I don't even need to think about my answer because it will always be ayes.
“I can't wait to live my life with you,” I whisper, leaning my forehead against his. “Until we’re old and grey.”
He smirks, teasing, but I don't miss the way his eyes glisten. “And you'll still love me with wrinkly balls?”
“Even then.”
“Come on then, princess. Let's start a beautiful life together.”
Epilogue 1
Willow
6 months later
“Can’t this wait until we get home?” I ask, raising a brow as he fiddles with his camera.
He just shakes his head. “I’m not that patient when it comes to you.”
Yeah… that sounds about right.
So much has changed over the past six months, and somehow, I've never been happier.
Don't get me wrong, there are still days when I miss my dad so much it feels unbearable and hard to ignore. Anything sets me off crying like a baby, and then there are other days when I can breathe easier through the loss. It's still there like a shadow, but it doesn't drag me under like an anchor anymore.
I've come to understand that we must find a way to keep going for the people we still have and enjoy life because you don’t know when it will be your last day.
Elijah has become such a huge part of my life. He makes me laugh without trying, pulls smiles out of me on days I don’t think I have any left, and somehow helps me see the beauty in things again.
With him, moving forward doesn't seem impossible anymore.
His family has helped so much, too, accepting us without a second thought. We go over most weekends for BBQs or game nights, which mostly end up with someone hitting Ezra.
“Anyone could walk in.”
“That’s where you're wrong,” he replies smoothly. “I gave everyone the day off, and you promised once you were healed, we could do this. You're all mine for the evening.”
I bite my lip, hesitation flickering for a second—it's quickly swallowed by the what curling low in my stomach. A promise is a promise… and truthfully, I want this as much as he does.
“Nobody's going to see them?”
He sets the camera down and stands in front of me. “Princess, there's no world where I’d let anyone see you like this.” he tucks my hair behind my ear. “You're mine, remember?”
“How could I forget?”
His thumb hooks lightly under my bottom lip, tugging it free. “And I’m all yours,” he adds, a small smile playing on his mouth.
Something in me shifts—confidence, heat, need—all of it building at once. Because I do want him. I always want him. I don’t think that feeling will ever go away.
“Till my last breath,” I whisper with love.
Something we say all the time now, and it's just stuck. I couldn't possibly love anyone else.
He moves back, picking the camera back up.
“Hop on the bike.”
I glance over my shoulder, his new black motorbike looking all shiny. Moving toward it, I swing a leg over the edge of the seat, settling myself with my back to the handlebars, the cool leather against my heated skin.
