Owen went very still. His expression shifted through several emotions I couldn’t quite read before settling on something that looked almost like hurt.
“What?”
“I mean, we did this whole thing so fast. We eloped. We didn’t even tell most people, and now we’re living together and taking pregnancy tests. It’s all so... real. So permanent.” The words tumbled out faster now. “What if you wake up one day and realize you made a mistake? What if...”
His mouth crashed against mine, silencing my words and claiming my lips in a fierce, hungry kiss.
When he pulled back, his hands framed my face.
“Listen to me very carefully,” he said. “Marrying you was not a mistake. Marrying you was the only decision I’ve ever made that makes complete and total sense.”
“Owen…”
“I’m serious, Harlow. I’ve made a lot of impulsive decisions in my life. A lot of choices I regretted the second I made them. But you?” He shook his head, a smile breaking through the intensity. “You were the easiest decision I’ve ever made. The most right thing I’ve ever done.”
My throat went tight. “Really?”
“Really.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “You’re my best friend. My partner. My person. There is no version of my future that doesn’t have you in it. There never was.”
“Even when I make you watch ghost pottery movies?”
“Especially then.”
I laughed, the sound watery, and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He kissed me again, softer this time. “And when we’re ready, we’re going to make the most beautiful, annoying, perfect little humans. But until then?” He pulled back with that trademark smirk. “We get to keep practicing.”
“That’s very scientific of you.”
“I’m a scientist. A researcher. I believe in thorough experimentation.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?”
“Among other things.”
I shook my head, still smiling, and pulled him toward the bedroom. “Come on, Dr. Taylor. Let’s go experiment.”
“Now you’re talking my language.”
We left the test on the counter, forgotten. One line. Not pregnant. Not yet.
But someday.
When we were ready. When it was time.
For now, we had each other. We had this apartment that was slowly filling with my books and his hockey equipment. We had Friday-night pizzas and terrible movies, and the rest of our lives stretching out ahead of us.
And honestly?
That was more than enough.
That was everything.
EPILOGUE
HARLOW
Two years had passedsince Vegas, and I still couldn’t believe this was my life.
