Epilogue
Garrett
One Year Later…
I’d been working outside all day on a job, which meant at this point, I was nearly glued to the seat of my car.
Altogether though, I loved the work a thousand times more than my previous apartment repairman job. A few months after Kyle and I had started dating, I’d been talking to some of my contractor friends, and they directed me to an opening with Brannon Contractors. Ollie and Cor were a blast to work with so far, and I was having more fun at this job than I ever had before.
I pulled into the driveway of my place, still thrilled to see Kyle’s car there. The sight never failed to send a spark through me, a knowing that I shared my space with one of the best people on the planet. He brought such liveliness into my life, and I couldn’t imagine returning to the mundane existence I'd slogged through before him. I wiped my arm across my forehead, just to clear some of the sweat threatening to make my eyes sting.
Fitting that today was scorching, as a year ago, I’d gotten a repair call to Apartment 3B, and it had changed my whole trajectory.
The bouquet of lilies I’d picked up looked a little wilted from the heat. I wrinkled my nose. At least we were going out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary this weekend.
I snagged the flowers and hopped out of my car, hoping they wouldn’t wilt even more in the short span of steps to my front door.
My phone buzzed with a text.
Dick your boy down good!
A snort escaped me. Ollie didn’t know professional boundaries if they smacked him in the face, but honestly, his sense of humor was one of the reasons I loved working with him and Cor. The crew already felt like family, and Kyle and I had even been invited to some of the Brannon family shindigs. Pure chaos, the lot of them.
I clutched the lilies a little tighter as I unlocked the door. When I stepped in, the opposite of a blast of cool air hit me.
I paused in the doorway. It was fucking swampy in here.
Alarm bells rang in my brain. Had my AC broken? Of all the fucking days for it to happen…
I shut the door behind me. “Babe, you home?”
“I’m in here,” Kyle called out from the living room.
My brows knitted together in confusion, but I strode through the hall, the hum of the AC completely absent. So it wasn’t struggling to turn on or having a difficult time working. My mind whirred into overdrive, already trying to piece together what had happened.
Rustling sounded, and when I turned the corner to enter the living room, the reason grew very clear.
Kyle lay sprawled out on the couch, not a goddamn stitch on. His ass was on full display, looking fucking delicious, and he glanced at me, a wicked glint in his eyes that I’d become well familiar with over the past year. He lifted up a small sign with scrawled handwriting.
Save me, Repair Daddy.
I grinned so hard my cheeks hurt. “Don’t suppose you turned off the AC just for the drama?”
He let out a gasp. “I would never. Me? Drama?”
“So the answer is yes, yes you did.” I closed the distance to kneel on the floor beside him. “I brought you these—” I offered the bouquet of flowers, which weren't nearly as fresh and sharp as when I'd picked them up “—but I’m pretty sure they’re going to wilt within minutes given the sauna you’ve created in the house.”
“Meowella’s not thrilled either,” he admitted, an impish smile on his lips. “I couldn’t resist the chance to recreate the way we met though.”
“Oh, so do you need me to turn the air on?” I asked, my heart expanding so much it threatened my ribcage. God, I loved him with my whole soul.
“I need my big strapping man to fix the air.” He batted his lashes, and a laugh escaped me. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips, savoring the velvet feel of them, the sweetness he offered me every day.
When I pulled back, I headed over to the controls for the AC and turned the system back on. At once, the unit hummed to life, and sooner rather than later, the place would cool down. Though, Kyle had left it off for a bit, so the chill wouldn’t be instantaneous.
He’d pushed up to sitting from his dramatic slump on the couch when I returned, and I plunked onto the cushions beside him. I didn’t bother waiting, just grabbed him by the waist and pulled him onto my lap.
“I’m sweaty,” he warned.
“Like I’m not?” I responded. “I had an outdoor job today.”
“Mm, so turning off the air probably wasn’t my best plan.”
I pressed a kiss to the side of his neck, and he wriggled in my lap, which brought my cock to full attention. That lush ass was fucking heaven. “I can wait a little longer for the air. It was worth it for the reenactment.”
“You bought me flowers?” he said, picking up the bouquet I’d gotten him.
“I know we’re not going out until this weekend, but I wanted to celebrate. Happy anniversary, sweetheart.”
He leaned back against me as I brushed another kiss to the side of his neck.
“Happy anniversary, Garrett. I’ve never been happier in my life.”
Heat rushed through me. “Same. I’m looking forward to so many more anniversaries with you.”
He nuzzled against me, the move so sweet I melted. We were both sticky with sweat, but it didn’t bother me in the slightest. I was here with the love of my life, in our house, and we had a wide-open future together.
“You know,” he said, that tease in his voice that held me captive. “There’s one way we could beat the heat.”
“Oh?” I asked, nibbling on his earlobe.
“We’ve got plenty of ice cubes from the freezer,” he offered, sensuality dripping from his voice.
“Mm, I’ve got plenty of ideas of what to do with those.” With how hot it was, ice would feel amazing on bare skin.
And Kyle had miles of it exposed.
“Stay here, sweetheart,” I said, moving him back onto the couch. “I’ll grab the ice. I know exactly what I’d like to do to you.”
I pushed up, but as I reached the doorway, I glanced back.
Kyle lay sprawled out invitingly, just pure, stripped-down sin on my couch, and fuck, I was so lucky.
I’d take care of him tonight, the same way I’d take care of him for the rest of our lives.