And I do.
It’s tight and hot, and my breath goes away.
I’m inside Axel. My Axel. My future husband.
He’s trembling slightly, breath shallow, and I still my hips, just for a moment. His face is turned to the side, eyes closed, lips parted. He’s open and vulnerable and letting me in.
I lean down and press my lips to his back, right above his heart.
“I love you,” I murmur. “We can stop at any time.”
“Or you can start thrusting.”
I give a startled laugh. “Sure.”
And then there is a lot of thrusting. And a lot of moaning. And a lot of slick sweat between us, as I move my hands all over his body, worshipping it.
When we finish, Axel is trembling. I ease out carefully, then gather him against me.
“You okay?” I ask.
“More than okay.” He turns in my arms, face flushed, eyes bright. “That was...”
“Yeah?”
“We’re doing that again.”
I laugh into his shoulder.
He’s already half-asleep, heavy and warm against me. I pull the covers over us both.
EPILOGUE
Enzo
The sky is bright blue, like Boston in the tourist pamphlets when we line up to go on the ferry. The sun is doing its sparkling thing, and the waves in the harbor glint like someone sprinkled sapphires there.
I shake my head. I’m being sentimental.
But sentimental is fine. Today is the day that I’m marrying Axel Knight, my own personal hero, and that means it’s the best day in the world.
My friends swarm around me as we board the boat, and I carry Luca in my arms. He stretches out his arms and flings his head back. “You’re getting married!”
Sometimes he’s so much like Gaby that it makes my heart hurt. I glance up at the sky.
I’m happy, I tell her. Luca’s happy.
We enter the boat, then go up to the second level. The deck is strung with white lights and flowers. Axel is already there. My Axel. My future husband.
Our teammates fill the seats. Coach is in the front row, looking happy and proud. Apparently, Axel gave him a verytough time about hiring me, and he feels ridiculously smug about all of our happiness. But then, Coach hasn’t stopped smiling since we won the playoffs either.
Stella runs up to Luca the moment she sees him.
“Luca! You’re the ring bearer! I was the flower girl at my dads’ wedding. Don’t drop the rings.”
“I won’t,” Luca says solemnly.
“If you drop them in the water, the wedding won’t count.”
