Page 111 of The Fake Out

“Wait, seriously?” I asked.

My siblings laughed.

“Sorry, bro. She straight up sucked,” Michael admitted with a shrug.

“Yeah, we like V,” Ayden agreed. “Even if she’s got that whole goth girl thing going on.”

“Goth girl?” Veronica laughed. “Black’s classic.”

“I love your tattoos,” my sister told her.

Veronica beamed. “Thanks. Flowers are my specialty.”

“Oh, you did the cover-up for Blaise, right?” Maja asked.

“Baby, show them.” She turned to me.

I sighed and took my shirt off. Veronica’s black, manicured fingernails ran over the red flowers on my chest.

“Oh, wow, it looks great,” Maja cheered.

Veronica wrinkled her nose. “It’s not perfect. I need to do another session to get the colors right. They healed too lightly.”

Veronica pulled her hand away, and I threw my shirt back on. “She does good work.”

A blush ran down her neck, and I put an arm around her. I felt Veronica’s hand squeeze my thigh, and it sent tingles down my spine. When Astrid broke up with me, I had been a broken shell of a man. I never thought when I had that one-night stand with Veronica, it would have led to something more.

I locked eyes with my dad across the room, and for the first time, I saw how he actually saw me. That he was proud of me. I grinned at him while I jumped in to save Veronica from Ayden’s rant. She didn’t need saving; my girl could go toe-to-toe with my brother like she was already part of the family.

“Love you,” I whispered in her ear.

She laughed and swatted me away. “Needy.”

“For you.”

“Geez, can you stop being a horndog for like an hour?” Eli teased.

Veronica laughed. “He cannot, but that’s okay. We have a lot to make up for.”

“We do,” I agreed and kissed her temple one last time and then let my siblings razz me some more. I didn’t care. I was happy, I was in love, and everything was perfect.

Epilogue

VERONICA

AUGUST

“Oh my God, look at that baby!” I cried as Lily came into the house with Rosie in tow. My heart melted at seeing the little stinker.

Okay, I might have a touch of baby fever.

“Hey, V, thanks for having us,” Lily said to me.

“Gimme that baby.”

She laughed and handed off Rosie, who naturally grabbed at my hair, which was freshly dyed with red tips for the Bulldogs upcoming season.

“How are you? Really?” I asked her.