve of my dress or hair or weight. The simple memory of the way Marshal looked at me when I stepped from our bedroom in this tiny black dress warms my skin and twists my core.
It’s as if with only his sexy blue eyes, he can speak volumes, lavish praise, and make me feel loved and adored. I can only hope he feels the same when I look at him because I do love and adore him too.
Yes, it is our bedroom.
Living in two places wasn’t working for us.
I’m still not ready to say the vows. It has nothing to do with my best friend, my lover, and my fiancé. It’s all me and I know that. With each passing day and night, my resurrected belief in forever and always is growing.
It still amazes me that my always has been beside me forever.
And through it all, Marshal is being patient with me. There’s no rush, and right now, we’re enjoying all of the benefits that accompany being engaged to your best friend.
Since Marshal had time remaining on his apartment lease and the market is—for lack of a better word—fantastic, we decided to move in together into his apartment. It’s not our forever home.
I happen to know a fantastic architect, and we’ve been discussing the finer points of our one-day dream home. Not once during our conversations has either of us mentioned median income, the best private schools, or access to the country club.
Considering that my condo sold the day it went on the market, our conversations regarding the future have a lot of luster.
“I’m so glad you both could make it,” Kristy McMann says as she opens the front door and Marshal and I step inside her home, brushing the snow from our shoes. She reaches for my hand. “Oh, Sami, it is nice to finally meet you. Jason tells me that you’re the best thing to happen to Marshal, and to think, the two of you have been friends most of your lives.”
“Best friends.”
“Since five years old,” Marshal adds.
My cheeks rise into a grin, enjoying the familiarity of the man at my side. From his soft blue eyes, chiseled jaw, and broad shoulders to everything hiding under his suit, I know that I’m getting a not only handsome man but a good one. “I think we both know how unusual and special what we have is.”
Kristy shakes her head with a smile as she takes our overcoats. “I just adore good love stories.” She lifts her chin toward the open living room decorated for the holidays and filled with others from McMann Architectural and their companions. “Please, enjoy yourselves. There’s food and drinks” —she leans close— “and I’m hoping it is all eaten, so please...”