CH. 31 Truly, madly, deeply and ... crazily

Hello dear all, so here comes the last chapter of "Tricks of Love" before the epilogue. Sorry for letting you wait, but had to find the right time to write it. I won't say much about it; it's intense and it has the final step in their relationship. There are 4 POVs, because I thought they had to be there.

I really hope you'll enjoy and I'll be looking forward to reading your comments and messages and let me thank you all very much for being such amazing fans: you stayed with me and this story till now...THANK YOU!

Dedicated to all of you and in particular to XxAricka_DylanxX as a huge THANK YOU for your messages and comments, because you really take your time in writing them and because I know how much you like Dima...hope you'll enjoy it! xox

On the right a banner Klovis made for me and I just LOVE it!!! Thanks darl <3 <3

The song is the one Dima and Jasper talk about in the chapter.

Enjoy!

JASPER POV:   -TWO YEARS LATER-

I slumped on the towel completed exhausted, shaking my wet hair and letting the sun caress my skin; soon another figure joined me and sprayed me with his drenched hair.

“Boy Travis..” I giggled and tossed a small towel to my friend. He sat down on the warm sand and dried his hair. “Never though surfing was this hard, I’m so tired you have no idea.”

“Hell, you tell me? My legs are sore, I just realized is hotter to watch than to practice it, so I’ll sit here enjoying the sun and enjoying the view of my Alexi dominating the waves. Riding my sex-beast is much better and exciting.” Travis smirked in that usual way he did whenever thinking about, well, you know about what, and then winked at me. “But Dima is pretty awesome, too.”

“Yep, he loves it and I think he is great at that.” I lifted my upper body on my elbows and we both looked toward the Ocean, where Alex and Dima were still surfing. “Boy, Alex is incredible, too.”

“Hmm, my love is incredible in everything.” Travis purred and that had me chuckling.

I think that since we came here, they never spent a second separated and this was probably the first time, but it wasn’t going to last long.

It was the beginning of August and the four of us decided to have holiday all together in some locality in California, close to Los Angeles; it was a pity the others couldn’t join us, but it was good to spend time just with Dima, my best friend and Alex. I haven’t seen him since March and I missed Travis very much. We chatted and talked over Skype almost every week, but he was busy with his classes and of course he would keep in touch with Alex every day. Must admit the time became busier for me too, since college began. It was a nice change though and classes were extremely interesting and my friends were all there; Kevin picked the same college and so did Stevie and even if we didn’t have the same subjects, we still shared a couple of classes.

About them, well, you will never believe it, but Kevin managed to convince Stevie in going out and after a while they became quite the couple. The funny thing was that both were bi and Steven wasn’t much into PDA, while Kevin sure was…well, sure time in college with them was never boring, yep.

And then my tiger…we both chose school of business, and so we met at lunch or in the library and we still had our special “study-sessions”, because uhm well…they worked perfectly for both of us. Alex and River picked engineering school, while Hayden and Derek went to another college, still in New York and so we all kept together like the old days. Shenice and Derek broke up and then went back together already a couple of times and it was sort of funny to stand there and watch their silly arguments. They never really fought over something serious and I think Shenice just enjoyed keeping him on the edge and Dee wasn’t ready yet to be all focused on future plans and well, there was nothing strange with that. I knew they weren’t like me and my tiger, or like Travis and Alex. Or, oh boy…like Hayden and Diane!

Let’s not forget about them.

Hayden had already proposed to Diane and they were going to marry as soon as college was over for our friend. The thing was that none of us was shocked or surprised and when our friend came to us with the news, we all looked at him with a duh-like expression, as to say, “We all expected that”. He just shrugged and said Derek was going to be his best man and that he was not allowed to have any crazy party. We all burst out laughing when he said that, because boy, the point was that he himself didn’t want one and it made me like him even more, as I never understood why some guys felt the necessity to hold some really excessive party and uhm well, maybe cheat on the future wife with a stripper.

Uhm, it happened, that’s why I am mentioning it, and it happened to a friend of Ivan, Alex’s brother; the soon-to-be wife discovered it and that happened right at the day of the wedding, and boy…I wasn’t there, but Ivan and Nichole were and told us what sort of mess came out of it. So that’s why I said I liked that of Hayden and well, I knew Dima would be the same, just like me. The mere idea of another person touching or kissing me made me flinch…ugh, no for me there was only Dima.

In these past two years we came to love each other even more and I couldn’t wait to start a new life with him. We had very little arguments, which were always about very silly and little things, like him going to the gym instead of studying for the coming exam and then complaining about the result, so you see, nothing serious. They never were a real fight; at first I was afraid it wasn’t normal, but talking to Nic and Travis made me realize it was more than normal. Uhm well, my tiger and I were so in sync and always told each other everything that there wasn’t the need of a fight or confrontation to discuss about matters. Plus, uhm…I just loved him so much that there was nothing about my boyfriend that wasn’t right for me.

Dima and I thought about finding an apartment and live together, but we decided to wait until graduation and so we lived with our families and I think that had been the best idea. For both of us.

He and Anatoly grew more and more attached and even if they would still drive you insane with their arguments, and uhm well, twins bickering was something that could give you a real strong headache, now they were close and real brothers, just like they used to be; Tolya kept teasing me and it wasn’t going to change any time soon, but must admit that we became sort of friends and he was an amusing person to be with. You needed to pass over his first harsh and sarcastic attitude, but then he would open up a bit and let you take a glimpse of his hidden side.

“What are you thinking about, cutie?” Travis lay on his elbows on the towel and smiled while looking at me.

