Alternative Epilogue from Alex’s POV #2
"I told you that watching your video—seeing what you'd made from our time together—was the first time I truly understood what I'd thrown away.
" His voice roughened. "That you'd taken something painful and turned it into something beautiful, while I sat in my apartment feeling sorry for myself.
That you deserved someone who could be as brave as you were. And I wanted to be that person."
"And then?"
"And then I said—" He paused, the words still feeling raw even months later. "I said that I loved you. That I'd loved you since you fell asleep on my chest during that first storm and I realized I didn't want to let go. That I was sorry I'd been too much of a coward to say it when it mattered."
The silence stretched between them, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was the kind of silence that held weight—the acknowledgment of how far they'd come from that first disastrous meeting on a dock in the middle of nowhere.
"You also knocked over a water glass," Lily said finally. "Right in the middle of the emotional climax."
Alex groaned. "Do we have to—"
"It went everywhere. The waiter had to bring like six napkins."
"I was nervous."
"You were a disaster." But she was grinning now, her eyes bright with mischief. "An adorable, emotionally articulate disaster with alphabetized feelings and wet pants."
"The water mostly hit the table—"
"Your pants were wet, Alex. I saw."
"This is why I didn't want to tell the story again."
"This is exactly why I wanted you to tell it again." She leaned in and kissed him, soft and sweet. "For the record? That speech was the moment I knew."
"Knew what?"
"That you were worth the risk." Her hand came up to cup his face, her thumb tracing his cheekbone. "That you'd actually done the work. That you weren't going to run again."
Alex turned his head to press a kiss to her palm. "I'm not. Running, I mean. I'm done with that."
"Good." Her voice dropped, taking on that husky quality that did dangerous things to his self-control. "Because I have plans for you, Dr. Carmichael. Long-term plans. Plans that require you to stay exactly where I can reach you."
"What kind of plans?"
"Mmm." She pushed at his shoulder, urging him onto his back, and swung her leg over to straddle him again. "Let me show you."
His cock was already hardening again—a Pavlovian response to Lily climbing on top of him that he suspected would never fade.
"Already?" she asked, eyebrows rising as she felt him thickening against her.
"You have that effect on me."
"Clearly." She rolled her hips experimentally, dragging her slick heat along his length, and Alex's hands flew to her thighs. "I think I should take advantage of that."
"I think you should do whatever you want."
"Dangerous offer." But she was smiling—that real smile, the one that crinkled the corners of her eyes and made him feel like the luckiest bastard on the planet. "I love you, you know."
He pulled her down for a kiss. "I love you too. Even when you make me relive my most embarrassing moments."
"Especially then."
She reached between them, positioning him at her entrance, and sank down slowly—so slowly he could feel every inch, every ripple of her walls adjusting to take him.
"Lily—"
"I've got you." She started to move, a lazy roll of her hips that was more about connection than urgency. "I've always got you."
And that was the thing, wasn't it? She did. This woman who'd crashed into his life like a tropical storm and refused to leave—she had him. Completely. Irrevocably.
Best mistake he'd never meant to make.
"I'm going to make you come so hard you might need medical intervention,” Lily informed him conversationally, picking up the pace.
"Is that a threat or a promise?"
"Yes."
She delivered on both.
***
Later—much later—they lay tangled together in sheets that desperately needed changing, the ceiling fan turning lazy circles overhead while the Florida Keys humidity pressed against the windows.
"So," Lily said, her voice drowsy with satisfaction. "Scale of one to ten, how much did I miss you?"
"Based on the evidence?" Alex pretended to consider. "I'd say... eleven. Possibly twelve."
"Twelve? That's generous."
"You did that thing with your tongue."
"The twisty thing?"
"The twisty thing."
"Ah." She smiled against his chest. "That's my signature move. Reserved for special occasions."
"Two weeks apart counts as a special occasion?"
"Two weeks apart counts as cruel and unusual punishment." She tilted her head up to look at him. "We need to figure out the logistics better. This long-distance thing is killing me."
"Agreed." His hand found hers, threading their fingers together. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. Before you distracted me with your... everything."
"My everything is very distracting."
"It really is." He took a breath. "The Keys project is wrapping up next month. And I've been thinking about what comes next."
Lily went still against him. "Yeah?"
"SPECA wants me to head up the expansion in the Bahamas. Six-month commitment, possibility of extension." He paused. "But they're also flexible about location. About having someone based closer to the main office for coordination. Boston, or..." He trailed off.
"Or?"
"Or somewhere that makes sense for both of us." He turned to face her, his expression serious. "I meant what I said, Lily. About building something real. I don't want to keep doing the long-distance thing forever. I want to wake up next to you every day, not just twice a month."
"Alex—"
"I don't care where. Boston, LA, Florida, the Bahamas—wherever works for your career, for your content calendar, for you. I can adapt. For the first time in my life, I'm willing to adapt."
Lily's eyes were bright, suspiciously bright, and Alex felt a moment of panic.
"If you start crying, I'm going to—"
"I'm not crying." She sniffed. "I have allergies."
"To what? Emotional vulnerability?"
"Shut up." But she was laughing now, that wet, happy sound that made his heart clench. "You're such an asshole."
"Your asshole."
"Damn right." She kissed him, hard and fierce. "Yes. To all of it. The moving, the planning, the waking up together every day. Yes."
Relief flooded through him. He hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She grinned, her whole face lighting up. "But I should warn you—I have very strong opinions about throw pillows."
"So you've mentioned."
"And I watch reality TV at inappropriate volumes."
"I'll buy headphones."
"And I'm going to steal all of your t-shirts. Every single one. You'll have to go to work shirtless."
“That might make things awkward at staff meetings.”
Lily's laugh was everything—bright and free and full of a joy he'd spent thirty-five years convincing himself he didn't deserve.
"God, I love you," she said, the words simple and certain.
"I love you too." He rolled them over, pinning her beneath him, watching her eyes widen with surprise and then darken with renewed interest. "Now. I believe it’s my turn to do wickedly nasty things to you.”
“You already did that."
“Oh honey, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
"Alex—" Her protest dissolved into a gasp as he kissed down her neck, her collarbone, the swell of her breasts. "We just—I can't possibly—"
"Challenge accepted."
He pulled the sheet over both their heads, plunging them into warm darkness where the only light was the glow of each other's skin. Lily's giggles turned to moans as he worked his way down her body, and Alex smiled against her stomach.
This was his life now. This brilliant, chaotic, wonderful woman. This future they were building together, piece by piece.
Worth every moment of fear. Worth every second of waiting.
Worth everything.
Her laughter followed him into the darkness, and Alex thought—not for the first time—that some stories really did get happy endings.
Even the ones that started with booking errors and banana leaves and a grumpy marine biologist who'd forgotten how to feel.
Especially those ones.