Not perfection, but partnership.
Not easy, but worth it.
Every single day, it’s worth it.
“Take me to bed, City Boy,” I murmur against his lips.
“Anything for you, Small Town.”
He sweeps me up into his arms, making me laugh, and carries me toward the stairs. Tomorrow, there will be work, meetings, club business, and all the complications that come with our lives.
But tonight, there’s just us.
Just this love that started in the back of an Uber and grew into something neither of us expected.
Something neither of us willeverlet go.
As he carries me upstairs, I catch one last glimpse of the living room, the flute resting on its stand, Queenie’s crossword puzzle on the coffee table, the family pictures lining the walls—our life, messy, beautiful, and perfectly ours.
We arelove.
We areforever.
We arefearless.
We areDefiance.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Epilogue
MILLIE
One Week Later
The kitchen smells like vanilla and caramel.
Two of my favorite things.
I’ve made this recipe a hundred times, salted caramel chocolate chip cookies that have become my signature at the clubhouse. But today, because Victoria is having cravings, I’m adding extra love to every batch. Maybe it’s superstitious, but I swear people can taste when you bake with your whole heart.
“Those smell incredible, Mills.”
I don’t turn around.
I don’t need to.
I would recognize Will’s voice in a hurricane. Deep, rough, warm like whiskey on a cold night.
The same voice that’s been making my pulse race for two years now.
Two years ofalmosts.
Two years ofmaybes.
Two years of him making mebreathlessevery time he walks into a room.
“Thanks,” I say, keeping my eyes on the mixing bowl as though it holds the secrets of the universe. “These are for Vicks. She’s been craving sweets all week.”
