Epilogue
Stone
(Four Years later)
“Ihave one more gift for you,” I tell Hanlon, who’s currently perched in my lap, like usual, after a long day.
Yes, we are grown-ass men.
No, I don’t want him to move.
Hanlon and I have survived a shitload of both physical and metaphorical storms over the last four years, and every day, I’m still excited to come home to him.
I honestly would have done this months ago, but I constantly have to remind myself that Hanlon is younger than me…
which is hard to do, since he’s always had his shit together so much more than I have. But I can’t wait any longer.
Hell, even our parents gave me their blessing. You can imagine how fucking awkward that was, when asking my boyfriend’s father for permission to marry him meant asking my own father for his blessing.
Thankfully, we were able to laugh about it, but James Addario certainly didn’t shy away from the hard questions. Although, unlike in the past, I wasn’t offended or insecure about the concern he showed for Hanlon’s well-being with this union. I was grateful for it.
Hanlon doesn’t need anyone to protect him anymore, but he’s so fucking good and pure and kind that wanting to protect him happens naturally to everyone who loves him.
When I asked his mom, she wept in my arms and said she couldn’t imagine that anyone could love her son more than I do.
So, here I am, doing the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Ironically, my insides feel very similar to that time I got swept away by an avalanche, unsure if I’d survive the ordeal.
“What is it?” Hanlon asks, narrowing his eyes. “I’m not sure we need any more butt plugs, cock rings, or lube.”
“You shut your mouth! We always need more lube,” I point out, unable to hide my laughter.
Hanlon looks thoughtful for a second before agreeing. “Yeah, you’re right. So, what is it?”
Pulling the envelope from my pocket, I hand it to him, wondering if he’ll understand the meaning of what’s inside.
“Open it,” I tell him, passing it to him with a trembling hand.
He eyes me curiously as he tears into the envelope. “Rings used to come in nice velvet boxes,” he teases, not knowing how spot-on he is.
He pulls out the embroidered Velcro nameplate that goes on our patrol jackets, and I wait for it to click.
“It says Winchester,” he says, still working through it.
“It does,” I agree with a smile, kissing his hand because it’s right in front of my mouth.
“Not to be rude, but I already have this nameplate on my jacket.”
“I know you do…but I don’t,” I tell him.
“Of course you don’t. Yours says Addario because that’s your last name.”
“I’m hoping that won’t be the case much longer,” I tell him, waiting patiently for it to sink in.
“What? Why n…ohmygod,” he says as the light bulb comes on.
“OhmyGOD!” Hanlon jumps up from my lap. Unsure of what to do with himself, he starts waving his arms around.
Unfortunately, he also begins to wheeze as his bronchopulmonary dysplasia makes an appearance because his heart rate is no doubt telling his body that he’s exerting a lot of physical energy right now.
Standing, I grab his shoulders.
“Hey, Skittles, you gotta calm down.” Grabbing his hand, I put it on my chest, forcing him to mimic my breathing pattern. He nods his head, and I place my mouth near his ear. “That’s it, baby. Nice and slow.”
“Not…helping,” he wheezes, although his heart rate is slowing a little.
When he’s finally breathing normally, I slide down his body and drop to a knee in the living room.
The logs are on, and the fire is casting shadows that are dancing on the pine walls.
The snow is falling outside, and I ensured that neither Hanlon nor I were scheduled to work for the next forty-eight hours.
I pull an actual ring box from under the couch and hold it up.
“Would you look at that?” I tease. “Rings still do come in nice velvet boxes,” I say, enjoying making him squirm just a second longer.
“Stoooone,” he whines my name, and a flash of all our memories floods my mind as I open my mouth to speak.
“We started out as strangers who were forced to become brothers, which bred resentment, leading us to becoming strangers once again. And I hated those years apart, Hanlon. I hated the distance, but I didn’t know how to fix it, fix myself.
I never would have guessed that falling in love with the man you’d become without me was the cure I needed, but here we are.
I want to share a last name with you, not because we’re brothers, but because you’re my husband.
Hanlon Jacob Winchester, will you marry me? ”
“Hell yes!” he shouts.
