“It’ll make you look tough,” Ethan says.
“And it’ll match your suit,” Jake ends with a laugh.
The assholes don’t even try to hide their laughter, they’re practically howling.
“Who the fuck was your instructor in that class?” My boyfriend holds the bag of frozen peas against his eye.
“A very large and strong woman,” I say, not wanting to think about why I took the classes in the first place.
Jake was able to expedite a restraining order against David through his family lawyer and a judge the lawyer knows personally. I didn’t ask for details. Ignorance is bliss. What matters is that if David comes within one hundred and fifty feet of me, he’ll be arrested. In short, he no longer lives near Cam.
Cam sighs. “Right, sorry. I deserved this.”
I shake my head and touch his arm. “You mean the world to me. I love you and we’re moving forward. You’ve apologized enough, it’s time for you to forgive yourself.”
He smiles and lets out a shaky breath. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
We kiss in the kitchen and then kiss again at midnight.
My first New Year’s kiss with my first love in a club that happened to pick an elegant version of a night under the stars as their theme. Fitting, perfect, and another sign that everything happened the way it was supposed to.
Epilogue
KAMILA
End of January – Junior Year – Two days before Spring Semester
Levi’s face twists into one of horror.
Jake visibly cringes. “I’m so confused. Does that mean he wants to fuck her?”
“No,” Emma scoffs. “It means he’s her protector. She’s his to look after and make sure she’s safe and loved. Werewolves can’t help who it happens with,” she answers.
“Don’t they end up together?” Levi raises a brow.
Em pops in a gummy bear. “That’s beside the point.”
Cameron shakes his head, sitting on the floor with the boys, staring at the screen. “At least he didn’t kill her.”
“Do you guys want us to stop the marathon?” I ask.
“No,” all of the boys say in unison.
Em and I make eye contact as we suppress our laughter.
What started off as a very early day of unpacking and playing board games around lunch time turned intoTwilightplaying in the background while we continued with card games. Eventually, the boys became so invested that they dropped all the games and put their entire focus towards a movie seriesabout vampires, werewolves, and love. Em and I convinced them to come to campus two days before classes started with the goal of tricking them into having aTwilightmarathon.
Mission accomplished.
“Guys always end up being entertained by movies and shows like this. Whether they hate it, like it, or love it, they can’t take their eyes off the screen,” my roommate whispers.
“True, very true.”
The credits roll. One movie left to go, and we’ve barely taken any breaks. Everyone gets up to stretch before the finale.
I stand to get a drink when Cam grabs my arm and pulls me tightly to his chest.