His usual pale skin had become slightly darker and took a nice shade of golden tan, and I noticed how his muscles had developed more, looking slightly stronger now, but still very elegant and sinuous. You have no idea how many girls eyed my friend without bothering to cover it; uhm well, Dima said it was annoying seeing how “chicks checked me out”, yep he used those words, and not sure about it. Girls sure checked him out, that without a doubt. But well, yesterday a girl walked to me while I was alone reading a book, as he and the others went to get something to drink, and she introduced herself and then asked for my name and when I was about to tell her that I had a boyfriend, Dima himself came back and told her “hey, wrong guy, he’s taken and mine” and she just blinked confused and then understood. Boy…she said we looked perfect together and asked us questions about how long we had been together, how it happened and more…boy, she was a blonde version of Shenice; when Travis and Alex came back holding hands, well, I think she went through some shock.

Must admit it had been funny, yep, yep.

“I just remembered what happened yesterday with that girl and then when Hayden told us about the proposal to Diane.”

“Told you cutie people do check you out and believe me, not just girls. You forgot what happened two nights ago?”

Two nights ago? Oh sure…oh boy!

Two guys approached Travis and I when we were simply talking and sipping a fruity cocktail after dancing together; Dima and Alex were talking about hockey right there beside us and I had no idea how those two guys could have not seen it. We declined and said we had boyfriends, but they got sort of insistent and asked more, and then they made the very silly and wrong move of touching our arms, probably in the intent to drag us to dance. Well, very silly indeed.

Alex shot up at once and grabbed the wrist of the guy touching Travis and I thought he would snap it; Dima sprang up too and in one step he was beside me placing an arm around my shoulders very territorially, growling a “hands off, moron”. The two guys froze there and after realizing the huge mistake, they scampered away. “Trying to touch my man, got some guts” Dima snorted and I just giggled, while Alex wrapped his arms around Travis and I knew he would have liked to punch that guy. “Some guts?” I remember he growled. “Next time they won’t need them anymore, believe me.” Boy, I already knew how jealous he was, but every time was quite something to see, believe me.

“Yep, I remember, Alex got pretty mad, right?” I asked my friend.

“He told me he wished to punch that guy’s face for daring touching my arm and hell, you have no idea how hot and aggressive he gets in bed when he’s in that mood…” He drifted away a moment lost in his thoughts and from the way his eyes darkened there was no need to ask him what he was thinking about. Then he refocused on me and winked. “Hayden, hell, I wish I was there to see his face, especially when you all stared at him already expecting that; hell, why had he to give such news when I was in London? That lazyass should have waited for me” He snorted, but then winked. “Well, he sent me a message, so I forgave him. And what about you? Any future plans with your tiger? I’m totally going to be your best man, right?”

I chewed the inner side of my cheek and slightly blushed; I mean, the whole idea was uhm well, sort of surreal and big, but somehow natural.

“Sure, but you already know that and uhm well, I can’t wait to go live with him.” I confessed.

“Then why don’t you guys look for a flat?” He asked taking a sip of water and studying my eyes.

I shook my head and then quickly glanced to the Ocean, seeing Dima and Alex about to walk back to us. Travis did the same and we both exchanged a smile.

“No, we decided to wait for the end of college and I think it’s better in this way. Dima had a chance to get closer to his brother and I can finally say dad is the best father out there.” His smile widened at those words and he brushed a strand of wet hair away from my forehead. Travis knew what that meant for me. “Mum is better and even though she will never change her personality, she is slowly accepting my sexual orientation and my relationship with Dima.”

“I understand and yes, you are right. It was better in this way and I’m happy for you and your parents, it was about time for your mother; she seemed more relaxed last week and didn’t pale down or freak out when Dima kissed you.” I blushed re-thinking about that and my friend shook his white head and chuckled. “He sure is still the same; hell, I miss you all so much…” Travis rolled on his back and took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. “And I miss Alexi like crazy, Jasper…hell, sometimes it drives me out of mind, but whenever I hear his voice telling me how much he loves me, telling me he cannot wait for day we’ll be living together, well, everything calms down for me and then I just need to look at the ring he gave me. I can’t wait either to start living with my love, but the school in London is my biggest chance and made me realize many things, and all thanks to him.”

“Have you ever thought of..” I asked him and he understood what I meant; he nodded and flashed a dazzling smile.

“Yes, I have thought about it since he gave me this ring.” His eyes stopped on the object in question and another kind of smile form on his lips. The same smile I had whenever I thought about the same exact matter. “And you Jas? Who do you think will propose first? I know it’s going to be my Alexi, because he’s like that.” He winked and combed his drying white hair.

“Uhm, boy…too early now to say, I mean, we are still in college and..” He stopped me by waving his hand in front of me.

“Don’t play shy with me, cutie. I know how you feel about that and you guys look like a married couple, no kidding. Just like Hayden and Diane.” I sighed out and giggled at the same time; my friend was right and sometimes it truly felt in that way when we were alone and cooking dinner or lunch together, discussing a movie or a class or a game, quietly sitting on the couch or while tidying up the kitchen. I was just afraid that maybe I was too young to think about that, I mean, marriage, but hmm… “Jas, people might say we are too young to know what love is, but they can kiss my ass. I know what love is and it’s my Alexi.”

I blinked at my friend a couple of times and felt my lips going up in a wide smile. Yep, he was right.

“Uhm well, knowing Dima I’d say he would like to be the one asking, but then it’d be me having to organize everything.” We both chuckled and Travis nodded, knowing what I was talking about.

“He better wait for me before asking you that question; hell, I would get really mad at your tiger if he were to propose to you while I’m on the other freaking side of the world.”