I don’t care that tears are spilling down my face as I place the silver carbide ring on his finger; I make the joke anyway. “Thank God, because it was going to make Christmas dinner with our parents tonight really fucking awkward if you’d said no.”
“Mom and Dad are here? Wait…they know?”
“Know? Skittles, I had to ask our father’s permission to marry you. You really think he was going to let you get married without giving the third-fucking-degree to your suitor, even if that suitor was me? Hell, especially because it’s me?”
Hanlon smacks his forehead. “Ohmygod. How bad was it?”
“Let’s just say I’m glad I know your blood type and that you’re allergic to shellfish, I know you love the thermostat set at sixty-nine degrees, and that you forget to eat occasionally if you’re really invested in something.
I’m also glad I have a decent 401K growing, and already have the paperwork to add your name to the house.
He wasn’t taking any chances with your future. ”
Hanlon huffs a laugh, but quickly grows serious.
“He loves you more than life itself, you know?” he tells me.
“I know. He did say yes, after all,” I remind him.
“What time is dinner?” he asks with a glint in his eyes I’m oh-so familiar with.
“Seven.”
“Where are we going?” he asks, already dragging me down the hall toward our bedroom.
“Summit.”
HANLON
I finger the patch Stone gave me the whole way back to the ski resort. “Are you sure you’re comfortable giving up your last name?” I finally ask as we pull into the familiar lot.
“I’m not giving it up. I’m dropping my middle name since it has no significance. The name on my driver’s license will be Stone Addario Winchester. And yes, I’m sure. I know you miss your father even though you don’t talk much about him.”
“Hell, I don’t remember much about him. But I think that’s why I didn’t want to lose that part of him, too. I felt like I was doing him a disservice by not carrying on the family name. His name.”
“I get it,” Stone says, brushing a kiss across my lips before getting out of the Tahoe.
We ride the gondola up to the mountaintop. The snow is still gently falling, but most of it has passed already.
Stone and I have been up here a few times since that fateful Christmas party four years ago, where Logan caught us in a compromising position, but it’s impossible not to think about it every time we’re here. I lace our fingers together now, just because I can.
It’s too dark to tell if any of the other passengers are giving us ugly looks or paying any attention to us at all, but it doesn’t bother me either way. If anyone makes a snide comment these days, I just smile to myself and think, you don’t know the half of it.
When we enter the restaurant, Mom and Dad are seated by the windows overlooking the most brilliant view—even at night.
It’s clear enough to see all the twinkling lights down at base village, and with the snow coming to a stop, there are patches in the clouds where the stars twinkle above us as well.
“Lana, Dad, I’d like to introduce you to my fiancé,” Stone says, with his hand on my lower back as we approach the table.
It feels surreal hearing those words come out of Stone’s mouth, knowing he’s talking about me.
My mom chuckles and pulls me in for a hug. “I’m so happy for you, honey.”
As soon as she releases me, the man who has raised me since I was six years old takes his turn while my mom hugs Stone. “You know I’ve always claimed you as a son, Hanlon. I’m glad it’s finally going to be official.”
His words hit me hard, and suddenly, I’m turning to Stone.
“I love you for being willing to take my last name. It means so much to me that you thought about it and were going to take the name of a man you’ve never met.
But I’ve wanted to be an Addario since I was a kid.
I hate that I never really got to know my father, but I do know my dad,” I say, turning to James.
“And nothing would make me happier than carrying on this family’s legacy. ”
“Really?” Stone asks. The tone of hope tells me this is the right thing to do.
“Really.”
Our dad orders a bottle of champagne, and we all raise our glasses in a toast.
“To family,” I say. “The one you’re born into and the one you choose. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, they end up being one and the same.”
GRAB YOUR COPY OF SUMMIT to find out if Talon and Zeke will rise above or lose it all.
Talon is used to people loving his wallet, not his heart.
Zeke is used to people taking his dignity, not his hand.
When Talon pulls Zeke from the wreckage of a violent home, Zeke waits for the bill to come due.
But Talon doesn’t want payment, and Zeke refuses handouts.
For the first time, love isn’t a debt to be paid—it’s a risk they both have to take.