46. Epilogue One
Epilogue One
Jake
B eau’s fingers tangled in my hair as we lay in bed, waiting for Fallon to brush her teeth and join us. “Thank you. Investing in a business for your best friend. Damn, bestie. You’re inspirational best friend goals. I’m unsure whether I should give Jason the details. Might make him insecure.” He propped on his elbow to look at me. “Are you nervous?”
I knew enough to be a helpful set of hands at the shop and could learn on the job to make up for the gaps in knowledge. But…
“Given your dad’s experience, I’m not sure having my name attached to Adam’s business will benefit him.”
Beau’s shoulder brushed against my chest as he shrugged. “Sounds like Fiona has some fresh ideas to work this to your advantage.”
Fiona Westwood wasn’t exactly a selling point to working with Adam, but I left it alone. Not my business, and unlike my best friend, I would keep my thoughts to myself on that one unless he explicitly asked.
“Plus,” Beau continued, tracing his finger along my collarbone. “We’re not hiding in this town. I’ll take all the sun umbrellas to the face if it comes to that, but our girl deserves to be loved without apology, embarrassment, or proving anything to anyone.”
“We do, too, dipshit,” I said as I stared at the ceiling, surprised at how easily the words came out. Surprised at how much I believed them.
With a grin, Beau flopped back on the bed and let out a low whistle. “The Camaro money. You gave him the Camaro money. That was a pretty penny.”
I sighed. “I know.”
Damn near killed me when I planned to use the sale money for house repairs, but the people I love deserve to be taken care of.
Henry Dalton took a chance on Adam years ago when he let a teenager with a criminal record apprentice at his shop. He was also the father of the man I love. A three for one? Cheated goodwill, to be honest.
Selfish as it was, I enjoyed the recognition. Our girl had gushed about my generous heart for weeks, carting me around town, bragging, and showing me off.
I felt like the belle of the ball.
Beau sat up excitedly, rubbing his hands together. The glint in his eye told me all I needed to know.
I groaned, pulling a pillow over my face before the hit.
“I’ll be your Camaro, Jake. Take you on a ride anytime.” He frowned. “Wait. Hold on. I feel like I can do more with that one. Give me a second.”
I laughed, hating that his dumb jokes had yet to get old.
But also not hating it.
“Let me grind your gearshift and—”
My tongue shut him up when I pulled him down and forced my way into his mouth until his laughter turned into breathy moans. He rubbed himself against my leg like one of his clients.
What started as a joke became a temporary plan to make money while Beau saved and worked toward his bigger goal—running a sports camp for kids.
For now, Beau enjoyed his current business venture—dog walking. It provided fresh air, fun, and exercise. There was nothing like watching him jog with ten dogs clipped to his run belt.
It wasn’t glamorous, but he was happy. Nothing beats that.And Beau, the sweet fuck, took his new business seriously—he had cards and everything .
“Gonna be poor as fuck, but rich in the heart,” Beau said when he announced his plans to Fallon and me.
Our girl, with her big smile and bigger heart, simply said, “Good. I want my men to have happy hearts.”
There was no way my heart could be unhappy with our girl. I might move the earth to make things happen for the people I love, but Fallon was the gravity keeping me tied to life. Everything I did was for her, for us.
Although “us” had grown, she was the center of my universe. She always would be.
“Baby!” I hollered, swatting Beau’s hand away from my dick. I’d been waiting all day to have her. I wasn’t about to let Beau cockblock me—again.
I woke up to him buried inside Fallon this morning, their rocking, grunts, and whimpers impossible to hide in a shared bed.
Beau delightfully took his time, and Fallon had to leave for work before I could have her. He at least sucked me off, but I’d spent the day thinking of that moment when I would push inside her. That breathless gasp as her back arched off the bed and her legs wrapped around me to pull me deeper…
“Hurry! He’s trying to jerk me off so he can have you to himself when I blow too soon.” I glared at him and hissed, “Hands off, you scheming prick.”
Beau cackled like the villain he was. While no longer competing over our feelings for Fallon, we found new and frustrating ways to taunt, tease, and torment one another.
The door opened, and Fallon stepped inside the dark room. The glow from the hall backlit the lines of her luscious body, her hair draped over one shoulder. She presented herself with a warm smile.
She gestured to herself, a pair of Beau’s oversized sweats hanging off her round hips and a ratty t-shirt from high school—the most beautiful woman in the world.
And it was here, right here, that it all made sense. My girl. My guy. My life. My peace. My dreams.
My everything. Right here.
I didn’t register the enormous grin on my face until Fallon’s hands cupped her cheeks, and she took me in. “You’re happy.” With a puffed exhale, she glanced at Beau next. “You’re happy, too.”
“And you, baby?”
Stretching out to settle between us, she kissed my shoulder. “Beyond.”
Those kisses drifted over my chest as her hand brushed Beau’s stomach with a lazy stroke. I’d been desperate for her to sink onto my cock all day, but having her curled up and kissing me… Suddenly, there was no rush, only peace.
My fingers combed through her hair. There were a few lingering kisses and murmurs of love. We smiled easily as we lay in a heap of tangled bodies because there was no room in the bed and no desire for anyone to leave.
And this was everything I always wanted, even if it differed from what I expected.
It was so much more.
“Go to sleep, baby,” I murmured into her hair as her body relaxed against me.
“Enjoy each other,” she mumbled, her voice heavy with sleep. “I’ll rest my eyes for a minute. That’s why I have two of you.”
Fallon had two of us because her heart was just as expansive as her libido. Well, usually. I kissed the back of her knuckles and shifted onto my side to tuck her in more comfortably.
“Nobody’s gonna sleep if he’s pounding me into the headboard, sweet girl. Go to sleep. Wake him up with your mouth around his cock, hm? Give the poor bastard the first taste next time. He gets grumpy.”
I grunted. “Swear to god. I’m not fucking you again if you keep up that patronizing. She only took you first because she felt sorry for you. Your ability to delay gratification is pathetic.”
Fallon gave a heavy sigh, burying her face in the pillow.
“See?” Beau mumbled. “Grumpy.”
The bed shook with Fallon’s shoulders as she laughed into her pillow. Glad at least one of us was amused.
“I’m only grumpy because I’m stuck in this house with you, and you don’t know how to load the dishwasher properly. Cook those big ass dinners and make a mess, too.”
“You love my cooking!” Beau protested. No faking that upset. He’d constructed a Pinterest board of recipe ideas to slay in the kitchen like his mom.
It was kind of adorable, though I’d never admit it.
“Your cooking is okay,” I said, smoothing a hand along Fallon’s back. “Almost edible.”
Fallon lifted her head from the pillow and smiled at me. “Liar. You love his chili. Told me so yourself.” She flipped to smile at Beau. “You love him grumpy. Your third-in-command best friend shares your game night secrets.”
Adam’s uncertainty about Beau melted within the first week of Beau moving into Fallon’s house—our home until we finished the renovations. If we ever finished them. Without money, we’d have to work both slowly and creatively.
Beau succeeded in his commitment to wear down Adam, proven by Adam’s invitation to join on game nights. Beau, the celebratory fucker, enjoyed tormenting me about stealing everything in my life. My money, my girl, my sanity.
But Beau stole nothing I hadn’t wanted to give him. Because my everything was his everything, and our everything lived in a house… filled to the brim with love.