“Oh boy, no worries, not going to happen any time soon, boy..can you see mum’s face at hearing that?” I shook my head and waved my hands; the simple idea had me blushing.

Oh boy…but knowing Dima, he was capable of dropping the bomb right at the dinner with my family. I mean, last month he asked my dad how he would feel being a grandpa and dad almost chocked on his wine, but he then said we better think about getting a baby-sitter because he wasn’t going to babysit our kids while we would play around, and then it was me almost chocking on my drink.

The thing was, dad loved my boyfriend, I mean, like a third son.

You have no idea how close they got in these past two years and dad…dad was another person. He changed so much and now he was warmer and more relaxed; a father I can go and talk to, who understood me and was ready to offer advices. Sure, mother was another story, but the atmosphere wasn’t anymore so cold and stiff at home, as that solid wall was crumbling brick after brick.

Travis softly chuckled and ruffled my hair and he quickly eyed the guys on the shore about to hand the boards back; then he shifted his glance back at me and he smirked like a cat. Oh boy, I knew that face.

ALEKSANDR POV

I wanted to try riding another wave, but had to admit I was getting tired and mostly, I couldn’t wait to go back and be with my love, so I paddled toward to shore and saw that Dima followed me, probably thinking the same. God, he had literally freaked me out in these past days and hope this evening would come soon, because he was really edgy and believe me when I say I never saw my friend like that.

When we both stepped on the wet sand, I quickly looked at where Travis and Jasper were lying down and made sure everything was fine, which meant, no f*ckers around daring to even look twice at my man; my eyes stopped on my love and God, he looked impossibly gorgeous. Sh!t, two nights ago I should have just punched that bastard for having the guts to lay a finger on my Travis. Dima and I were keeping those two idiots under control, as we saw them approaching, but we thought they would understand immediately, but not, they had to be idiots and go overboard. Just thinking about that had my beast inside me pacing restlessly.

Dima joined me and patted my shoulder smiling obviously tensed and I rolled my eyes. I had no idea why he had to be that nervous about tonight; those two were basically already a married couple, just simply not living together. I envied my friend for being able to spend every day with his man, but of course it was a positive way of envying him, as I was happy for both of them; I missed Travis like you would never understand and so as soon as college and hockey were over, I flew to London and then we thought of spending around ten days with Dima and Jasper and had to admit it’s been a great idea.

“Man, I’m beat, must admit it.” Dima laid the board on the sand and sat down a moment taking a deep breath and ruffling his wet hair; I looked at him and chuckled. “What are you laughing at?”

“I’m not laughing buddy, but must admit right now you are damn entertaining. Never saw you that freaked out and you better watch it or else you’ll give it out. Jasper is sharp and you know that.”

At my words he groaned something in Russian and tousled his hair even more.

“You have the CD, right?” Oh joy, here we go again. I patiently nodded at his question. “And you remember the place, right? It’s that one we saw two nights, I already made a reservation and asked the staff whether they have problem with that or not, coz I sure want to avoid retards ruining the atmosphere and you know, so you got the place right?” I exhaled and nodded silently. I think he had repeated me those things something like ten times and honestly I had no idea how my short patience was coping with that. Must be because he was my best friend and what was coming was big, and of course I was happy for him. He was about to take an important step and decision and I respected him. “And Travis knows everything, too, right?”

“Oh for crying out loud, Dima. We damn know everything and I have the CD and yes I remember the place and yes, they know about everything and yes, we’ll pull out the right excuse to leave you alone and yes to anything else.” I sort of snapped, but cut me some slack.

He eyed me with creasing brows and he scratched the back of his neck, sort of smiling and sort of shaking his head.

“I’m freaking you out, isn’t it? Sorry man, but you know I’m rather nervous, because I mean, it’s a huge thing and what if he thinks that..” And there he was, lost in his pointless ranting about questions that had no sense and room, because we all knew how crazily in love both of them were.

I punched his arm rather harshly and he finally snapped out of it. He groaned and massaged his shoulder, but I simply shot him a meaningful glare and he understood.

“Man, you’re such a beast sometimes and after hearing you guys last night, got no more doubts.” I rolled my eyes. Sure, because we didn’t hear them, right? “I’m going to have a bruise tomorrow.”

“As if, you barely felt it and anyway, you feel better now? No more ranting about stupid doubts?” He thought about that a moment and then grinned in his usual way, nodding and smiling even more. “See? It served its purpose and anyway, you weren’t the only one hearing things, if you know what I mean.”

Dima’s mouth dropped open, but then he shrugged and smirked. And he called me a horny beast? He should see his face now and then we could talk about that.

“Well, what can I say? Jasper drives me literally crazy.” My friend had finally relaxed and got back to his usual self and I damn hoped this was going to last until this evening. He placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a serious look. “Thanks Sasha for helping me in this; it means a lot and well, if everything goes well, will you be my best man? I mean, you’re my best friend and you helped me a lot.”

I smiled and shook my head. He was really gone.

“Of course mate I’ll be your best man, thanks for asking, but if everything goes well? You seriously have doubts? Dima, he loves you insanely and you guys talk about making a family. Do you have an idea how you look from the outside when you two are together?” He shook his head. “Well, you guys look like a complete whole and you already talked to his father and brother and I already know what they said, so you need to relax, honestly.”

“He won’t think that it’s too soon, right?” I groaned and he waved his hands in front of me. “No more punching, man.”

“Then stop with this moronic no-sense. Take a moment to think about it and give me an honest answer, what do you think he will say?”

Dima shifted his eyes to the Ocean and I could tell he was really reflecting over it and then he turned his head and gave me a wide grin. Yeah, he got his own answer.

“Shall we go back? Because I know you cannot wait to be with your crazy half.” He stood up and took the board, so I followed him and smirked.

