Epilogue
“This is so damn peaceful.”
Callie chuckled from the Adirondack chair beside me. “My favorite part is how serene it is.”
We were sitting on the back patio of her and Lucas’s newly finished modern farmhouse––I told her it was a farmhouse mansion, considering it was nearly eight thousand square feet.
It sat on a hilltop in an empty field and overlooked the abandoned beach by the old lighthouse, giving a picturesque view at sunset.
The backyard was complete with an outdoor kitchen grill and bar in the entertainment area, a pulldown screen for movie nights, and an inground saltwater pool, just to name a few amenities.
Lucas, Blake, Gabe, and Wes were across the yard, standing around the custom-built fire pit near the hilltop's edge, talking over drinks.
“You realize this is going to be the new hangout spot, right? They’re never gonna wanna leave.”
Callie smiled. “That’s fine with us. We like having you all here.”
“Is everything ready for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Callie answered with a grin. “Honestly, I’m ready for it to all be over after Saturday. Luke, too.”
“You just wanna be on your honeymoon.”
Callie giggled. “It’ll be nice to have him all to myself for three whole weeks.” She glanced over at me as she took a sip of her drink. “How are things with Wes?”
I couldn’t hide my smile if I wanted to, and when my eyes found him across the yard, that familiar flutter filled my chest. “Good. More than good.”
“It’s strange—in the best way possible—seeing you so…soft.”
“I am not soft.”
Callie laughed. “Girl, you’re so soft for him, it’s not even funny. Just the mention of his name makes you smile. One look from him, and you’re practically levitating.”
“Shut up,” I huffed through a laugh.
“It’s not a bad thing,” she said, and I looked at her, hearing the smile in her voice. “Love looks good on you, Mo.”
I glanced back at Wes, watching as he talked with the others. As if sensing my gaze, he looked over, his lips curling into his signature smirk as he shot me a wink. And there was that damn flutter again, the gesture bringing an instant smile to my face.
We’d only been “official” a month, but it felt much longer than that. Considering our history, I wasn’t surprised. I was still getting used to being so goddamn happy all of the time, however, and to the permanent smile that seemed to be etched on my face whenever I was in his presence.
We were still very much the Wes and Morgan we’d always been—we bantered and still got under one another’s skin, but now, it was in all of the ways that were good and counted.
When we decided to call it a night, Callie and Lucas walked all of us through the side yard toward the front of the house.
As we neared the driveway, I heard Wes let out a chuckle. “Oh, Jesus…”
I looked up at him. “What?”
“Blake, don’t tell me you got sucked into that,” he said, gesturing toward the driveway.
Blake’s brow furrowed. “Into what?”
“The whole Jeep thing with the damn ducks.” Wes gestured to Blake’s black Jeep Wrangler, where a lone duck sat in the windshield.
“Oh, I—”
“Aw, I think it’s cute,” Callie said with a grin as she walked across the driveway to get a closer look. “And stop! It has a little stethoscope for him!”
Wes rolled his eyes with a playful grin. “Please, Calliefornia. You get excited over the littlest things.”
We called out what time we were all meeting tomorrow for the rehearsal dinner as we walked to our cars, bidding goodnight before slipping inside.
When Wes and I got back to my apartment, we got up to our usual antics in the bedroom—sex since becoming official had only gotten better and made me crave him more than I already did.
My head was on his chest after, our legs tangled beneath the sheets as his finger traced a delicate path up and down the length of my spine.
“Ya know, I never did officially ask you to be my date for the wedding.”
I chuckled, tilting my head back to look at him. “I didn’t think you had to ask me officially. I thought it was a given.”
He smiled. “Good. Because you’re sure as hell not going with anyone else.”
“And here I was not too long ago thinking I wouldn’t have a date,” I said.
“A lot can change, huh?”
The truth of his words made me chuckle. “You can say that again. It’s funny to look back and see how far the two of us have come.”
“I call it the progression of the F’s.” I arched my brow, and he lifted his hand to tick off his fingers. “Foes, fuck buddies, friends, forever.”
My heart fluttered at the latter, and a small smile ghosted my lips. “Forever, huh?”
His smile grew, his expression filling with adoration and love. He tapped his heart with his index finger. “You’ve taken up permanent residence in here. I’m not letting you go, Princess. Not now. Not ever.”
I pulled him to me, pressing my lips to his in a lingering kiss.
I went from someone who was resigned to being alone to being with Wes, a man who reminded me every day that I’d never be alone as long as he was around.
One thing Lucas knew how to do and do well was throw a damn party.
After the wedding ceremony at the Bayport Country Club—which went off without a hitch—the guests moved to the outdoor reception area situated near the edge of the hill that overlooked the cove for which our town was named.
And Lucas and Callie spared no expense to make sure it was a reception to remember.
The bride and groom were practically glowing the entire day. Callie made an absolutely stunning bride, and Lucas looked happier than I’d ever seen him—his new favorite phrase, and the only way he’d referred to Callie since the ceremony ended, was “my wife.”
After grabbing a refill at the bar, I sat at the head table and glanced around.
My eyes landed on Blake talking to Gabe in a quiet area near the hillside.
Blake had been doing well in therapy, but I think he was struggling a little more than he let on; he had his good days and tougher days.
He seemed to be carrying some kind of guilt, but I wasn’t sure.
He hadn’t opened up to any of us about what he went through, but I knew in due time and when he was ready, he would.
“Are you seeing this?” I looked up as Lucas approached and sat next to me, laughing as he pointed to the dance floor.
When I looked, a bark of laughter escaped me. Morgan, Callie, and Haley were currently showing Lucas’s grandpa how to do the Cupid shuffle.
“Well, there’s something you don’t see every day,” Gabe said as he and Blake joined us.
Lucas snorted. “I told the videographer to get the whole thing.”
“We should go out there and show them how it’s done,” I quipped. “Blake used to do a mean Cupid shuffle,” I said as I glanced up to see his eyes glued to the dance floor with an inscrutable expression.
He snapped from his daze when he registered that I’d said his name. “Sorry, what?”
“Nothing,” I replied with a chuckle as I looked back at the dance floor.
My eyes lingered on Morgan, watching her throw her head back with a laugh. I knew she wasn’t supposed to outshine the bride, and maybe to anyone else, she didn’t, but I was biased as hell, and to me, she was the most beautiful woman there.
Callie glanced up with a grin and waved Lucas over; he was up in an instant, making his way to her while Morgan walked toward me with a smile.
“Taking a breather?” she asked as she neared.
“Something like that.” When she went to take the seat next to me, my arm wrapped around her waist, and I pulled her to my lap. My eyes traveled over her. “Have I told you how good you look in this dress?”
She chuckled. “About a dozen times, yes.”
“Well, make it a dozen and one, Princess.”
“I think they had a good day,” she said with a smile.
My arm curled tighter around her as I followed her line of vision to Lucas and Callie on the dance floor. “Definitely.”
It was funny that seeing the two of them together was what made me start thinking about wanting something like that for myself.
Or so I thought.
In hindsight, I think I’d already started falling for Morgan, and my budding curiosity over what that would be like was really my feelings for her trying to punch their way out of the cave I refused to let them out of.
Now, I couldn’t escape my feelings for her, and I sure as hell didn’t want to.
I looked back at her just as she turned her head and met my gaze, and the look in her eyes, paired with her smile, made my heart thrum.
God, I fucking loved this woman. I swore I could see a future playing out in her eyes every time I looked at her.
And I wanted it.
I wanted us.
No matter what it looked like, I wanted to do life with Morgan Hayes.