“You’re so damn beautiful,” he says, voice wrecked.
“So are you.”
I reach for his belt, but he catches my hands.
“Not yet.” He guides me backward until my legs hit the bed. “Sit.”
Yeah, better, my knees don’t feel reliable right now.
My heart stutters as he drops to his knees in front of me.
But what happens next isn’t just about worshipping my body. He’s pledging himself to me, flesh and soul.
When he brings me against him, the world narrows to heat and trust and love. There’s no distance left. No doubts. Only the two of us finding the courage to love each other without any armor.
All night, he kisses me like he’s making a vow. Touches me like he’s tracing a constellation only he can see, connecting points that glow only for him. And every time his eyes meet mine, I feel the truth he told me on the porch echo through me—only louder now, sharper, undeniable: he loves me.
He loves me with every part of himself. And I love him back with my entire soul.
Later, when moonlight spills through his bedroom window, I watch him sleep—this beautiful, complicated man who chose to trust me again. Yesterday, I thought I’d lost everything. Today, I’m where I belong. I spent years building an empire to prove I mattered in a world that said I didn’t. Chasing success as if it could fill the hollow places inside me. But lying in the dark with someone who carries the weight of everyone he loves and never asks them to carry him back, I understand that what I was trying to earn can’t be bought: a town that sees me, not my accomplishments. A family that made room for me at their table without question. The students who needed me as much as I needed them. This community where love is measured in showing up for each other and not racing to come out on top. This is the only empire worth building.
EPILOGUE
RYDER
One Year Later
The early-June light spills across the water in a warm sweep as I walk with Rhys along the gravel path toward the rebuilt docks below the cottages. Behind us, the six units gleam with fresh paint and new railings—each sold out with summer bookings. I told Rhys we’re doing a “dock check” before the first guests arrive this afternoon, but that’s a lie. Today, Faye and I are finally telling him we’re together. After a year of sneaking around like teenagers, of stolen kisses at the Moonshine, tucked between the old ice machine and the back door where the neon lights can’t reach, and late-night phone calls after Rhys goes to bed, we’re done hiding.
“Dad, can we say hi to Miss Rose after we check the dock?” Rhys skips beside me, kicking up pebbles with each bounce. “I miss her so much.”
“You didn’t have fun with Mrs. Grant this year?” I ask, mentioning his second-grade teacher.
“She was fine.” He shrugs. “But I preferred Miss Rose.”
I don’t blame you, kid.
The dock comes into view right then. Faye is leaning against the railing at the far end, hair windblown. If she’s aiming to look casual, as if she’d been taking a walk and ended up at the lake by coincidence, she’s failing spectacularly.
Every line of her body screams I’ve been waiting. Her shoulders are tight, she’s gripping the rail, and her gaze is fixed on the path we’re walking.
When she spots us, joy, relief, and mild worry flood her face.
“Miss Rose!” Rhys takes off running.
She catches him when he crashes into her, laughing as she ruffles his hair. “Rhys! Hi, sweetheart. I’ve missed you.”
I step closer, hands in my pockets. We haven’t been alone together in two days, and I’m itching to pull her to me and kiss her—do so much more to her. Faye looks up at me through her lashes, and the want in her eyes mirrors mine. It’s getting harder and harder to stay apart. But hopefully, after today, we won’t have to as much.
I tilt my head and give her a not-so-subtle once-over. “Hey, Miss Rose.”
She rolls her eyes while still smiling. “Mr. Evans.”
I go to stand next to her. Her eyes meet mine, asking the question we’ve been bouncing off each other for weeks now.
Are we really doing this?
I give her the smallest nod.
