Epilogue
Briar
“This looks obscene,” I say as I film Blake.
He’s wearing his motorcycle helmet, kneeling on my bed, while rolling his hips and torso.
A muffled laugh escapes his helmet. “I thought that’s what we’re going for?”
I can’t see his face through the tinted shield of his helmet, but I can tell he’s smiling. I am too.
“We’re absolutely going for obscene. I just had to say it.”
He keeps gyrating his body while I sit on the floor and film him above me.
“Okay, I think that’s good.” I stop recording and show Blake the clip. “This POV is perfect because it makes the viewer feel like you’re on top of them.”
He takes off the helmet and smiles when he sees the video. “That looks really dirty.”
I kiss him. “It’s perfect, then.”
I upload the video to his Instagram account, add a grainy filter, and some sexy, slow music.
“I’m sure that’s gonna be a hit with your followers.”
He pulls his T-shirt over his head. “What caption did you put?”
I show him the screen.
When her (kitty emoji) is too good and you gotta slow down
He quirks an eyebrow and grins. “Damn. That’s filthy. You’re such a naughty girl.”
He grips my chin in his big hand and kisses me. Blake’s sexy Instagram account is still gaining in popularity every month. He has more than half a million followers now. The brand deals and money have been pouring in too.
He insists we split all the profits fifty-fifty. Even though I’m in videos with him sometimes, he’s in every single post. He’s the face for the account, but he says I’m the creative brain behind it all, so I deserve the same amount of money.
He flicks his tongue against mine before leaning back, moaning. His blue eyes darken as he stares at me. My inner thigh muscles flutter. So does my heart. Every day, I’m blown away by how amazing my boyfriend is.
He grabs me by the waist and pulls me against him, kissing my neck. I gasp.
“We don’t have time for this. We’re gonna be late,” I rasp.
“I’ll be quick.”
A second later, his phone rings. When he sees it’s his mom FaceTiming him, he groans.
“You can’t ignore your mom’s phone call. That’s unforgivable.” I playfully push him away.
He answers it. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”
“Blake! Your father and I just checked our bank account, and we saw a huge deposit from you. What is going on?”
Blake smiles. “That’s for you guys. To pay off your house.”
I see her face on the phone screen at the exact moment she registers what her son just told her. Her eyes widen as her mouth falls open.
“Blake, are you kidding me? What…how…I don’t understand…”
Blake’s smile turns warm. “That money is for you and Dad. I saved up enough so you could pay off your mortgage.”
She’s quiet for several seconds. “Blake, honey, is this from your social media account? The spicy one?”
He grins at her phrasing. “Yeah.”
“My goodness,” she murmurs.
I think back to when Blake told me that his parents found out about his secret account but were okay with it. I knew they would be—they’re lovely people, and nothing in the world would change how they felt about their son. They love him no matter what.
She closes her eyes and shakes her head. “Blake, this is insane. We can’t accept this money from you. It’s too much.”
“It’s not, Mom. You and Dad sacrificed so much for me so I could play hockey. I get to live out my dream because of you guys. Let me do this for you.”
Her big blue eyes fill with tears. “Oh, honey. I just can’t believe this. You’re so generous.”
“I learn from you guys.”
She sniffles and smiles. “Your father is going to be so surprised. And touched. This is so thoughtful of you.”
“Surprised about what?” Blake’s dad says off-screen.
His mom looks off to the side. “Blake just sent us enough money to pay off our house.”
“What?” his dad shouts.
His mom hands him the phone. “Blake, are you kidding me?”
Blake beams. “Not kidding, Dad.”
His dad sputters for a few seconds before trying to deny the gift, but Blake won’t let him.
“The money is yours and Mom’s. Pay off the house. Please?”
Blake’s dad’s eyes go teary for a second. My chest aches at the emotion in his gaze as he looks at his son.
He sniffles. “Buddy, you’re something else, you know that?”
His mom talks excitedly about how good it will feel to be debt-free after paying off their house.
“You know, Blake, I saw a few ladies at work on their phones looking at your account on social media,” his dad says. “I was going to tell them that it was my account. Since we look so much alike.”
His dad chuckles right as his mom steps into frame and rolls her eyes. “Oh, Jerry. You’re delusional.”
He kisses her cheek. “Oh, come on. I’ve still got a six-pack. It’s underneath a bit of insulation, but those abs are still there. I can feel them.”
I cover my mouth as I laugh. Blake rolls his eyes as he chuckles.
“Love you guys,” he says.
“We love you, buddy.”
“Love you, honey.”
They hang up. I wrap my arms around Blake, my chest warm. “You’re the best son ever.”
“I have the best parents.” He kisses me. “And the best girlfriend.”
I smile against his mouth. “We need to get going. I don’t want to miss dinner.”
* * *
Twenty minutes later, we walk into Blake’s house. When I see the banner hanging in their living room, I’m smiling so hard, my cheeks ache.
Bon voyage, Briar!
I look over at the dining table, where Blake’s teammates are setting up a taco bar.
“Oh my gosh, you guys! This is amazing.”
They turn around and greet me. Poppy walks out of the kitchen and hugs me.
“We wanted to do something fun to send you off to Mexico City,” she says. “Blake says tacos are your favorite, so we thought a taco bar would be fun.”
