Page 90 of Awakening
“Ajaih?” he said, voice steady but curious.
I nodded, “Yeah. Been thinking about it for a while. Didn’t say anything ‘cause I wasn’t sure how to even bring it up. Didn’t want you to think I was trying to... I don’t know, claim her in some traditional-ass way.”
He leaned back in the chair, eyes fixed on the fire, then over to me, “I’ve been thinking about it too.”
That made me sit up straighter, “Wait, what?”
Knox let out a laugh and ran a hand over his beard. “Swear on everything. I’ve been looking at rings on nights she falls asleep across my chest. Planning out shit in my head. Wondering how to ask someone to spend forever with you when you’re already sharing it with your other soulmate.”
We both laughed, not the surface-level kind, but that deep-in-the-gut kind that comes when you realize you're living something wild and beautiful.
I shook my head, grinning. “So what now? Double proposal? You pop the question mid-flight, and I do it on the landing?”
He cracked up, “She’d kill us.”
“She’d ugly cry first,” I said, laughing, “Then kill us.”
We sat in shared laughter, bourbon warming our chests, until the fire crackled again and the silence returned, this time one that said we were bonded in comfort.
“You ever think about the fact that this, us, this trio may not ever be legal in the eyes of the law?” I said, quieter now.
Knox shrugged. “The law’s never been good atunderstanding love in all its forms. Doesn’t mean what we have isn’t real.”
“So what?” I asked, “We do our own thing? Commitment ceremony? Vows? Rings?”
Knox tapped his glass to mine, “Our way.”
That hit something deep. I stared at the fire again, imagining Ajaih in white. Not traditional white—but something bold, powerful, sensual. Regal. Us standing beside her, not behind or in front, but beside her. Equal.
“She deserves everything,” I said.
Knox nodded, “And then some.”
I looked over at him, heart full, “What if she says no?”
“She chooses us every day. She’s already said yes,” Knox replied, “But we’ll ask her anyway. Even get her father’s blessing, do it properly. With the weight and the joy and the forever it deserves.”
I grinned, a soft, genuine smile spreading across my face. “I love you, Knox.”
Knox didn’t flinch. “Love you, too. Like soul deep.”
We clinked glasses again.
In the distance, my phone buzzed. A photo from Ajaih: her standing on stage, aviation badge clipped to her blazer, a caption that read, “About to fly this panel like a boss. Miss y’all.”
Knox leaned over and smiled at the screen.
“She’s gonna make history. And we’ll be the men at her back, cheering her on.”
“Always,” I whispered.
And beneath the stars, with the fire low and the future glowing in our chests, we began dreaming up the moment we'd ask the woman who changed everything to say yes, twice.
We were gathered in the private dining room of Olive & Oak after closing. Just the four of us, me, Knox, Yanna, and Dro, wine glasses and flickering candles setting the mood for the conversation.
I couldn’t sit still. My heart felt like it was doing jumping jacks in my chest.
Yanna sipped her red wine and arched a brow. “You two look like you’ve committed a federal crime. Spit it out.”
