LINES CROSSED. (BWWM)

Mason

I stood in front of the couch, palms sweating like hell,

Ridiculous, considering she's already mine. Has been for years now—in every way that counts. She gave me her heart, gave me Zyair, gave me grace when I didn't deserve it. And still, here I was pacing the living room like a teenager about to ask someone to prom.

The same couch where everything changed.
Where she kissed me.
Where she climbed into my lap with those wide, scared eyes, trying to pretend she wasn't feeling everything I was.
Where she dry humped me until we both forgot our own names.

I could still hear her whispering those rules in my ear, thinking she was in control of the whole situation. And maybe she was... back then. But now?

Now I was the one writing the rules.

Zyair was asleep in his room. The candles were lit. I'd made her favorite dinner, but she'd barely touched it—too busy watching me pace the living room like a lunatic. She probably thought I was hiding bad news. Typical Amina.

But when she walked in and saw the couch covered in rose petals and a folded note with her name on it in my handwriting, she finally knew. Her breath caught.

I cleared my throat, trying not to shake as I picked up the paper I'd written out earlier and held it in both hands.

"You remember the first rules you made?" I asked, voice low. "When we started... whatever this was? That night?"

Her smile was soft. She nodded. "I made them so I wouldn't fall harder than I already had."

I swallowed. "Yeah, I figured that out later."

I took a breath. "You made those rules to keep your heart safe. To pretend we were still just friends. You needed control."

I looked up at her.

"But I'm making these rules because I want to lose control with you. Forever. I want to forget how to guard anything when it comes to you. I want you to know, every single day, just how much I love you. How much I worship you. How much I would give up just to be yours."

Her eyes welled instantly. I didn't give her time to speak.

I unfolded the paper and read them aloud.

"Mason's Forever Rules:"

Rule one: I will never let a day go by without reminding you that you're beautiful, wanted, and more than enough—especially on the days you forget.

Rule two: Your body is mine to adore, to worship, to kiss slowly or fuck desperately—whichever you need most. Always with love.

Rule three: If you want to cry, scream, fall apart—I'll hold you through all of it. I'm not going anywhere.

Rule four: Your pleasure will always come first. In every room. At any hour. Under every circumstance.

Rule five: You will never have to earn my love. It's yours. Fully. Unconditionally. Endlessly.

I folded the paper and stepped toward her. She was already crying, and I was doing everything I could not to join her.

I pulled the ring from my pocket. Simple. Timeless. Gold, with a diamond shaped like a teardrop—because Lord knows we've cried enough to earn it.

I got down on one knee, right in front of the damn couch.

"The moment you kissed me on this couch, everything changed. You were my best friend... and then you were the only person I could imagine being with. I want to be your husband, Amina. I want to wake up next to you for the rest of my life. I want to raise our son, grow old, get wrinkly, and still be kissing you every chance I get."

Her hand flew to her mouth, and I smiled through the nerves.

"Will you marry me?"

She didn't even let me finish the last word before she dropped to her knees too, kissing me through both our tears, whispering "Yes" against my lips over and over again.

I slid the ring on her finger right there, on our knees, in front of the couch that started everything.

And damn if it didn't feel like we'd just written the greatest rule of all:

No more pretending. We're each other's forever now.