Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

A few weeks later, it's my favorite holiday of the year—Halloween—and we're all gathering at Luko and Denny's for a team party. The doorbell goes off repeatedly as I'm putting the finishing touches on my up-do in the mirror of the master bathroom. Cole got off work late, rushed down here, quickly showered, then started putting on his costume with minutes to spare before the party starts.

"Zip me up?" I call out.

He comes sweeping into the bathroom in shiny black shoes from his dress uniform, a rented black tuxedo, and a massive, flowing black cape. What is it about a man in a cape? I go wide-eyed, my mouth making an O-shape.

"Oh my gosh," I say in an incredulous whisper. "You are so freakin' hot right now."

"Says the woman with a dress barely clinging to her shoulders," Cole says, his gaze raking up and down my body, his eyes going dark.

"Zip me," I say, before I let myself fall for that look in his eyes. My wide skirt swishes around my feet as I turn my back to him. The second I feel his hand against my dress, I press my hand to my stomach, my skin breaking out in goosebumps as the back of Cole's fingers trail against my spine, pulling the zipper up. When I turn around, my cheeks are hot pink and Cole's eyes meet mine in the mirror, dark and wanting.

"We should go down," I whisper. I never would have guessed dressing up as Christine and the Phantom of the Opera for Halloween would have been this sexy. Cole would have made a natural Raoul, but the Phantom is so much more iconic. Cole finally nods and picks up the white mask from the counter. When he slips it on, I press my lips together.

"Don't even think about serenading me with a seductive ballad in front of our teammates."

Instead of smiling, Cole's face goes serious and he pulls the mask off.

"What is it?"

"I feel like they're going to give us some…looks."

I give him a questioning look. "They're our teammates. They love us already."

"I know, I'm just…it's going to look like I jumped into another relationship, like I'm a true serial dater."

"They're not going to judge you."

"Mm, kinda feel like they are."

"Neither of us picked this timing, it just happened. That's love, it has its own logic."

Cole nods, running his hand over his hair.

"This isn't all one-sided, you know," I remind him, putting one hand to his cheek. "I'm here with you. I chose to be by your side. And I trust our friends will be happy for us."

"Okay," he says with a deep breath and a brave smile. He puts the mask back on and tucks my hand in the crook of his elbow. "Okay, let's go."

We head down the stairs in a sweeping grand entrance. Anisha, dressed as Rey from Star Wars, and Mick, dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi, are the first to see us. Anisha's jaw drops. "You win Halloween, forever."

"Hi, friend," I say with a laugh, giving her a big hug. She hugs me back so tight, I can't breathe, but I can feel her elation.

"Tia, this is Mick! I actually have a husband."

"Mick!" shouts Cole behind me. "Dude, good to see you."

"It's good to be back," says Mick, before turning to shake my hand. He's a lot taller in person, but he has a warm friendliness about him that matches Anisha's energy. "Hi, Anisha's told me all about you. Thanks for winning that championship by the way."

"Oh, gosh," I say with a laugh. "I've loved getting to know Anisha. She's awesome."

Denny comes around the corner, dressed as Robin Hood, complete with an endearing pair of wire frame glasses. He takes one look at us and whistles.

"Damn, you all are way too good at Halloween."

He never told me how things went with Ellis, and in the whirl of my trip to Mexico and Cole coming back, I've forgotten to ask. We all migrate to the kitchen where Luko is pulling brownies out of the oven. At first glance, he looks like he's dressed up as Maverick from Top Gun, but unfortunately, he's actually getting ready to head into the squadron for a night flight.

"Denny," I whisper, coming alongside him with the excuse of grabbing a cookie. "What's the latest with you-know-who?"

He glances over his shoulder, to where Luko is setting the brownies on the counter.

"That's another story for another time," he whispers back with a wink. He seems fine, but sometimes Denny is a hard one to read, always putting on a cheerful, upbeat attitude when he could be dying inside.

