XOXO: A Bundle of Cozy Novellas

Epilogue

five months later—Cullen

Cullen patted his pockets looking for the keys to his van. Dammit, he was going to be late picking up Jude. Jude Collins, Cullen’s boyfriend (and wasn’t that still a kick to think?), who, as of five this afternoon, was no longer the owner of Canopus Software. He’d signed all the paperwork and the transfer was officially official. Instead of a software mogul, Jude was now just a run-of-the-mill millionaire. But he was Cullen’s millionaire, and they were officially moving in together.

At first, he’d been a bit worried about the money thing, but it became abundantly clear that it was something Jude didn’t even think about when it came to their relationship. They were Jude and Cullen and that was all that mattered to him. And it was the same for Cullen.

He’d been nervous bringing up moving in together, but one night, when Jude had been at his place for something like the fifth night in a row, Cullen had asked if living together was something he might want to consider. His answer had been so Jude that Cullen should have expected it. He’d squinted at Cullen as if maybe he’d grown a third eye or arm or something and declared, “I thought we already talked about this. Isn’t that what we are doing?”

So, Jude still had some work to do in the communication department, but Cullen was getting better at reading him and also understood it was just best to ask instead of trying to guess what Jude Collins had going on in his head.

Except today when they were also picking up the keys to their new place. Jude had been very clear about that, he’d insisted they find a new place together. “I don’t like my house, I only bought it because it seemed like something I was supposed to do.” Cullen didn’t like it either, it was huge, ultra-modern with sleek lines and sharp angles. It didn’t suit their relationship.

Cullen pulled up to the address Jude had given him. The front door opened and there was Jude, a huge grin plastered on his face. He opened the passenger door and climbed inside.

“Well?” Cullen asked, popping the bus into first gear and pulling away from the curb. The agent had asked to meet them at a place in Skagit called the Loft, only a few blocks away, explaining, “I have another appointment just next door, I hope you don’t mind?” Cullen didn’t care, he just wanted the keys so he could take Jude home.

“It’s official. I am an unemployed slacker person, and so far, I love it.”

“It’s been what, five minutes?” Cullen teased.

“Almost the most amazing five minutes of my life. And besides, now you can be my sugar daddy, what with the offer from Evergreen Industries.”

“Sugar daddy?” Cullen barked out a laugh. “First of all, you’re older than me so that daddy stuff is not gonna work, and second, my title is Recycling King, thank you very much.”

“Recycling King just doesn’t have the same ring to it,” Jude complained.

Cullen turned down State, and they were in front of the Loft moments later. There was even an available parking spot big enough for the van. Cullen liked the funky bar; it was one of the first LGBT-owned businesses in Skagit, with a décor that was a weird cross between art nouveau and random attic antiques. They had a small dance floor, and the food and drinks were worth returning for. Really, Cullen couldn’t ask for more.

When they walked inside, Dirty Talk by Wynter Gordon was playing, making Cullen grin slightly, only to have Jude lightly slap his bicep. At a table in one corner Cullen spotted their real estate agent Tammy, sitting with, to his surprise, Jude’s friend Edmund, Edmund’s boyfriend Owen, and two other men Cullen had met a few times since January, John and Chance.

“What are they doing here?” Cullen asked. Not that he didn’t want to spend time with Jude’s friends but… he wanted to get to the house.

Jude mumbled something and kept walking toward the table where everyone was sitting. The bartender, Cameron, quickly looked up from wiping down the bar in order to catch Cullen’s eye and throw him a wink.

Cullen slowed down, letting Jude get ahead of him. What the fuck was going on?

Jude turned back around, he looked nervous. “I wanted to celebrate.”

“Sure, okay, anything, babe?” Something was off and he couldn’t figure out what it was.

Chance loudly cleared his throat and Edmund elbowed him. Owen bit his lips together and John just smiled and shook his head.

“What is going on?” Cullen looked from one man to the next, and he felt a flutter of nerves in his stomach.

“Um, would you just stop right there? Just, uh, stand still.”

The butterflies in Cullen’s stomach turned into bats, the music switched to a new song, and when Cullen heard the first lyrics of Accidentally in Love, he knew. Even before Jude dropped to one knee in front of him, he knew.

“Cullen Delacombe, will you marry me?”

Jude stared up at him, his hazel eyes full of love just for him, just for Cullen. Something suspiciously like a tear escaped from one eye and slid down Cullen’s cheek. Reaching down, he pulled Jude up, and before saying ‘yes’—because the answer was always yes, he loved Jude with his entire heart—Cullen claimed a kiss.

“Say yes!” A female voice called out.

Reluctantly pulling away, Cullen looked past the table filled with Jude’s friends and spied Stacy with a glass of champagne in her hand and his Uncle Shay sitting with a younger man he didn’t recognize. He looked back at Jude again.

“Yes. Yes, Jude Collins. I will marry you.”