“Why, are you different from me?”

“Well, Jas isn’t crazy.”

“Oh really?” I gave him lopsided smirk and he chuckled.

JASPER POV

Travis softly chuckled and ruffled my hair and he quickly eyed the guys on the shore about to hand the boards back; then he shifted his glance back at me and he smirked like a cat. Oh boy, I knew that face.

“So cutie, tell everything to your best friend, how is driving your man crazy? How does he like it?”

I blinked at him a few times and shook my head; I could only go and answer, because he wasn’t type to let it go and anyway, we had already discussed about it when I asked him advices.

“Uhm well…” My face blushed a bit remembering it, as yep, Dima and I switched and uhm well, apparently he really liked it. “It’s, well, he said I am amazing and that it’s hot when I’m the one well, you know it; have to admit it’s really hot and oh boy Travis, it gives such a strong feeling and knowing it was me making him like that…but uhm, I love when it’s Dima making love to me, because I think he’s sort of uhm well, wilder. I mean, he makes things more…” I blushed in seeing my friend’s devious smirk growing wider.

“Hmm, so the tiger is wild, how nice, but cutie I’m sure you’re the same, because you are not shy when alone with him..” He winked and I just coughed. “I am sure you feel it’s, as you said, wilder and stronger because he’s bigger than you and you feel like being swept off your feet, right? I bet my sexy butt he feels the exact same. So tell everything to future uncle Travis, does it mean you guys now go for harder playtime?” He couldn’t smirk more mischievous than he already was, nope. I rolled my eyes and tossed my t-shirt to him and he caught it laughing. “Hell, I love to tease you, cutie.”

“You are terrible, Travis, seriously…but nope, we don’t go for harder playtime, we are not crazy like you and Alex.”

“Well, it’s not like we go for hardcore stuff, but I sure love to have him completely in my hands and hell, it drives me insane to be entirely in his hands…Alexi is fantastic and you have no idea how much I miss our time together, but well, whenever we see each other..” He let the sentence there and simply winked and I understood what he meant, given they spent the first two days of our holiday basically locked in their bedroom, coming out only for lunch and dinner.

“Can I ask you something?” He arched an eyebrow as to say why I even bothered asking that. “Did you and Alex ever, uhm well, you know..?”

“Switched?” I simply nodded and he shook his head. “No and not because he doesn’t want it or because we never talked about it; it’s just that I love Alexi taking me wildly and like the sex-beast he is and even though I would be pretty much as wild and hard as him, hell, I just love the way he is with me too much. Well, I have my ways with his incredible mouth, so..” He winked and stopped talking, as he stood up, took a couple of steps towards the guys and threw his arms around his boyfriend. “Hmm baby, you’re so hot when surfing..”

Alex didn’t even answer; he simply took Travis’s mouth for such deep and hungry kiss that for a moment I thought they would catch on fire.

I smiled and Dima winked at me, mouthing “horn dogs.” I giggled at that and he sat down with me, shaking his head, his hair sticking in some very messy way.

“Man, the water and waves are awesome today, but it sure kicks ass. We had to leave though, as we were getting tired. And kitty, you look hot too when surfing.” I had not the time to answer because he suddenly pushed me down kissing me rather deeply. My face first blushed remembering we were on the beach, but soon forgot about it when I felt his hand in my hair and his tongue going deeper. Then he stopped grunting something in Russian.

“Hell Dima, you can’t assault Jasper like that, at least wait to be in your bedroom.” Travis had playfully kicked his side and was standing in front of us with Alex hugging him from behind.

“Oh shut up crazy dude, you just explored my friend’s tonsils right now.” Dima joked, sitting back and pulling me up with him. “Not my fault my kitty looks so damn sexy when tanned, half naked and with wet hair. Man, I’d jump him now straight away were we alone.” My mouth first dropped open, but then it recovered at once and I chuckled.

Yep, he was still the same, but since we came here something was different in him, uhm well, he was, how to say it? Well, Dima seemed nervous in a way, but very excited on the other. Did that make any sense? Not sure, right? He was probably thinking about his last year of college, knowing he had to work harder, and about the coming hockey season. Some scouts had already their eyes on him and on Alex, and I knew what that meant for my tiger. His dream was to become a famous hockey player and possible play in the same team of his friends and I had no doubt he would become one of the best players out there.

“How about something to eat, guys? I’m rather hungry.” Alex said while nuzzling my friend’s neck.

“Hmm, then can I be your main meal?” Travis flirted, turning around and slowly tracing his boyfriend’s chest and abs with the tips of his fingers. Boy, I think I heard Alex growling when he sank his hands in my friend’s hair; sure, they both missed their time together.

“Travis, I’m so going to devour you later, so be completely ready.”

“Err, don’t mind us ok? We are not here watching you…” Dima joked clearly trying to tease his friend.

“We are not minding you, don’t worry.” He just answered taking Travis for another thermonuclear kiss.

“Shall we go get something to eat and leave the horn birds alone?” Dima whispered to me and I just giggled.

“Yep, they sure need it.” But when we stood up to move, Travis jumped on my back.

“Where are you going guys? We are coming with you of course, as tonight Alexi promised me a very intimate dinner.” He hopped off of my back and my tiger scratched the nape of his neck and then quickly ruffled his hair. Again, something seemed to be on his mind.

“So we’re alone tonight?” He asked.

“It’s just tonight, don’t miss us too much.” Travis teased.

“Man, you guys are nuts, but well kitty, how about that nice restaurant you saw two days, the one you liked because of the terrace close to the shore?”

“Sure, I really liked that place, it seems romantic.” I suddenly blushed feeling all of their eyes on me.

