New Year’s Eve: Abe

**This bonus scene occurs after the end of Just Say When

I glanced at the clock on the fireplace mantel. Fifteen minutes until midnight. Lio hadn’t made it past ten thirty. I knew he’d be down for the count as soon as he lay his head on my lap, and I’d spent the last hour and fifteen minutes watching him sleep and running my fingers through his hair. I’d muted the countdown show on the television because I didn’t recognize any of the program’s acts or hosts. I preferred listening to the crackling fire, Lio’s contented sighs, and the hoot owl in a nearby tree.

I was days away from being sworn in as the sheriff of Chatham County. I faced numerous challenges and hurdles right out of the gate, but I could accomplish anything with Lio by my side. I stared into the fire and let my mind wander back over the past year. I never knew this kind of happiness existed and would never take it for granted. I had only two more minutes until the new year when I returned to the present. I reached under the throw pillow beside me and pulled out a black ring box. I flipped the lid open and considered the diamond-studded platinum band. I’d told Lio we would get married, but I never asked him, nor had I presented a token of my love. I’d planned to correct my error at midnight but wasn’t sure I should wake him. Proposing over breakfast in the morning wasn’t very romantic, and it was too cold to row him out on the lake.

“You know I’m going to say yes,” Lio said, his voice soft and husky with sleep.

I snapped the lid closed on the box and looked down at him. He was facing the fireplace, and his eyes were still closed. “How’d you know?”

Lio opened his eyes and sat up. Then he leaned toward the other end of the couch and pulled a ring box out from behind the other pillow. “I found your ring box when I went to stash mine.”

We held one another’s gazes for a few seconds before giving way to laughter and kisses. Then we exchanged our boxes and opened them. Lio had chosen an identical ring for me, and the revelation led to more laughter and kissing.

“We really do share a brain,” I said once we separated long enough to catch our breath. “So, do you wanna?”

“Yes,” Lio said.

I quirked a brow. “Just to be clear… Do you wanna marry me or—”

Lio toppled me onto my back. “Always yes.”

And we rang in the new year tangled up in each other.