Sarah and Frank roll in to round out the group, dressed as Thor and a Valkyrie, of course. Sarah shoots me a wink and a smile when she sees Cole and I hand in hand.

"Okay, so last season's team was victorious in more ways than one," says Frank. "I was rooting for you guys."

"Seriously?" asks Cole.

"Well, hello, in case you haven't noticed, it's Tia we're talking about," says Sarah. "She's gold."

"So is he," I say, squeezing Cole's arm with a grin.

Frank, ever the team parent, gathers us all in a big circle in the middle of the kitchen. It's like we're back in the pre-game huddle.

"Hey, let's crush it tonight. Give out more candy than anyone on the block, down some drinks, and have a good time. Luko, what you got for us?"

"Do not add to the population." He shoots a pointed glance at Anisha and Mick, making Mick blush hard. I press my lips together to keep from laughing "Do not subtract from the population. Stay out of the hospital, newspaper, and jail?—"

"If you do find yourself in jail, establish dominance quickly," Denny rattles off. "Hands in, Goal Diggers on three!"

"One, two, three, GOAL DIGGERS!"

After the doorbell stops ringing and most of our friends have gone home, I trade my big pink dress for a matching black sweatshirt and sweatpants and shake my hair out and Cole trades his sexy cape and tuxedo for charcoal joggers and an olive-green USMC sweatshirt. He needs to get back to base tonight and I know I'm going to crash as soon as I get back to Aunt Mari's. We walk out to our cars together, Cole's arm hooked around my neck in a sweetly possessive gesture.

"You're the best. Thanks for being game to dress up with me," I say.

"Of course." He drops a kiss to my hair.

Once he puts his stuff in the trunk, and gets ready to say goodnight, I hug him, pressing him backwards until we're both leaning against the Camaro. His arms come around me, his hands tracing lines up and down my back. My head rests over his heart, and I can hear his pulse thumping away.

"I love you, Cole Slaeden," I murmur. "I love who you are. I love that I get to say my boyfriend's a corpsman in the Navy. I'm so happy I get to be by your side."

"I love you, Tia Lopez," he whispers, suddenly choked with emotion.

I melt. All of my future now centers around him. I want to take care of his heart and love him well, to gently tend to his kind soul.

"We're going to take care of each other," he promises, echoing my thoughts. "I'm going to love you so well, forever and ever. You will always be the first thought in my mind, and I will do everything I can to give you a beautiful life. I am yours, you are mine."

I stare up at him with nothing but adoration in my eyes. One of his hands leaves my back, drops into his pocket, then holds up a gold ring between us.

"Marry me?" Cole asks.

My stomach flips, my heart pounds, tears form instantly. This moment is beautifully real. My legs feel weak as I'm floored with gratitude and love.

"You want to marry me?" I ask, a mini sob interrupting me mid-sentence.

"I want to marry you, build a life with you, live every moment I can with you. Will you marry me?"

"Yes. Yes, of course," I say, crying as I press one hand to my mouth.

He slips the ring on my finger and I hold my hand up to the light. There's a rectangular diamond, emerald cut I think, set horizontal with diamonds wrapping all the way around the band. The minimal amount of setting I can see is gold. It's exquisite.

"Do you like it? I spent hours looking at rings online after class and this one felt like you."

"You got it during HMTT? Have you been carrying it around in your pocket this whole time?" I ask, with a laugh as I wipe my tears.

He laughs. "Yeah, anytime we're together. I wanted to be able to propose whenever the right moment came along."

"You're so sweet," I say, sobbing again. "I love you. This could not be any more perfect."

A wave of emotion comes over me as Cole holds me and kisses me thoroughly. So much has happened in our lives to lead us to this moment, it's awe-inspiring. I'm engaged to the most incredible man and we get to love each other for a lifetime. Cole was right, he did tell me so—to love and be loved truly is magic.

I pull back a bit to wipe the tears off my cheeks. "We're going to get married?"

Cole nods. "This is it, Queenie. You and me, forever."

"I'm so happy."