Uhm, they all smiled and uhm, what was there to smile about? I blinked and blushed more and then let it go.

Now I was staring at the clothes in my suitcase trying to decide what to wear; Dima had khaki shorts reaching and covering his knees and a blue polo t-shirt with the collar lifted up, and a pair of red Vans at his feet. Oh boy, he looked so good…and he had fixed his hair with gel pulling the hair on top upwards, sort of creating a mini mohawk, keeping the shorter hair of the back and of the sides completely flat. Not to mention the cologne he used; I loved it and I sighed dreamily. My tiger looked absolutely handsome tonight. He caught my staring and grinned at me.

“You decided what to wear, kitty?” I shook my head, still unable to tear my eyes away from him. I-I don’t know..he looked so handsome, but also so confident tonight, I mean, more than usual, but at the same time sort of nervous. He caught my expression again. “What is it, something wrong on me?”

“Oh no, no, why? You look great…so hot.” Yep, it just came out like that.

“So do you, especially just wearing those very tight black boxers, maybe we could skip dinner and..” He shook his head and snorted something. “No, we cannot skip dinner. I mean, we already booked the table so..” He scratched the nape of the neck and shook again his head.

“Baby, you ok? You seem sort of nervous today...is it because of the pressure you feel for coming last year?” I asked him walking to where he stood and going to stroke the side of his hair. He closed his eyes a moment and sort of hummed, smiling.

“Yeah well, you know me, too many things in my head and well, neurons complain about it.” We both chuckled and I tiptoed to peck his lips.

“No need to be nervous, tiger. You’ll do great and I am sure at the end of the next year you’ll be already engaged to an important team.” At the word ‘engaged’ his eyes opened and studied mine in silent, with his knuckles softly caressing my cheek. He smiled again and nodded.

“I guess you’re right, hopefully I’ll soon be engaged to an important team.” I felt his thumb on my lips and my body lingered on his touch; his hands cupped my face and in an instant his lips were on mine. “I love you, Jasper.” He whispered on them.

“And I love you, Dima.” I murmured back.

“I should let you dress; I’ll be waiting in the living room.” I nodded and watched him leaving our bedroom. The four of us had rented a small apartment close to the beach and it was just perfect. I touched my lips still feeling the warmth of his kiss and smiled. Yep, my tiger was going to become an awesome and famous hockey player.

At the end I thought to wear what he liked to see on me and that was a rather fit pair of white bermudas that I paired with a cobalt light blue polo and black and white checkered Vans. My hair of course was my usual hazel mess, but it was fine and I noticed how tanned my skin had become. Boy, I sure was getting very dark. I sprayed a bit of cologne and peeked at the mirror another time. Uhm yep, it seemed ok to me, so I walked to the living room and Dima ogled me with wide eyes and hanging mouth.

“Uhm, something wrong?” I nervously asked.

He shook his head and said nothing for a couple of seconds; then he stood up and surprised me with a sudden and very deep kiss, making my knees tremble so that I had to grab his arms. His hands tightened the grip on my side and pulled me completely pressed against his solid body, which had me feel everything of my tiger. My head spun dangerously when his tongue took mine with more avid passion and I totally leaned on him, not able to stand on my feet. Dima growled deep in his throat and I mewled hearing that, feeling my hands quickly moving from his arms to his hair, tugging it harder in response to the intensity of the kiss. His fingers sneaked under my polo and held my shivering body. I began to grind on him because oh boy, this was getting really hot and intense and his fingers travelled up to my shoulders and … and he broke the kiss earning a very annoyed groan from me.

“Baby…” He swallowed down loudly and took two deep breaths as his eyes kept wide open, as if in some trance.

“Dima, you ok?”

“Oh believe, more than ok. Alright, dinner, yes, dinner. Let’s go kitty.”

“Uhm, we can skip it if you don’t feel like, I mean, I can cook something for you and we can simply go tomorrow evening.” I ventured, but he shook his head and took my hand, kissing the tips of my fingers.

“Nah, let’s go have dinner, since you like that place and Jas, God, you look damn hot tonight.” He nodded at that and scanned my body back and forth several times. “Damn hot and sexy, man. Alright, let’s go, you are too much temptation.”

The place was indeed very nice and romantic and I was glad we decided not to cancel, because the view was breathtaking. The terrace was right on the beach and seashore wasn’t very far, giving us the chance to hear the sound of the waves, while the gentle breeze of the early evening brought the saline whiff of the Ocean mixed with the one of beach. I loved it and breathed in full lugs, letting the quiet wind caress my skin and hair. I glanced at the horizon and the sun was just setting over the Ocean…such a breathtaking view.

The restaurant was simple, but with a cozy and dreamy atmosphere and we had a candle at the centre of our table and I noticed how it was just few of us here. Small and colorful lanterns hung from the white wooden ceiling and reflected their soft lights around the open space; tables and chairs were covered with creamy white clothes and yep, I liked it, as it gave a more intimate feeling. A song played softly in the background and it was barely a touch and I smiled realizing it was one of my favorite; a song from Savage Garden, a group that Nic introduced to me and that I liked immediately.

“It’s so nice here; thank you tiger for making a reservation and remembering about the place.”

“No problem, baby, I like it too, and the view is just amazing.” He smiled and scratched the side of his head, for then quickly looking at me as if searching for something. His eyed shifted to the Ocean and he said nothing for a moment. “Yeah, here is perfect.” He was more talking to himself.

“Yes, this place is very nice.” I agreed.

