Nebulous || Evan Buckley [1]

chapter five

becoming strangers

Josephine jiggled her keys into the lock of her front door to unlock and open. Her eyes sparked from the fatigued state of working a 24 hour shift at the firehouse to her nostrils internally adoring to be met with the smell of a prepared meal. No need to pick up the phone for takeout. It was quite a surprise since Bryan hasn't been home often or the time she gets off from work recently. Needless to say, they've acknowledged their jobs would work them around the clock resulting in missing a couple dinners together at home.

His eyes flickered up from the utensil drawer when his fiancé made an appearance. "Hey, you're home just in time."

"You said you were working late at the office." She recalled in a bewildering tone.

Bryan dropped the utensils on the counter and took long strides to his fiancé with a sheepish grin. "I might've lied to prepare a meal for us tonight." He reached for her hand and kissed her knuckles. "And finalize the details for our wedding after."

She amusingly stared at him. "So, this is your way making up with me?"

He took her other hand into his grasp consciously rubbing her knuckles, and genuinely stared into her eyes. "I'm sorry if you felt I was not prioritizing our wedding the last few weeks. I've been too caught up with the company and everything going at a rapid pace. But that shouldn't excuse for dismissing our plans since you work one hell of a job too. If you think I have cold feet, I don't. You are the woman who I want to be with for the rest of my life, Josephine Santiago. I want to marry you so bad." He expressed, a ripple of chuckles slipped from his lips.

Josephine tilted her head, basking in the apology she waited to hear. She quirked her brow, "How bad?" Her hands slid from his grasp to wrap around his neck.

"So bad that I'll buy tickets to Vegas and get elope already."

Josephine bit her lip from laughing and leaned forward. "I would be so down except my sister and mom would have our heads."

"Same with my parents." Bryan nodded in agreement, inching closer in closing the gap between them. "I love you."

She rested her forehead against his, whispering. "I love you too." Their lips collided and moved in sync fulfilling the crave of lust for one another. She went to deepen the kiss until feeling her fiancé pulling away.

"How about we continue that later because I have dinner waiting for us in the other room? Also, we have wedding stuff to go over." He suggested, omitting a chuckle.

Josephine pecked his lips once more, humming out. "Mmm...all right. But I rather have dessert than the entrée at this moment." She smirked, receiving a smug grin from Bryan as he led her out of the kitchen.

After a satisfying dinner prepped by her fiancé followed by a few then too many glasses of wine and checking off the vendors for their wedding, the couple soon found themselves in the midst of laughter and melting in each other's bare skin underneath the sheets of their bedroom. One of those nights leaving Josephine in a complete daze. Bryan exited out of the master bathroom to immediately see Josephine laying on her side in utter admiration of her engagement ring. From time to time he'll see that exact scenery of his fiancé since the night he proposed- always made him etch a grin.