“Well, start fathoming,” Cooper said as the sun glare got more intense with the passing of a cloud. “Because god forbid people actually do start expecting things from me. I’m going to need you there with your best incredulous eyebrow pop to tell them there’s nothing special about me whatsoever.”

He yanked open the glove compartment in search of sunglasses. What he saw instead was a rolled-up pair of socks.

A prickle of tension went through his body as he tentatively picked them up. Had Eli left something else behind after all? Or had Neil bugged their car? Some kind of tracker? A recorder?

“What are you doing? Put that back,” Park said, suddenly sounding panicked, but it was too late. Cooper had already unrolled the socks.

The ring was already in his hand.

Cooper stared down at it, lying flat in his palm. It was sort of a muted, brassy gold. A thickish band. There was no mistaking what it was. For once, there wasn’t a single thought in Cooper’s head.

“Fuck,” Park said, pulling the car off to the side and parking. They were nearly home, and the road was woodsy and narrow, with no houses in sight and hardly anyone passing.

“I, um...” Park sounded uncharacteristically flustered. “I definitely wasn’t going to try to do this today with everything that happened. The blogs said the car is a great hiding place,” he muttered. “I should have known that was a mistake. They also said a good place to give it to you was a nice restaurant, but every time I’ve tried to get you in one it’s led to physical violence, so really I don’t know why I’m even surprised.”

Silently, Cooper poked at the ring, turning it on its side. There was a simple inscription inside. More than words.

He looked up at Park, who was blushing and looking down at the ring in Cooper’s hand. “I, um... I know we didn’t say anything about rings. And you don’t have to wear it or anything. I just thought you might...”

Park cleared his throat, clearly reaching for some kind of prepared speech. “I just wanted to say that whatever we call each other doesn’t matter to me. Pack, family, mate, husband, alpha, partner, friend—you’re all of those to me and everything else too.”

Park’s gaze rose to meet Cooper’s. “And I love you more than words can even really say.”

Cooper’s throat felt painfully tight. He picked up the ring and rolled it in his fingers. So pleasingly heavy and smooth. “But I don’t have anything for you,” he said softly. “I didn’t think you could wear rings.”

“Oh, no, I...” Gently he took the other sock out of Cooper’s hands and pulled out a very long chain of the same muted, brassy-gold color as the ring that hung from it.