CHAPTER 32

CHAPTER 32
Jeremiah chuckles behind me, pressing himself closer to me. I turn to look at him over my shoulder, and he brings his lips close to mine.

"Hey, I'm making my own deals on my own terms," he says when we part ways.

—Oh, tell me?—

—Or rather an exchange.—

I raise an eyebrow. “Continue.”

You agree to move in with us, and I promise I'll tell you I love you every time before you walk out the door. And again when you come home.

—Move...in with you?—

"I don't think you quite understand me when I say this week has been a real misery," Ezekiel says, making me look at him, especially because of the sad tone of his voice. "It felt like everything was empty without you. Every conversation, the house, me."

"And me," Jeremiah adds.

I'm not going back to that. So, either we move in with you, or you come home with us. Those are the only two options. Although, well, we already have a pool and a room you can use as an office, so…

"Is that a hint of bribery I hear?" I chuckle.

"Whatever it takes." He smiles, but his face turns serious, and I see the nervous twitch of his Adam's apple. "So, what do you say? If you need me to apologize again, a hundred times, a million times, I'll..."

I bring my fingers to his lips. "You've humiliated yourself enough. I accept. And I accept your invitation to your house. Although I'm going to add something in the fine print: pack all my things because I hate packing. And run a bath for me right now and join me. Those are my conditions."

"Okay," they both say.

Ezequiel leans in to kiss me again, and I hiss against his lips as Jeremiah slowly pulls out of me. When Ezequiel pulls back, I see he still wants to apologize.

"It's in the past now," I say quietly. "I swear it'll stay there too. I don't want it to cost us anything. We both had our reasons for wanting to run away, but in the end, we ran to each other. And that's all that matters."

He smiles. “I like that,” we ran toward each other.

—And I was always at the finish line, waiting for you two to catch me—, Jeremiah mocks.

"I'm so sorry I kept you waiting, sir," I laugh.

He smirks. “I can think of several ways to make it up to you.” He jerks his thumb toward the bathroom. “Maybe we’ll start in this tub. It’s huge.”

Ezequiel pulls out of me and carries me to the edge of the bed to the bathtub. It's almost full of water, and with any of the bubbles Jeremiah used from the hotel's selection, I know this will soothe my aching muscles. Ezequiel doesn't even put me down; he just gets in the water and sinks with me in his arms. The water is already overflowing before Jeremiah even gets in.

—Oops—, he laughs.

Instead of staying at the other end, he comes closer to us. They place me on top of both of them, my back against their chests, one leg draped over each, and the water laps at my chest.

"This feels so good," I sighed. "I felt like I couldn't breathe without him."

"You'll never feel like that again," Ezequiel promises.

"I know." I nod. "So, what else would you like to add to these deals? Besides my eternal love and my beautiful face, huh?"

I mean, it wouldn't hurt to have a few kids, Jeremiah says.

—Oh, just a few, huh?

\-For a start.-

"Moving in and not even having you there for a moment feels unbearable," Ezekiel adds. "I want to feel you everywhere."

I smile. “Oh, I can do that.”

"And what do you want us to do, besides declarations of love?" Jeremiah asks.

Mmm, breakfast once in a while. Dinner would be nice too. Lots of dates, of course. Mmm, cuddling while I sleep, waking up with kisses. You know, all that nice stuff.

"I think we can do it," he agrees.

"Anything else?" Ezequiel asks.

“Just... forever,” I say softly. “I want both of you to give me eternity. I want endless days and nights. I want sunrises and sunsets. I want it all.”

"And we'll give it to you," Ezequiel replies softly, kissing my hair.

“Always,” Jeremiah promises.

I close my eyes and savor this moment. "So, we all have a deal."

"I'm starting to wonder if you doubted me," I joke with Kamila.

"Never." He smiles. "But seeing how everything fits together, and just how I imagined it... It's more beautiful than I imagined."

—Not as beautiful as you—, I tell her.

Kamila laughs. “I bet you say that to all your girlfriends.”

—Of all the weddings I've planned so far, yes, I've said it.

Because here I am, planning and being a bridesmaid in another wedding, less than six months after the first one I planned and stood with the bride in. And the bride looks just as beautiful, even though Sarah and I spent the last hour trying to make her believe it once she put on her dress. She's convinced her bump is too big, so since she didn't believe us, Sarah went to find Jackson a few minutes ago to talk some sense into him. Because if he told her she looked stunning, she'd agree with him.

"Has the officiant arrived yet?" he asks.

I nod. “Heather just texted me to say she arrived and that I gave her your marriage certificate to sign right after the ceremony.”

—Then tell Jackson it's too late for him to show up.

"And where exactly would I be running to?" he asks behind her.

She quickly looks over her shoulder at him, then back at Sarah.

"Did you bring him here to call for reinforcements?" he asks Sarah.

"Anything to show you how beautiful you look in this dress," Sarah replies.

—When Sarah told me you were doubting yourself as anything less than radiant, I knew I had to come here and make sure you didn't take a single step down the aisle without changing your mind.—

She gives him an exasperated look. "Are you just going to stand there and tell me my belly doesn't look too big right now?"