Gen gave a silent war-whoop as she rounded a corner and took out Bash, as she was pretty sure she and Pebbles only needed to get Brain now, in order to win the competition.
They’d started out as six women against six men, but now it was down to two women and one man. Gen remembered Brain climbing the tree in her back yard, and she looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of him.
She didn’t see anything, so she held her breath, and listened… and then tried to latch onto Duke’s sense of smell.
It worked, and she had to triangulate where Brain was most likely to be, based on where she thought Duke was.
Gen backed around a tree, made her way from hiding place to hiding place for twenty yards, and then stopped to look up again. She heard something on the ground in front of her, looked, and saw Pebbles. Gen’s eyes went up again, and she saw Brain, aiming his paintball gun at Pebbles.
Gen lifted her gun and shot without bothering to take time for a good aim, and then gave an audible war-whoop when she saw bright pink blossom on his leg.
Duke and Jiminy had both opted to watch and not participate, so when Pebbles and Gen came out of the woods with huge smiles and no paint on them, they both got hugs from their men, as well as high fives from most of the women present.
Duke walked them through the clubhouse and into the back so they could change clothes, and by the time they came back out, the kids were once again engaged in paintball battle in the woods. The official tournaments were over, but the kids would have a blast practicing and playing for another couple of hours.
Gen watched with fascination as Aaron and Sophia Drake’s triplets climbed all over Duke and Brain. The three toddlers were the cutest, most adorable babies Gen had ever seen in her life, and she loved watching how gentle the bad-ass bikers were with them.
Aaron’s wife was tiny, and Gen couldn’t imagine how the woman had managed to give birth to three babies and still manage to weigh less than a hundred pounds. She looked like a tiny fairy princess, and the first time Sophia had run and practically jumped into Duke’s arms, Gen had been pissed. However, she’d soon learned the two were just good friends, and that Aaron Drake didn’t have a problem with their friendship, so she probably shouldn’t, either.
She was a little surprised when her brother Frisco showed up with all of his lovers as well as Randall, but she was happy Duke’s brother accepted the invitation. It took a lot for the Pack Alpha to come to an RTMC gathering with only one Pack wolf with him, and that wolf happened to be Isaac’s adopted father, which meant it was still all family.
Somehow, Duke’s pants got ripped while he was roughhousing with the kids, but he didn’t seem to even notice. He might prefer jeans and tees, but he was always neat and tidy in them, his shirts tucked in and his jeans worn but clean. Gen thought it a good look for him tonight, surrounded by friends and family. He seemed more carefree, happier, and definitely sexy, with his bare, muscled arms contrasting with his black leather vest, a black sleeveless tee tucked into his pants.
She didn’t think anything of it when he jumped up on a concrete picnic table with a microphone to talk to the crowd. As club president, he frequently aimed their parties in whatever direction he thought they should go.
However, when he asked Brain to bring her to him, she protested as she was lifted up and settled beside him.
“If you’re here,” he said to the assembled crowd, “then you know Gen, and you know I’m crazy about her. The club nicknamed her Duchess, and the title fits. I never quite understood why people in long-term relationships referred to their partner as their other half, but with Gen, I get it. She completes me, she makes me want to be a better man.”
Gen didn’t know what to say, she could only look at him, embarrassed to be standing on a table, but so caught up in his words, she could only stare.
He’d been looking at her when he talked before, but he’d been talking to the crowd. Now, he was speaking to her, and the crowd no longer mattered.
“Genesis, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know you’re mine and I’m yours, but I want to make it official.” He held his hand out, and Gen saw the most beautiful ring she’d ever laid eyes on.
“Beautiful, will you marry me?”
Speechless, Gen just stood and stared at him. She didn’t breathe, didn’t blink, and it’s possible her heart didn’t beat.
“You’re killing me, Beautiful. Please say something.”
She still couldn’t speak, but she managed to nod her head and push her left ring finger towards the ring. Duke’s smile could’ve lit a football field as he put it on her finger and swept her off her feet as he wrapped her in his arms.
Gen’s arms went around his neck as she finally managed to say, “Yes. God, yes, I’ll marry you.”