“Shh, pretty girl.” He’s still smiling at me. “You’ll do no such thing.”
“But you can’t move here.”
“It’s already done,” he says. “I knew you’d be willing to postpone your dreams for me, and I couldn’t let that happen. You have big things to accomplish and I can’t be the guy that holds you back. I love you and want to be in your life. So I moved.”
“You did?”
“Yeah, Lil. You’re so important to me. I’m willing to fight to be with you. Whatever it takes. Even if that means I have to face my ghosts and talk to my family.”
I gasp. “Arwen called me.”
He chuckles. “You have no idea how much she wanted to be here to meet you. She was ready to come to the airport with me. To make sure I didn’t screw us up again. I had to convince her that I really needed it to be just you and me.”
“She sounds nice.”
“She is.” He strokes his hands over my hair. “She helped me find an apartment. There’s a nut-free bakery too, on your route to work. A deli a couple of blocks in the other direction.”
“Thoughtful,” I say.
“I wanted to make living with me as enticing as possible.”
“Living with you?” I gape.
“Yes, Lil. I want you to move in with me. As soon as you’re ready. You told me once that you’d waited half your life for me to catch up.” His eyes glitter with emotion. “It took me a while, didn’t it? But I’m all caught up now. I don’t want to wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“You’re going to make me cry.” My pitch is squeaky. I flap my hand in front of my face and try to keep my shit together.
“Say you’ll move in with me, Lil.”
“I love you.” I sob and giggle and nod at the same time. My chest is full to bursting.
“I love you too, but that’s not an answer.”
“Yes,” I shout.
“Yes?” The way he stares at me makes my heart beat faster. He buries his hands in my hair. “The girl says yes.”
“How could I ever say no to you? Without you I have no one to steal jalapeños from. Or share silly jokes with.” I draw my lips to his ears. “Or have truly great sex with. I missed you so much. I love you.”
“I love you so much, pretty girl.” He slides his tongue against mine as he lowers me to my feet. “Now let’s collect your suitcases, before that guy steals them, and go home.”
Epifreakinglogue
Vale
“Look at you two.” Lily clutches her chest as she stands in the doorway of her nephews’ nursery. “You’re both so adorable.”
“Thanks,” Hud whispers, rocking little Emmett in his arms. He’s such a big guy and the baby he’s holding looks so tiny. His green eyes warm each time he looks at his sons. Fill with pride and protectiveness. Fatherhood suits him, but we all knew it would. He did a great job with Lily.
“I was talking about the babies,” Lily sasses him and rolls her cheeky gaze at me.
“They’re perfect,” I whisper, letting Everett wrap his teensy hand around my pinky finger. His little mouth works as he tries to suck his fist.
The twins arrived two days after Lily and I moved to L.A. and this is the first chance we’ve had to come back and meet them. She’s been running constantly since the DC Design office opened. Everyone loves her. Her colleagues. Clients. My sister.
Me. I love her.
More than I ever thought was possible.
More every single day.
I quit Line ‘Em Up and spend all my time working on an app where people can get Lily’s design advice and favorite products straight in their hands. The thing is I made enough with my first app ten years ago that I’ll be comfortable for a long time to come, so it doesn’t matter if I don’t work on anything else. I’m also helping her develop her own suite of tech gadgets to help with the planning stages of her work. Because DC Design isn’t her end game. It’s a stepping stone. The woman I adore is going to build herself an empire, and I’m going to be the man beside her every step of the way.
And if that means at some point I’m rocking our baby like this, well, then… I’m prepared for that too. I coo at the baby in my arms.
“Oh-oh.” Hud grins at me. “Someone’s clucky.”
“No, I’m not.” I never thought I’d want to consider this kind of future. The idea of being a father… I shake my head.
I reached out to my brother a couple weeks ago, with Arwen’s help. We opened a dialogue about our youth. Talked about Jessa. And that day by the pool. Apologies were exchanged, and it turns out my father had a mild heart attack a while ago and finally told them about Jessa being his daughter.
It’s not an easy road we’re navigating. There’s too much damage and too many years between us, but we both want to see if there’s a salvageable relationship between him and me and Jessa. That’s why I was invited to the wedding. But he didn’t know how to start the conversation. So I’ll be there next month when Ryder and Jessa tie the knot. Lily by my side. Because I can face anything with her.
“You’re a natural,” Hud says. “Look at you, man. Babies suit you.”
“We’ve been together for less than six months,” Lily says. “If he’s not ready—”
“I’m ready,” I say. “I mean, maybe not this minute. You have so much on your plate. But when you’re ready to start a family I’m all in.” I smile down at Everett. “I’ll happily be a stay-at-home-dad.”
Her green orbs are heated, her pupils dark. She presses her lips together and blushes.
She likes the idea. I think that’s what this look means.
“You have to ask her to marry you first,” Hud grumbles. “Put a rock on her finger and then you have my blessing to impregnate my sister.”
“Hud, you jackass,” she whisper-hisses at him, not wanting to disturb the babies, but embarrassed all the same.
“Deal,” I tell him. “But you have to be my best man.”
“Of course.” He grins. “Like you have a choice.”
“I can’t with you two.” Lily shakes her head. Crosses the room to kiss my cheek and coo at the baby. “He’s so sweet.”
“Isn’t he?” I lean my cheek in her hair. “I mean it. When you want to do this, I’m in.”
“Stop talking dirty to me,” she whispers. “I want to drag you into the closet and have my way with you between the diapers and the onesies.”
“It’s like that, is it?”
“Mmhmm.” She strokes Everett’s cheek. “I’m going to go make coffee and sit with Jane.”
“Okay.” I sweep my lips over hers. Watch her walk out of the room.
“So when are you going to ask me?” Hud carefully lays one baby in the bassinet before taking the other from me and putting him next to his brother.
“What?”
“For my blessing.” He smiles at me.
“Would you give it to me now?” I ask. It’s only been a month since we moved to L.A. and before that he was ready to throttle me for dating his sister. “Or do you need more time?”