Epilogue
Epilog
Lana
It was the perfect June day for graduation. The crowd around me was loud, with people congratulating and celebrating their friends and family. But with all these people around me, all I could focus on was the diploma in my hand and the tight embrace Holland was holding me in.
“We did it,” she yelled into my ear, her voice thick with emotion. “We actually did it.”
I squeezed her back and buried my face in her shoulder for a moment, taking in a deep breath to keep me steady. “We did it,” I repeated. My own voice came out shaky with happiness and relief.
When we finally pulled apart, she was grinning at me from ear to ear. “I can’t believe it’s over. No more studying. God, I won’t miss that part of college.”
I laughed. “What will you miss?”
“The parties.”
“Of course.”
“You. Us together in Hayes’ classes. Talking instead of writing down notes.”
I pursed my lips. “I always took notes. You were the only one talking.”
She waved a hand, dismissing the truth. “Whatever. I graduated even without paying attention to whatever Hayes or any other professor was saying.”
I laughed again with a shake of my head, reaching out my free hand to squeeze her arm. “I’m proud of you, Holls. I can’t wait to see what great things you’ll achieve.”
She smiled at me with a tilt of her head. “Me too. But I’m more excited about what you’ll do in the near future.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “My best friend is going to be famous.”
A new wave of excitement bubbled up inside me. All the emails and phone calls, the contract they had sent me to sign…it was all real. I was going to be a junior writer for a Hollywood production.
“Yeah, but what about you?” I said, my smile widening again. “You’re going to be the star of a horror movie. That’s literally the most fun thing ever.”
She rolled her eyes and waved her hand again, trying to act unfazed, but her grin told me just how excited she was. She changed her major before our sophomore year, and found that being in front of the camera was way more fun than being behind it. “Oh, that’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, and you know it. You’ll have every director in Hollywood fight to get you cast in their movies.”
She smirked. “Oh, I’m ready for that. I just hope my IMDb page picture will look hot.”
We were still laughing when I saw Callan and Rocco pushing through the crowd.
Rocco was in the lead, his tall frame easy to spot above the sea of graduates.
He was grinning, his eyes scanning the mass until they landed on Holland.
His expression softened, and I watched as he closed the distance between them in a few long strides, pulling her into an embrace that lifted her feet right off the ground.
Callan moved with a confidence that made my knees weak.
His eyes found mine instantly, and all the celebratory chaos faded into the background until there was only him.
He was wearing a simple button-down shirt and slacks, his hair freshly buzzed.
He had never looked more handsome. He stopped in front of me, his gaze taking me in from head to toe as a slow smile spread across his face. “Congratulations, screenwriter.”
I couldn’t form words. I just threw my arms around his neck, holding on as tight as I could. He caught me, his arms wrapping around my waist and lifting me up. I buried my face in his neck, breathing in his scent.
He set me down gently but didn’t let go, his hands resting on my waist as he leaned back to look at me. His eyes were filled with a pride so great and so pure that my own eyes stung with tears.
“I’m so proud of you,” he told me.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” I whispered.
He had been my rock through it all, through the late nights studying, through the moments of self-doubt, through the lingering shadows of the past. He had built a world for me where I was safe enough to dream, and then he had cheered me on as I chased those dreams.
“Yes, you could have,” he said, his tone firm but gentle. “This was all you, Lana. This is your talent and hard work. I just had the best seat in the house, watching you achieve everything you’ve ever dreamed of.”
My tears started to fall, and I quickly wiped them away with a shaky laugh. “I love you,” was all I could manage.
“I love you.” He leaned in and placed a soft kiss to my lips. “So fucking much.”
Rocco and Holland joined us then, their arms still around each other as they stepped closer. Rocco clapped me on the shoulder, his grin wide. “Congratulations, Lana. You’re gonna step up Hollywood’s game.”
Holland grinned. “I say she’ll win an Oscar for her first-ever movie.”
Callan’s arm tightened around my waist, pulling me closer to his side. “I’d bet on that.”
“Me too,” Rocco said, his grin mischievous. “But she won’t be the first to receive an Oscar between us four.”
I looked up at him with a wide expression. “You won an Oscar before?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Callan rolled his eyes and let out a dry laugh. “You’ve won an AVN Award.”
“No, I have won five,” Rocco shot back, still grinning.
“What’s an AVN Award?” I looked between them, intrigued to find out more.
Callan’s eyes dropped to mine. “Adult Video News Award. It’s the Oscars for porn.”
“There are Oscars for porn?” Holland asked.
“And I’ve won five,” Rocco repeated, needing us to fully understand what he was saying.
“Congrats.” I laughed, then turned to Callan. “Did you ever win one?”
He rubbed his neck nervously. “I’ve won sixteen.”
My jaw dropped. “You’ve won sixteen Oscars for porn awards?”
“Yeah.”
“Callan, that’s incredible! Congratulations!”
“What’s more insane is that he never shows up to that award show and still gets a damn award almost every year,” Rocco muttered.
“Why not?” I asked.
Callan shrugged. “I used to show up, but it got boring over time.”
I decided to let it go. He clearly didn’t want to talk about it anymore, but I was still proud of him. I wrapped my hands around his arm and leaned into him.
“So…” Holland started, her brows raised up high. “What do these trophies look like? Are they, like, a cock with balls or something more classy, like two people fucking?”
I laughed softly and shook my head at her questions, which I thought were reasonable.
“It’s two people in a sensual embrace,” Callan told her.
“I need to see it.”
Rocco draped an arm around Holland’s shoulders. “I’ll show you. Because, you know, I have five of them.”
We all laughed, and I looked at the three of them who had quickly become my family. My future was bright, and everything felt exactly as it should be.
