Truth is, I watch him that way too when I know he’s not looking. We were always parallel lines, but even parallel lines can collide and become one. It’s even more powerful than two lines meeting at only one point.
He places me down and lies beside me. He pulls me on top of him so my breasts are glued to his chest, my legs between his and my face inches away from his.
Another position I love too much to admit.
We watch each other for a second, his hands running through my hair and mine stroking along his tattoo. The Arabic words are still there, and I’m glad he didn’t remove it. I like to see how far we’ve come.
Jason has admitted to helping Arianna back then, and he was also the one behind that shady Instagram account about Blackwood College. He had students DM him pictures and he posted them.
After that confrontation, he got a beating from Asher that nearly broke his football arm. When Alex found out about what happened, he wanted to throw Jason out of the country, but I begged him not to for Izzy’s sake. She showed me that video when she could’ve kept it a secret for life because she cared about Alex and me.
She offered to take Jason and go back to the south where her family would deal with him.
I could tell Asher wanted to do more than beat Jason up, but I made him stop. I had a few choice words for Jason. I thought he was my friend, but he turned out to be my worst enemy. However, I didn’t waste my time on him—it wasn’t worth it after everything that happened.
The past isn’t something we should dwell on; the future is.
We won state that year, or more like Lucy and Prescott did. Their management of the team while I was recovering was amazing. Now, they’re happily married and running a dance studio.
Owen went on to the NFL, and Asher and I usually go watch him play. He’s such a star that we need a pass to see him.
Sebastian and Naomi—well, it’s complicated, as Naomi likes to say.
Rai has remained in her world and made a name for herself in the bratva.
We often meet, but it has to be pre-scheduled and monitored since she leads a dangerous life and needs to keep a low profile.
I call her Rai and she calls me Reina now. We decided to do that about four years ago. It was useless to keep that promise from when we were kids. We’re just us now. Rai Sokolov and Reina Carson.
Reina Carson.
I fall in love with that name the more I think about it.
We got married within a year. Asher told me in no uncertain terms that he’d waited too long to have me so now the waiting was over.
I continued my master’s degree in sociology, and now I help children like me, runways without a home and sometimes no support.
Asher started working for Alexander’s company after finishing his degree in international law. I can’t say father and son see eye to eye on everything, but they tolerate each other better. Learning the truth about Arianna’s death set them both free, since they’d been secretly blaming each other.
We usually meet for dinners with Alex. He’s still the best father figure I could’ve had. He walked me down the aisle on Dad’s behalf on my wedding day.
“I thought you were going to sleep.” Asher raises an eyebrow.
Okay, so I might have been watching him like a creep for the few last seconds…or minutes. Whatever.
“Hey, Ash.”
“Hmm?”
Ash has become his favorite name now. I smile to myself remembering how he used to be creeped out by it, or maybe he was creeped out by that side of me.
Once, I was acting like a brat and kept calling him Asher. His reaction was fucking me in the ass until I screamed Ash.
It’s his way or the highway, and I love every second of it.
“I want kids.” It’s unplanned, but it’s not spur of the moment. I’ve been thinking about this for a while.
At the beginning of our marriage, we agreed to delay having kids for our careers, but now I want to carry his baby.
“The idea of you pregnant makes me hard.” He pushes into me, nuzzling the evidence between my thighs.
“It turns me on, too.” I bite my lower lip.
“That’s my prom queen.” He captures my lips in a kiss as he parts my thighs with a strong hand.
His slides inside me with that slight pressure that makes me quiver, ready for him all over again.
“Ash,” I whisper against his mouth. “I’m sleepy.”
“You can’t bring up the idea of pregnancy then be sleepy.” He brushes his lips against mine. “I won’t stop until I put a baby inside you.”
God, this man.
I love him so much, it’s mad.
THE END