Free Checking It Twice (Crashing Book 2) by Samantha Wayland Page B

Canadian citizen, and I
know we’ll have to be careful because of those awful laws, but…” Mike finally
looked at Alexei. “I want to see where you grew up. I want to eat the food, and
hear the music, and I want to see where you fell and scraped your knee as a kid,
and go to the museums you always talk about. I want to sit in the park and play
chess and hear what it sounds like to be surrounded by people speaking your language.
I want to take you home.”
    Alexei blinked furiously against the
stinging in his eyes. This man, who had barely been more than a boy when they’d
first met, who had terrified him with his unique mixture of fierce independence
and a soul-deep need for submission, had become everything.
    “ You are my home, Michael,” Alexei
said, his voice gruff. “But I will show you all those places. I want you to see
them, too.”
    Mike blinked, a smile blooming on his face.
“So this is okay?”
    “Of course it’s okay,” Alexei said, giving
in and kissing Mike softly. “This is the best Christmas present ever.”
    Mike laughed, but it was kind of damp.
Alexei pulled him in close, holding him tightly enough that it was difficult
for either of them to breathe.
    What the hell had he ever done to deserve
this man?
    Alexei had no idea. But he did know, he
never, ever, wanted to lose him. And there was no way in hell he was waiting
for the New Year to make sure Mike knew it.
    “Michael, I still have one more gift to
give you, too.”
    “You do?” Mike asked, clearly surprised but
pleased.
    Mike’s smile fell, replaced by wide-eyed shock,
when Alexei dropped to one knee before him. Alexei passed the paperwork he
still clutched over to Oliver, then tucked his hand into his pocket, taking one
of Mike’s hands in his other.
    “Michael, until I met you, I thought I knew
what love was, but I was wrong. You are my heart, my best friend, my partner in
business and in life. There is no one I would rather spend my life with, play
hockey with, argue with, or grow old with.”
    He pulled his hand from his pocket and
presented the two rings threaded over his index finger. Mike reached out with a
shaking hand to brush his finger over them both, tears rolling down his cheeks.
    “Will you do me the honor of being my
husband?” Alexei asked, his voice little more than a scratch.
    “Oh my god, yes .”
    Everyone whooped, but Alexei could look only
at Mike as he slowly rose to his feet. Mike grabbed his elbows and steadied him
when his hips and knees protested, a grin on his face. As soon as Alexei was
stable, Mike took the rings and slid one onto Alexei’s finger, then the other
onto his own.
    Alexei kissed him, once, fiercely, then
gathered him into a hug. Mike buried his face against Alexei’s neck and clung, and
Alexei could feel how he shook, felt the tears on his neck.
    A moment before their family piled on top
of them, he pressed his lips to Mike’s ear and whispered, “And you thought I
gave you Erik’s dick for Christmas.”
    Mike’s snort was muffled by Alexei’s
shoulder and then they were both laughing, perhaps a little hysterically, as
they accepted hugs and kisses and congratulations from the people they loved
most.
     
     

About the Author
     
    Samantha Wayland has three great loves in
life; her family, writing books, and hockey. She is often found apologizing to
the first for how much time and attention is taken up by the latter two, but
they forgive her because they are awesome and she clearly doesn’t deserve them.
    Sam lives with her family—of both the two
and four-legged variety—outside of Boston. She is a wicked passionate New
Englander (born and raised) who has been known to wax rhapsodic about the Maine
Coast, the mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont, and the sensible way in
which her local brethren don’t see a need for directional signals (blinkahs!).
When she’s not locked away in her home office, she can generally be found
tucked in the corner of the local Thai place with