Page 80 of AJ’s Fire

We’d packed food, so we grilled a quick dinner before spending the rest of the night in bed. We’d be up and out and on our way to Hampstead early in the morning, but we had something to do first.

I was in bed alone when I awoke, the sun streaming through shades that AJ must have opened on his way out. A note lay on AJ’s pillow: See you out there, whenever you’re ready. I was so beyond ready.

Four suit bags hung from the closet door. I grabbed one and dressed as quickly as I could.

I ran down to the kitchen, but then I paused. I couldn’t see AJ from my vantage point, but I knew where he was, out on the pier, the expanse of the lake behind him. I took a deep breath and headed that way.

It was just the two of us, but we’d both thought it important, or right, to wear our dress uniforms. And though we’d seen each other in them numerous times, including recently for AJ’s promotion ceremony, it still took my breath away to see AJ on that dock, standing at attention, waiting for me to travel down our makeshift aisle on the way to our private wedding.

Epilogue

AJ

There he stood, the sun flaming reds and oranges as it woke up behind him, looking a little nervous, which surprised me. We’d gone to the courthouse, Casey and Emily there to witness, sworn to secrecy until we could tell our families. That part was so reminiscent of the early days of our relationship that I felt a little nostalgic pang for those two clueless bros who didn’t understand why they felt so terrible every minute they were apart. We hadn’t been apart for a day since before that first Easter, since before we’d come out.

We’d decided that a big, public wedding was not for us, and though we knew we’d be disappointing Jackson’s mom and Nat, like everything else in our unexpected relationship, we were doing things our way.

I stood on the dock in my formal uniform, and Jackson worked his way to me. No music, no flowers, no witnesses. Like we’d started this crazy adventure, we sealed the deal at a cabin by a lake in the woods.

He stood in front of me and took my hand, and I think we both realized at the same time that we hadn’t really planned beyond that point. We smiled at each other, and Jackson spoke. “I’ll go first?”

“Okay,” I croaked, emotion getting the better of me. He caressed my cheek and leaned in to kiss me, but I leaned away. “Gotta say our vows first.”

“Right, because we wouldn’t want to break the rules.” We looked around at our witness-free wedding on a pier, but all I could see was the sparkle and fire of the sunrise and the beauty of the man in front of me.

“Okay. You ready? Here I go. Alexander Jeremy Gordon: Nothing’s changed. Not a damn thing has changed since the day I met you. You filled up my world that day, and you remain my whole world now. It amazes me how you can be my whole world, and yet I still get to be my own person. You love me for who I am. You want me for who I am, and I love you for all that you are: my rock, my best friend, my love. I knew the day we met that we would grow old together. Did I picture it like this? No, but I pictured it. You, me, forever. And now I get to have it all with you. Love”—he leaned in—“sex. A true partner, and maybe, someday, a family.”

Oh, we hadn’t talked about that. We were a great team where Vera was concerned, though. I had a brief thought that she would be upset to not be able to attend my wedding, and I knew that that would be the reason that eventually we would have to allow Nat and Mandy to throw us some kind of party.

“So, AJ Gordon. Keep not changing with me, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and all that stuff.” I laughed. “I pledge myself to you, my husband. My love.”

“Oh, wow. I have to go now.” I let out a heavy breath.

Jax laughed and squeezed my hands in encouragement.

“Jackson Dorso, you are the love of my life.” I released one hand and made a fist in front of my stomach. “The day I met you, my stomach did this swooping thing, like it was suddenly on fire. A smarter man would have known right then and there that the feeling was love. Like you, I felt our connection right away. I always wanted to be with you. And now, we don’t ever have to be apart. Even when it’s Christmas Day, and we face the wrath of Natalie Marchetti-Gordon and Mandy Dorso, we choose each other. We always choose each other. I choose you to spend my life with, to wake up with each morning, and to hold each night. I choose you to laugh with and cry with. I choose you for the fun and the heartache. I choose you …” He’d said it, so I would too. “To start a family with and to grow old with. Riley Jackson Dorso the Second, you are my best friend, my husband, my fire, my love.”

We kissed then in our dress blues, the water lapping below, the sun rising overhead.

“That was really beautiful, Aje.”

“Right back at you, cariño.”

Jamie and Devon’s wedding was the next day, and we packed up our dress blues and grabbed the garment bags that held our clothes for the wedding. Jackson gave me a look. The look.

“No time, babe. I can’t be late for my brother’s wedding. I’m the best man!”

“But we have to consummate our marriage,” my husband insisted.

“Cariño, we got married days ago,” I reminded him.

“Doesn’t count!”

We headed the rest of the way to Hampstead without venturing to the hot tub, or the bed for that matter, once again.

The next two days were a flurry of family and activity, and I barely got to spend any time alone with Jax until he dragged me from the dance floor at Jamie and Devon’s reception and rushed me out of the banquet hall.

“Look what I found earlier.” He raised his eyebrows as he spirited us up a set of stairs and down a hallway, where a row of doors boasted individual, unisex bathrooms. We were alone and he pulled me into one of the rooms before I could protest.