The waitress walked to our table and Dima ordered for both of us, going for Mexican food and no need to tell you he of course ordered a lot of different dishes, but uhm, I knew he was going to finish everything. As usual we had no wine, since I didn’t like it and anyway, I was still twenty years old, so we picked two fancy and colorful not alcoholic cocktails. After little time the waitress came back with the drinks and an appetizer that was delicious.

“Try it.” I said to Dima offering him a bite. He smiled and rolled his eyes when he munched it as to say he loved it.

“Man, the food here is awesome..oh wait, try this one.”

We kept trying and exchanging bites of food until our main dishes arrived and then Dima took a deep breath and nervously ruffled the back of his head. He put the fork and the knife down and closed his eyes muttering something and I was getting now nervous, because I couldn’t understand why he was so edgy, since well, he had been sort of tense the entire evening. Oh boy, maybe he received some news and was waiting for the right moment to say it to me? Oh boy, I hope everything was ok.

Uhm well, now I was nervous too.

“Dima, you seem sort of tense, are you sure everything is fine? You know, you can tell me, I love you tiger.”

He smiled and took my hand, staring at it, and tangled his fingers with mine, squeezing them while moving his gaze to my eyes.

“I know that, but nothing to worry about, seriously. Nothing happened, well, sort of, but err…. Alright, Jasper, I love you like crazy and you know that, right?” I just nodded as I couldn’t speak. Dima kept staring at me very intently and boy, he was nervous and I couldn’t understand the reason and that made me anxious. “I mean, I really love you and you know what I think about and that I cannot wait to be able to live with you and have a family with you, right?”

He clearly waited for my answer and so biting my lip I smiled and answered.

“I know that and we already talked about it; it’s the same for me, why are you telling me this now?”

He exhaled and held my hand stronger.

“Jasper, I love you.” He was serious now and somehow the whole atmosphere changed, becoming thicker and more electric, and I sure felt it.

“I love you, too, Dima…” I just whispered as right now my heart began to skip faster and faster and when his hand lifted mine to his lips, them kissing my fingers, I started to hyperventilate. Something flashed on his bright eyes and a tender smile form on his lips; it wasn’t a normal smile, it was something else.

Oh boy…

DMITRI POV

I have been freaking nervous the whole day, because man, one thing was to talk about this stuff while having dinner or watching a movie, knowing it was something that belonged to the future, but one thing was to actually ask the question. That meant it was going to happen; it made it real and concrete. Well, if Jasper was going to say yes, of course.

What if he thought it was too early? What if he thought I was rushing into things? What if he felt pressured and freaked out? Man, I began to ask myself so many questions that it took Sasha’s punch on my shoulder to calm me down and damn it, tomorrow I’ll have a huge bruise there. But it worked perfectly and my head went back on track. What did I have to be nervous about? Nothing. Well, ok, there was to be nervous here, but I mean, you got it, right? Jasper and I loved each other and wanted the same and it wasn’t going to change; today I was just going to ask him what I have been waiting to do for the past two years. Right, you got it straight. I have been waiting for a while now to ask those words and I realized how edgy I had become; it wasn’t because of fear of losing him or don’t know, for crap like feeling insecure. It was because I loved him and I had the need to complete our relationship and took the final step.

The place was perfect and he liked it and then I smiled hearing the words of the song and thought about my friends; I knew where they were.

After a while we were eating I couldn’t wait any longer, because I had to let them out. It was supposed to happen toward to the end of our dinner, but whatever, no more waiting. The more I waited, the more I grew nervous and so I took his hand in mine and fixed my eyes on his. Oh man, Jasper was absolutely gorgeous tonight and so freaking sexy and tempting; I mean, look at his tanned skin? It made him look even more edible and his eyes struck out even more, shining of a really sweet and warm light. And his hair slightly ruffled by the soft breeze coming from the Ocean and man, he was wearing those tight and white shorts that made his butt the biggest and hardest to resist temptation. When we kissed before, in the living room, it took all of my will to tear my lips from his and come here; well, I was here for a precise reason.

Right man.

I was here because I wanted to ask my kitty those words and now was the perfect moment.

“Dima, you seem sort of tense, are you sure everything is fine? You know, you can tell me, I love you tiger.” He asked and I smiled, tangling my fingers with his, staring at his beautiful eyes.

“I know that, but nothing to worry about, seriously. Nothing happened, well, sort of, but err…” I took a deep breath and went on. “Alright, Jasper, I love you like crazy and you know that, right?” My kitty nodded and I saw he was growing nervous. “I mean, I really love you and you know what I think about and that I cannot wait to live with you and have a family with you, right?”

Before continuing with what I had to say, I waited for his answer and he understood that, because he quietly spoke and damn, he was getting now really nervous. Man, now I was getting nervous too, because…oh was I an idiot? I had nothing to be nervous about.

“I know that and we already talked about it; it’s the same for me, why are you telling me this now?”

I let out a long breath to let go of the last drop of tension and then I squeezed his hand and concentrated my gaze on him seriously.

“Jasper, I love you.” I said with clear and firm voice.

“I love you, too, Dima…” He barely murmured and in that moment I realized how fast my heart was beating and that it was the same for Jasper. He was nervous yes, but he slowly understood what was going on and I couldn’t help smiling at him. Yeah, Jasper was going to be my husband as soon as college was over for him and as soon as I had found a good engagement.

I began to talk and explain him my reasons, because I didn’t want to freak him out with this, but at the same time I could not contain the joy and burning love inside me; Good god, I was so in love with him and Sasha was right, what was there to be worried? Nothing. I shook my head and stood on my feet, as I couldn’t ask him such question simply sitting at the table; it had to be in the right way. I circled the table never letting go of his hand and his eyes were about to pop out, as he had now completely understood. My heart was going crazy and I bet it was the same for Jasper.

