“I like that idea. Keep Shady Valley a small town. I mean, it’s been a ghost town for a long time now, but it’s nice to see people moving in and wanting to revamp downtown and shit. So, when you get to your house, you get two acres too?”
“Unlesswedecide to be selfish and keep four.”
“I mean, you could be a billionaire by then and want six wings and a driveway big enough for ten sports cars.”
That had been, in a very exaggerated way, the dream. And I still wanted to build wealth that could compound generation to generation. But it suddenly didn’t matter as much about labels or cars or how big the house was. Because I finally understood what people said about how it wasn’t the house; it was the people in it.
I guess when I’d been on my own for so long, it was hard to wrap my head around that concept. So I clung to things that seemed more attainable: designer brands, how many zeroes were in my bank account, what kind of marble I would put in my kitchen. Superficial things.
Now that I had not only Raff, but his entire extended family, I was more interested in fostering relationships and traditions than chasing trends or impressing strangers.
Being with the bikers and their families reminded me, in an odd way, of spending summers with my grandparents. The loud, chaotic, loving energy. The amazing meals. The laughing until everyone’s bellies hurt.
And, well, Slash let me plant a flower garden.
By “let me,” I mean he said, “Why the fuck would I give a shit about that?” when Raff asked if it would be okay if I opened one up. Sure, it was getting cool, but I had major plans come springtime.
There was so much to look forward to.
And also so much to enjoy in the present moment.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Raff asked as we made it up to the second floor and what would become the primary bedroom.
“Not to sound like an old lady, but my knees are not made for being on all fours on plywood floors.”
“Well then,” he said, grabbing me and turning me, dragging a shocked yelp out of my chest. “I hope you invested in good, solid walls,” he said before we slammed into one of them, mouths and hands already greedy.
Luckily, I had invested in good walls.
And a lot of sound-blocking insulation.
Raff - 3 years
“My friends!” Zayn greeted, arms thrown wide as he stood on the dock wearing an all-white outfit that billowed in a light breeze coming off the coast.
Daniyal stood a few feet back, his gaze scanning the shore for any threats.
“This is bizarre,” I told Lula as we made our way toward him. “Like my two worlds are clashing.”
Because, for the most part, while some of us did spend time in Golden Glades, the Golden Glades crew never spent time in Shady Valley.
But this event was sort of bringing the two worlds together, I guess.
And by ‘event,’ I meant our wedding.
Which was not technically taking place on the yacht, but our honeymoon—at least in part—was. We were having our wedding in California, then some of us were hopping on the yacht to travel all the way to Florida. Which would be, roughly, a four-week trip. On the other end, Lula and I planned to mix a little business with pleasure.
We were going to drop in on a development site she was working on, then we were getting a car and driving all the way back to California. We planned to stay at all the same hotels and hit up all the same restaurants on the route we’d originally fallen in love on.
It felt like a fitting way to celebrate the beginning of our marriage.
And we were excited for all of it. But Lula wanted us to do a quick once-over of the yacht before we invited guests on the following evening.
“Everything is as you wished,” Zayn said as he welcomed us onto the yacht.
“And all the… illicit stuff?” Lula asked.
“Gone. Not a trace of cocaine anywhere.”