***
The celebratory dinner we went to had gone on longer than intended, but we were just having too much fun.
Rocco had told embarrassing stories about his own school days, and Holland had gushed about her new acting job, while Callan sat beside me, his hand resting on my thigh under the table.
By the time we got home, the exhaustion mixed with champagne had settled into me in a happy haze.
I kicked off my heels at the door, and Callan followed me in, shrugging off his jacket and draping it over the railing.
“Today was amazing. I had the best time, and that food…oh my gosh, I won’t ever stop thinking about that salmon.”
He reached for me, pulling me against his chest. “I’ll take you back there next week. And any other week you desire.”
I pressed a kiss to his lips and wrapped my arms around his neck. “You’re the best.”
He studied me with a lazy smile, gently rubbing my back with one hand while he reached up with the other to cup my face. He stayed quiet for a while, letting the comfort of each other’s presence linger.
Then, after a while, he whispered, “I want to show you something.”
I tilted my head to the side in question. Another surprise?
He laced his fingers through mine and led me toward his studio.
The door had been closed the past week, and I had been too busy to think about what was happening in there.
I had seen a few people going in and out, carrying his equipment to their cars, but I assumed he was updating his gear or getting things repaired. So, I didn’t ask questions.
Now, though, I was getting nosy. “Did you get new equipment?”
He didn’t reply. He reached for the knob and turned it.
Pushing open the door, he made me step inside.
I needed a moment to realize what I was seeing.
The room was completely transformed. There was no more industrial lighting, no more cameras or chairs.
The black backdrops and large bed had vanished.
In their place was a beautiful wooden desk right in front of the large window, a comfortable-looking leather armchair behind it, and shelves lined with books on either side of the room.
My eyes lingered on the ceiling where a massive, breathtaking painting of the solar system was pictured.
“Oh…Callan,” I whispered. “This is…” The words got stuck in my throat as my eyes moved to the window where a professional telescope was perfectly positioned toward the night sky.
“It’s all yours,” he said quietly, letting me admire what he had done to this room.
“But…what about your studio?” I asked, unable to look away from the telescope.
“It’s gone. I haven’t worked in it in a while anyway.”
That was true. When he did work on a new movie, he went to the studio downtown. Or to Rocco’s. I finally turned to look at him, and the emotion I saw on his face mirrored my own. He wasn’t just proud of the room; he was proud of this moment, of this step we were taking.
“You did all this,” I whispered.
“I wanted you to have a place to write,” he said with a small shrug. “A place that was just for you. A place to look at the stars.”
I didn’t say anything else. Words wouldn’t have been enough anyway.
I closed the distance between us, rising onto my toes and pressing my lips to his.
The kiss was soft at first, a thank you for everything he was and everything he had given me.
But it quickly became passionate. His hands came up to cup my face, his thumbs stroking my jawline as he tilted his head, deepening the kiss.
My hands slid up his chest, grazing the hair at the nape of his neck.
I parted my lips, and his tongue met mine in a slow and sensual motion that sent a jolt through my body.
I pulled back just enough to grab the hem of his shirt and tug it upward.
He broke the kiss long enough to pull it over his head, tossing it to the floor.
Turning me around, his hand went to the zipper of my dress, and he slowly pulled it down as his knuckles brushed against my spine.
The dress pooled at my feet, leaving me in just my panties.
I turned back around, and his eyes darkened with desire as he looked at me with that possessive glare.
“You have no idea what you do to me,” he growled, his voice a low rumble. “Standing here like this. You’re all mine.”
“Show me,” I challenged as I got rid of my panties.
He didn’t hesitate and quickly got rid of the rest of his clothes.
He then guided me backward toward the small couch in the corner of the room.
When he sat down, he pulled me onto his lap.
I straddled him, my knees on either side of his hips as his erection pressed against my pussy.
I rocked my hips against him, provoking a low groan from his throat.
“Feel that?” he asked, his hands gripping my waist. “That’s all for you. It’s always been for you.”
His mouth was on mine again, and his hands slid up to cup my breasts.
His thumbs brushed over my nipples until they were hard, and I arched into his touch, gasping softly as I continued to grind against him.
Breaking the kiss, he looked at me the way I had looked at the room just minutes ago.
He was in awe, and he made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the universe.
He lifted me slightly, and I reached down to guide his cock to my entrance.
He entered me slowly, stretching me, and filling me completely.
I sucked in a breath, with my head falling back as a wave of pure pleasure washed over me.
He began to move, his thrusts slow and deep at first. “You’re so tight,” he murmured against my neck.
“I love being inside you.” I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him deeper, and meeting him thrust for thrust. He watched me again with dark and intense eyes as he brought me higher and higher, pushing me to the edge.
His hand snaked down between our bodies, his thumb finding my clit and circling it with perfect pressure. “Come for me, Lana,” he commanded. “Let me feel you.”
That was all it took. I came with a loud cry as my body shuddered on top of him. He followed me over the edge a moment later. His cum filled me as his groans filled the room, and I let myself fall against him, still riding that incredible high he always brought me to without ever failing.
His breath steadied against my shoulder, and I felt his chest start to rise and fall more slowly under me. I stayed there for a moment, letting the last waves fade, before I finally lifted my head to look at him. He held my hips, keeping me close and staying inside me.
I cupped his face and grazed his jawline with my fingertips. “Thank you,” I told him quietly. “For everything.”
He gave a small shake of his head. “No. Thank you for everything.”
I smiled and leaned in to kiss him, and when our lips parted, I pressed my forehead to his and exhaled deeply.
“Ready for whatever comes next?” he asked.
“As long as you’re with me.”
He smiled and pulled me closer, his arms wrapped tightly around my body protectively. “Always.”