I went on my knee and felt the ring I had been carrying the whole evening in my hand and it gave me further determination. The song playing in the background was one of his favorite and it was just perfect, because the words expressed what I felt for Jasper, as I was truly, madly, deeply and as well crazily in love with him. I opened the hand keeping the ring and his mouth opened in a mute gasp, his lips trembling.

“Jasper Lucas, as I said, I am aware right now it’s early and we both need to finish college, but kitty, I cannot wait for another two years before asking you this. I love you too much and want you wearing my ring. As the song says, I love you truly, madly, deeply and I add crazily.”

By the way he was staring at me and then at the ring and then back at me again, well, not sure he heard a word of the song, as his eyes were locked on mine and completely wide. Man, Jasper wasn’t expecting this, but the way he looked at me and the way he squeezed my hand had me ask those few words with clear and still voice, even though my heart was about to burst.

JASPER POV

“I cannot wait kitty and I’m aware it’s sort of early and we both have to finish college, but trust me, I’m going to graduate next year and well, yeah, actually a team is already interested in me, so I was waiting for the right moment to tell you.” A team already contacted him? The air around me cracked of more electricity and tension and I could barely breathe.

I blinked and swallowed down, my heart thundering in me at the same speed my blood thundered in my head, making it spin around. His eyes never left mine and I as well couldn’t move mine.

“I am happy for you, but I told you that it was going to happen.” My voice was nervous now, because I realized that wasn’t what he had to say. Of course not, because he wouldn’t be that tense for such thing.

And when he took hold of my hand saying nothing, simply smiling, while his other hand went on his pocket, oh boy…everything surrounding me froze, stopped and then disappeared. My heart thundered more, now making me almost deaf. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out of it.

He placed the other hand on the table keeping it fisted, holding something. My eyes widened so much that they hurt. What was he holding? I took a breath, as I needed it.

“Jasper, I am serious when I say I want to spend my life with you and you are my love, you complete me in everything and I have no idea what I would do without you.”

My lips trembled slightly parting. My head now was spinning so fast that my free hand had to grab the table.

“So, kitty, will you… no, gotta do this properly.”

My breathing and heart beating stopped. Everything stopped.

Oh boy.

Dima stood up and walked around the table stopping right beside me, still keeping my hand in his; half of my body automatically turned toward him and the other half kept frozen in place.

Oh boy.

Dima looked at me with that sweet, wide and full of love smile that now was tensed with nervous; he had me turn to face him and he knelt in front of me on one knee. Dima was…Dima was…oh boy…he was going to… My heart suddenly skipped alive and thundered in me so fast that I was afraid it would break my rib cage. Dima stared at me intently and spoke.

“Jasper Lucas, as I said, I am aware right now it’s early and we both need to finish college, but kitty, I cannot wait for another two years before asking you this. I love you too much and want you wearing my ring. As the song says, I love you truly, madly, deeply and I add crazily.” He opened his hand and on the palm was a simple golden ring with a round shining small stone sitting in the middle of it. I barely heard the words of the song playing in the background; actually, I had no idea what they were singing as I was only listening to my boyfriend standing on one knee in front of me with a ring.

A ring and the small shining stone was a diamond…a…ring...and a diamond and..Dima was… He looked back at me and smiled.

“Jasper, will you marry me?”

My eyes widened even more and my heart beat even faster. My mouth opened to say something, but I was too stunned to speak…I…I…oh boy, he asked me to marry him. It wasn’t a dream, right? I mean, he really asked me that, right? Of course silly he asked and why being so surprised? We talked about that many times, but now hearing his words and seeing him on his knee in front of me and staring at me with…oh boy, Dima was now worried..oh boy I was so silly.

“Jasp..” He went to say, but I stopped him by literally bursting out.

“Yes, Dima, yes, yes, I marry you!!” I threw myself on him and we almost stumbled on the floor, but he steadied both of us. I pulled back from the crazy hug to see his eyes, right now beaming and shining with too many emotions for me to describe and I giggled and smiled now completely out of mind for the joy, giving his lips and nose, and cheeks and jaw and forehead and again his lips thousands of soft kisses. “Yes, yes, yes…I want to marry you, tiger!”

“Jasper baby, I love you so much, God I can’t believe it..I’m just crazily happy right now, thanks baby..you are so..God, I love you Jas so much..” He took my mouth for a deep kiss and pulled us up on our feet at the same time. “Man, I was so nervous the whole day, because I know we talked about it many times, but you know what I mean…”

I stopped him by placing my hands on each side of his face and pulling his forehead on mine.

“I know what you mean and Dima..I feel just so happy right that sorry I cannot express it properly, Dima…you just asked me to marry you and what else can I say?”

He pecked my lips and straightened up and, never stopping grinning, he once again took my hand in his and slipped the ring on my finger. Oh boy…Dima and I were going to be..

“Now, I sure am engaged to the best team.” He winked and I gasped at first, remembering what we talked about in the living room.

“Same for me, tiger.” We were engaged and I just couldn’t wait to call him my husband. Husband..it sounded so perfect in my mind.

It was when he dragged me into his arms that I realized we weren’t alone and we had people staring at us; I froze on the spot and looked at them, and they…they began clapping their hands and cheering for us and then I felt someone hugging me from behind.

TRAVIS POV

Alexi and I had been observing the whole scene from a hidden spot and I barely could stay still; I was almost jumping out of my skin of crazy joy for my friends and you have no idea what it meant for me being here and being able to help them and witness such moment. Dima had knelt down in front of him and they both clearly forgot other people were there having dinner; but they could suck it up if they had problems, but I know they made sure the place was fine with that. And hell, it was more than fine. People there followed the whole scene completely absorbed and forgetting about their food; the waitress winked at us and I winked back. She had been a sweetheart and helped a lot in organizing this.

