Page 72 of Men in Shorts

“Oh thank God.” Fergus looked at John. “Not that I was worried.”

“Of course you were worried. It’s what you do.” John leaned over and gave Fergus a kiss. “Oops.” He sat back in his chair, closing his towel again. “Sorry,” he said to Bruce.

“No bother, I’ve seen—well, I’ve already seenthat, for one.” Bruce handed them each an envelope. “So enjoy your day. And the rest of your lives, apparently.” He stood briskly, then showed them out of the clinic. Once in the hallway, he pointed to their left. “The changing room’s through there if you’re ready to leave. Or you’re welcome to enjoy the facilities a wee bit more if you like.”

“Thanks.” Fergus waited for the nurse to return to his office, then turned to John. “Listen, about before. It wasn’t fair of me, proposing after I’d made you come. In that state of mind you might’ve agreed to anything.”

“Notanything,” John said with a grin and a shrug.

“Still, it wasn’t right to ask for a lifetime commitment ten seconds after an orgasm.” He took John’s shoulders. “I don’t want you to regret this later, to look back and think, ‘My God, I must’ve been off my head.’”

“I won’t think that.” John pulled him close. “I know because I’ve been wanting to ask you to marry me for weeks.”

Fergus felt his face flush with happiness. “Why didn’t you?”

“I knew it’d freak you out. You always look long and hard before you leap. I couldn’t ask you to make that leap without looking, not after being together only four months, not after all you’d been through in the past.” He tightened his grip. “It needed to be you asking me.”

Fergus had to admit John was right. “If you’d asked, I would’ve said yes.”

“Aye, after you panicked and came up with a million reasons to say no.”

“Okay, okay.” Fergus kissed him. “Shall we go downstairs and share our news with more strangers?”

“Considering they’ll want to to celebrate with a twenty-threesome, I think I’d rather go home. With you, of course.”

“Me too. With you.”

As they walked hand-in-hand back to the lockers, Fergus said, “It’s early yet. Abebi won’t leave for work until ten, so we’ll need to be quiet.”

“I hate being quiet. I especially hateyoubeing quiet.” John opened his locker and picked up an ivory-linen business card that had been slipped inside. “Ooh, our Jacuzzi friend’s wedding-planner sister. Those lads were a hoot, weren’t they? Thought they were gonnae break into a three-part aria when we told them we were engaged.” He reached for his shirt, then stopped. “You know, instead of going home, we could have dinner out.”

“Good idea.” Fergus hadn’t eaten much today, due to nerves, and now he was starving.

“Also?” John twirled the keychain around his finger. “There are some fine jewelers in this vicinity. We could look at rings,” he added in a singsong voice.

Fergus’s breath stopped. They were really doing this. “That sounds…amazing.”

“We don’t have to buy anything tonight. Just look. For fun.”

“Of course. But if we do find the perfect wedding rings?—”

“Or if there’s a sale?—”

“There’s no point waiting.”

“Do you mean that?” John took Fergus’s hand. “About not waiting?”

“Well, same-sex marriage won’t be legal in Scotland until the thirty-first of December.”

“Aye.” John kissed Fergus’s knuckles. “Marry me on Hogmanay?”

Fergus’s head felt like it would spin off his shoulders. “That’s two months from now. Can we plan a wedding that fast? The venue, the officiant, the photographer?—”

“I don’t know.” John flourished the wedding planner’s business card between his two middle fingers. “But I bet she does.”

* * *

After eatingdinner at the dark, cozy restaurant where they’d spent their first date, John and Fergus bought the perfect wedding rings from the third jeweler they visited. At the first two shops, they’d argued over styles—Fergus wanting a trendy dark titanium and John preferring good old-fashioned yellow gold—until John suggested they each get their own ring instead of compromising on one that neither of them loved. He was relieved when Fergus agreed, and they both thought it an apt metaphor for their relationship.

---