Free Puzzle Me This by Eli Easton Page B

Rings.”
    “What’s this?” Alex asked.
    “Play it.” Amy pulled his laptop closer.
    He was in no mood, but he was too depressed to argue. It would be easier to just get it over with. He loaded the DVD. A title screen came up. It was a text adventure. Alex knew immediately who it was from. He released his brake and rolled back, shaking his head no . His tongue felt frozen in his mouth.
    Amy leaned over him and squeezed his shoulders. “Come on, hon. Luke made a game for you.”
    Alex’s heart was trying to crawl up his throat, making a lump the size of a grapefruit. He shook his head again, unable to speak.
    Amy tugged on a lock of his hair fondly. “Alex, I’ve been talking to Luke, and I really think you should look at this. Will you? For me?”
    Alex’s mind warred between pain and a growing curiosity. It hurt so much to think about Luke. But Amy knew that. She wouldn’t ask him to do this lightly. What had Luke said to her? And what was in the game? He finally managed a word. “Fine.”
    She left him to it. Alex looked at the title screen for a long time, his heart pounding. Then he placed his fingers over the keyboard.
    Go North.
    The first building in the town square was the pub. The pub keeper said he had a message for Alex Shaw, but first Alex had to bring him three rings. Alex went back out into the town square and began to look for them.
    One ring was given to him by the town doctor, who gave him a lecture on the value of true love and how it was worth any risk.
    One ring was given to him by a witch, who told him he had bravery and a pure heart, and those were worth more than all the riches in the kingdom.
    One ring was given to him by the village idiot, who told him men with long blond hair were prone to fits of stupidity, but it could be cured with a well-timed smack upside the head.
    Alex was trying to control a painful sense of hope as he took the three rings back to the pub keeper. The pub keeper gave him a scroll. Alex hesitated.
    Open scroll.
    A full screen graphic appeared. It was a parchment scroll, and written on it were these words:
    Alex, I love you so much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Marry me. Luke
    Alex was looking at the scroll, trying to remember how to breathe, when Amy handed him the phone.
    It was Luke. “Hey, Alex. I’ll be home Saturday. Will you give me an answer then?”
    “Why?” Alex managed thickly.
    “Um…. Why should you give me an answer then?”
    “No, you dork. Why do you want to… marry me?”
    Luke’s voice quivered a little. “Because it hurts to be without you, Alex. Fuck. It physically hurts. You’re the missing piece to my puzzle. You’re the one. I’m sorry it took me a while to figure that out.”
    “I’ll hold you back,” Alex whispered.
    Luke gave an ironic snort. “You? You make me pathetically happy. And I make you ridiculously happy, at least I do when I’m not being an ass. Everything else we’ll use our nerdy brains to figure out together. Okay?”
    “But it’s not even legal in Pennsylvania.”
    Luke laughed. “Mr. Logic Puzzle. So we’ll drive to New York, right? Logistics.”
    Alex drew a ragged breath. “Okay.”
    “Yeah? Okay what?” Luke sounded excited.
    “Okay, I’ll give you an answer on Saturday,” Alex said firmly.
    Luke groaned. “Sadistic bastard. I miss you so much, Alex.”
    “I miss you, too.”
     
     
    L UKE Schumaker and Alex Shaw were married at a historic inn in central New York on Christmas Eve. Luke had called twenty places before he’d found a vacancy. There was scrambling for hotel rooms, tuxes, a minister, dinner reservations, a marriage license, a handicap-accessible restaurant for the reception, and a dog sitter. But standing there in the Victorian parlor, with both of their families in attendance and even, for the most part, supportive, Luke was pretty sure it had all been worth it. And when he took Alex’s hands in his and kissed his new husband, he knew for sure it had