My best friend was literally shocked, but in a very good way and I don’t think his eyes could get any wider than that. He was clearly shivering for the emotion and they were so evident and strong that I almost felt them on me. I followed the entire moment almost without breathing, without blinking; only grabbing my love’s hands stronger and stronger and trying to contain the crazy joy bouncing in me.

Jasper and Dima loved each other so much and it was damn great that in the state where we lived same sex marriage was legal, because I swear it, I was so going to marry my Alexi and I knew he wanted the same. His arms closed around me stronger and he murmured few words at me.

“I knew he would say yes; I had no doubt.”

“Well of course, they are crazily in love and hell, the song just played in the perfect moment. I bet the waitress just skipped to it when she saw how things changed.” He chuckled softly and stroked my neck with his nose. We needed no words between us, because I already knew what was on his mind.

Jasper threw himself on Dima and they almost fell back, but the funny bear held it and bringing both of them on their feet, he finally slipped the ring on my friend’s finger. Hell…now I really couldn’t stay still any longer…I couldn’t wait to hug Jasper! So when Dima went hugged him and cutie realized they weren’t alone because people began to cheer and clap their hands, well, we both moved out from our hidden spot and I jumped on his back, hugging him tightly.

“Hell cutie, I’m so happy for you!” He turned and hell, I wished I could take a picture of his super cute and stunned face; Jas sure didn’t expect us to be there, but I could tell it had been a very good surprise. “I’m so going to be your best man and I so knew it about tonight.”

Honestly, now I couldn’t contain my crazy joy any longer.

JASPER POV

“Hell cutie, I am so happy for you.” It was Travis and when I spun around he was there standing in front of me with Alex, both smiling up to their ears. My friend threw his arms around me and kissed me on the cheek, but I was too shocked now to say anything. “I’m so going to be your best man and I so knew it about tonight.”

“Travis, you knew it?” I asked now replaying the conversation we had on the beach in my head. “You knew it!”

“Of course I knew it, cutie! Hell, you’re my best friend and I had to be present and oh my God, Jas, I can’t stop smiling, you’re getting married. Hell, married!”

“Oh boy..yep, I really am…oh boy..”

“Let me see the ring.” I showed him the ring and we both giggled. I simply couldn’t stop smiling and giggling. “It’s beautiful, Jasper.”

He squeezed me tighter in his arms and then released me to jump on Dima and it was then Alex hugging me, murmuring something.

“You have no idea how nervous he had been the whole day.” He chuckled softly. “You guys are perfect together.” He pulled back and gave me genuine and warm smile, winking at me, for then going to compliment his friend.

“Well done buddy, how does it feel?”

“Man, it’s awesome, Jasper and I are going to get married and for real. And you guys are going to be uncle, how does that sound?” He grinned and turned to look at me. I glanced at the ring and felt like melting…yes, Dima and I were going to get married for real and I couldn’t wait to give the news to my brother and to my parents and to our friends. “Oh baby, they’ll react in the same way we reacted with Hayden.” My head whipped back at him and he winked. “See, my Jedi skills improved.” I giggled at his funny expression and found myself in his arms, his nose nuzzling mine. “I love you Jasper.”

“I love you, tiger.”

The people sitting in the terrace came over and congratulated with us and the waitress came back with a huge cake and asked if she could now serve it. I understood now that she had clearly helped with everything and of course my friends too. Oh boy, I had no idea what to say. While they talked to her and to the other persons, Dima wrapped his arms around my waist and smiled tenderly at me, and in that moment we went back being just us two, everything else freezing and completely disappearing.

“So, how about we get married after we both graduate and when Travis is back from London? Cos I know you guys will have the time of your life with this.”

“Oh Dima, sounds perfect to me.” I just smiled taking peeks at my ring. It was perfect in his simplicity and I loved it. My engagement ring…

“You like it?” I nodded. “Well, I went to buy it with your dad.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he knew that, I mean, I had to ask him first and then I talked to your brother and well of course Travis and Sasha knew it, as you can see and Tolya almost got on my nerves with the teasing and jokes and good thing mum told him to calm down. Actually, she wants me to call and let her know how it went; you know how she is…” He rolled his eyes and shrugged.

“What Tolya said about this?”

“He said I am a lucky dense moron because you’re the perfect chipmunk for me, and yeah, those were his exact words.” I burst out laughing, because that was so typical of Anatoly. “So kitty, in two or three years you’ll be Jasper Lucas-Denisov. How does it sound?”

“It sounds just perfect, tiger.” I tiptoed and rested my lips on his, closing my eyes.

I was really going to marry Dima, the person that I loved with all myself and there was nothing more I could ask for.

He was going to be my husband and I was going to be his, and soon have our family. Yep, I couldn’t ask for more and he had been right before about the song; I was as well truly, madly, deeply and uhm well, yep, crazily in love with Dima.

Author's chit-chat:

So, what do you guys think? Were you expecting that to happen in this way or not? Did you feel like being there with them?

I think that Travis and Alexi POVs were necessary, especially because they were the one starting everything and because I wanted to have two outside views to let you see how the characters felt. I preferred having JASPER POV as leading one, because it felt right in that way.

Hope very much you enjoyed the chapter! In few days I'm going to post the EPILOGUE and there we'll have glimpse at their family and more...so stay tuned!

As already said, when this is complete, I'll soon begin ANATOLEG's story: "LOVING YOU IS FORBIDDEN". Do you like the title?

Until next time xox