“He spent the whole morning cooking all the food,” Nick says, grinning at Blake. “He wanted everything to be perfect for you.”
Emotion squeezes through my chest at how thoughtful he was to plan this dinner for me. I’m leaving tomorrow for my two-week internship in Mexico City. Blake told me that the guys, Anna, and Poppy wanted to have me over for a goodbye dinner before I left, but I had no idea he planned all this.
I reach up and grab his face to kiss him.
“You’re the sweetest,” I murmur.
He smiles, then glances over at the banner. “Sorry about the banner. I left Nick in charge of that. Not sure why it’s in French and not Spanish.”
Nick shrugs, his signature cocky grin on his face. “I’m kind of an idiot.”
I laugh. “It’s okay. Mexico City has a lot of French speakers in addition to Spanish speakers. And I also speak French, so this is a fun combination of both languages.
He pats my shoulder. “Thanks, Briar. You’re awesome.”
We start to dig into the food when Anna walks in the door.
“Sorry I’m late, my research lab ran long.” She makes a beeline for me. “Briar! I can’t believe you’re leaving us!” She pulls me into a hug.
I laugh as I squeeze my arms around her. “Only for two weeks. It’ll fly by, and I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Promise to bring us back some really good tequila, okay?” she asks when she lets me go.
“I promise I will.”
We all sit in the living room as we eat our tacos while chatting and catching up.
Now that I have my own apartment, I love having my own space.
Blake comes over a lot too. He spends half the week sleeping over, which is so perfect.
I love falling asleep and waking up in his arms. I do miss hanging out at the house though, so it’s nice to spend my last night here before I leave.
“We got you a going-away gift,” Anna says. She hops up from the couch, heads upstairs to Travis’s room, and comes down a minute later with a small gift-wrapped box. She sets it in my lap.
“It’s from all of us,” she says.
When I open it, I gasp. It’s a brand new pair of expensive earbuds.
“You guys! Are you kidding?” I look up at them, all smiling at me.
“You mentioned that your current earbuds are getting a little old, so we thought you’d like some new ones in time for your trip,” Poppy says.
“They have a noise-cancelling feature too, so you can use them on the plane if you get stuck next to a crying baby or the person in the seat next to you won’t shut up,” Leo says.
I chuckle. A second later, tears fill my eyes. I blink quickly to keep from crying.
“You guys, this is too much.”
Poppy reaches out and grabs my hand. “It’s not. You’re our friend. We wanted to do something special for you.”
I flash a wobbly smile. “Thank you.”
My heart feels full in a way it never has before. I think about how awful it felt when I lost all my friends in Chicago. But then I moved here, and Blake’s friends welcomed me with open arms. They blew me away with their kindness and generosity. They became my friends, too.
“You guys are the best.”
I stand up to hug them. We go back to drinking margaritas and visiting.
I get up to take my empty plate into the kitchen, but Blake pulls me onto his lap.
I cup his cheek and smile at him. “This was the perfect send-off.”
“You really like it?”
“I love it. Almost as much as I love you.”
He kisses me soft and tender.
“I’m gonna miss you,” he growls softly against my mouth.
“I’ll miss you too.”
“Two weeks apart is so long.”
I chuckle. “We used to spend months apart when we went to different colleges.”
“Yeah, but that was before you were my girlfriend. I’m gonna die without you,” he groans.
I laugh. “I think you’ll survive.”
He kisses the hinge of my jaw. “As long as I can have you one more time before you go.” His low, gravelly voice makes me shiver.
“Yes. I want you to fuck me extra hard and filthy,” I say, careful to keep my voice down so no one else hears.
Blake stands up, then hauls me up over his shoulder. I yelp.
“We’re headed to bed,” he says as he heads for the stairs.
Everyone laughs and cheers.
I reach down and smack his ass. “Blake! Can you make it any more obvious that we’re about to have sex?” I say through a laugh as he heads down the hall to his bedroom.
“Yeah. We’re gonna have sex, you guys,” he hollers. “Don’t bother us.”
My face reddens, and I smack him again. “Blake! Oh my god, that’s so embarrassing.”
He drops me on the bed, rests his hands on his hips, and gazes down at me. A smug smile dances on his lips. “Briar, babe. Even if I didn’t say anything, they’d know exactly what we’re doing in my bedroom with how loud you always are.”
I bite back a smile.
He reaches behind him to pull off his T-shirt. Heat flashes across my skin as I stare at the expanse of hard lines and cut muscles. I’ll never get used to my boyfriend’s hotness.
“You know I’m right,” he taunts.
I roll my eyes, but I’m grinning. “You’re lucky you’re hot. It makes it a lot harder to get mad at you.”
He chuckles, then leans down onto the bed. He presses his massive, muscled arms on either side of me, caging me in. I shiver at how big and warm his body is.
I grab his face and kiss him, my heart going crazy in my chest. I’m so in love with my boyfriend. My sweet, funny, generous, romantic, protective, amazing boyfriend.
“I’m crazy about you, naughty girl,” he rasps against my mouth.
“Good. Because I’m crazy about you too.”
Want a spicy bonus scene with Blake and Briar?
It’s a few years into the future, and Blake is about to ask Briar the most important question of her life…in the hottest way…