Epilogue
F our months later
It’s the craziest thing. All of it is. After Joe was fired, no one expected the Boston Rebels to do much of anything.
They had an interim head coach. Quarterback battles—or so the media played it.
Not to mention, they were already going into this without much of a winning record.
The playoffs seemed like a lofty goal to everyone.
Everyone except Asher.
Asher and I went to visit Leo in the hospital the day after his injury, and we both told him everything.
He was shocked. His mother never spoke about who his father was, and I could see how hard it hit him to learn that he had been drafted and working with his biological father without actually knowing it.
He was also furious when he learned all that Joe had done to secure his spot on the team.
After Joe was fired, he officially retired from football, knowing his demons would follow him if he ever tried to coach anywhere else.
He moved back to LA, and though I don’t want anything to do with him personally, I do follow his care through his oncologist.
As for the team, there was a lot to figure out.
A lot to sort through, both emotionally and figuratively since sorting through what was best for the team going forward wasn’t so cut and dry.
Asher did what any great leader would do.
Once Leo was out of the hospital and feeling a bit better, he invited the entire team, including coaches, over to the apartment, and they all talked it out.
They figured out a strategy for the rest of the season.
Something that went beyond one game at a time.
And it worked for them.
Because here we are at the same club I met Asher in three years ago, practically to the day.
And the Boston Rebels won the Super Bowl—again.
The first team to ever do so with an interim coach and two starting quarterbacks. Asher takes the majority of the snaps and does the majority of the playing, but they use Leo for Wild Cat formations and other plays when they want to throw off the defense.
The VIP floor of the club is pounding so loud with thumping house music and the loud chatter of the team and their significant others that you can feel it vibrating in your bones. I didn’t have to sneak up here this time, which is sort of a bummer actually.
That was a total thrill that night.
Until things got all mucked up in the bathroom after that, of course.
But now I’m here as not only the team’s orthopedic surgeon but also as the MVP’s girlfriend.
Asher led the team to a twenty-one to ten victory over Badlands and is flying higher than I’ve ever seen him.
Thankfully, without the aid of muscle relaxants or too many shots.
His boys and their women are here—because they never seem to go or do anything without each other—and we’ve all been dancing our collective asses off.
The song morphs into a slower, more hypnotic rhythm, and suddenly Leo is before me, pulling me into his arms and moving us in a slow dance.
In the months since I found out that he’s my half-brother, we’ve grown impossibly close.
I’ve met his mother and his sisters, and he loves ‘uncle time’ with Mason.
I may have lost my biological father—hell, I’m not sure I ever had him to begin with—but the one thing Joe did manage to do for me is give me a brother.
“I have something to tell you,” he says after we hit a lull in the excited chatter of discussing the game.
“Why do you look nervous, Leo?”
He spins me out and then twirls me back into his chest. “Because I am.”
My heart rate picks up a few extra beats at the serious expression on his face. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“Vegas reached out to my agent. They want me to be their starting QB next season.”
“Vegas?” I echo, my voice hollow as swirls of Rebels red and blue colored lights skate over us. “But that’s so far away. And aren’t you under contract with the Rebels?”
“Yes, but I don’t think Randolph will be opposed to making a deal for me, and now is the time for me to strike. We just won the Super Bowl. I was part of that as a rookie. This is my chance to land a big contract and be the starter for a team.”
As much as I’m reluctant to admit this, I know he’s right. This is his shot. Joe got him drafted high, but no one knows how it happened. His team just won the Super Bowl with his help. He’s a young kid at the start of his career, and he should take it and see how high he can go with it.
I wrap my arms around his neck and bring him in for a hug. “I’m going to miss you.”
He squeezes me. “I’m going to miss you. You and Mason will come to visit because the weather in Vegas is nicer than in Boston.”
I laugh. He knows how much I dislike the cold of New England.
“Buy a place with a pool,” I tell him, making him chuckle in my ear.
“No doubt. You can even bring that mediocre quarterback of yours.” He and Asher are very close but love ribbing each other every chance they get.
I pull back, suddenly emotional. “You’ll take care of yourself out there?”
He rolls his eyes at me. A habit we clearly both have. “I’ll be fine. My mama is moving out there with me.”
“Oh good.” I snicker. “She’ll keep you in line.”
I feel hands on my hips from behind me, and I turn my head over my shoulder to find Asher there, peering down at us. “Did you tell her?”
I scowl at Asher. “You knew?”
“He told me earlier when we got here.”
“And you didn’t say anything?”
Asher smirks at me. Jerk is lucky I can’t pinch his nipple in here for it. “It wasn’t for me to tell you.”
“Ugh!” I turn back to Leo. “You’re leaving me alone with him? That’s just mean.”
“You can handle him.”
“That’s hardly the point,” I grumble, not happy about this at all but already knowing it’s what’s best for Leo, and I’ll adapt. “Fine.” I hug him again. “I’m very happy for you, and I hope the deal goes through.”
“Can I steal my woman back yet?” Asher asks, tugging on my hips as if to say it’s not really a question or an option.
Leo releases me, and then Asher twirls me around and takes me straight into his arms. The music starts to pick up, but he doesn’t increase his pace as he moves us along the dance floor. “You okay with that?”
“I’m sad,” I admit. “I feel like I just got him, and now he’s going to be moving away.”
“I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry.” Asher holds me for a moment and then tilts my face up so he can lean down and kiss me. “I know what would make you feel better.”
“What?” I ask softly, my voice practically absorbed into the music surrounding us.
“Let’s go into the bathroom we met for a quickie”
I snort out a laugh. “You’re kidding me, right?”
He smiles against my lips, his gray eyes swirling with colors. “Nope. Not even a little. I owe you a hot bathroom makeup session. Let’s do it.”
I glance around the room and then return my gaze to him. “Someone could come in, and I’m not drunk the way I was last time.”
“We’ll lock the door,” he assures me.
My eyebrows shoot to my hairline. “There’s a lock?”
He tilts his head. “You, know, I don’t know if there is one. Let’s go test it out.”
I balk, chewing on the corner of my lip.
“Come on, ice queen. Take the risk with me. I promise, this time, I’ll make it worth it. Please.”
I can’t resist that smile. The one that makes his eyes sparkle and his chin dimple pop. I never could. Obviously. It’s how we got Mason. His please isn’t so bad either.
“Okay. Just don’t make me regret it.”
He winks at me and takes my hand, threading our fingers and then shooting us across the club floor.
I’m in heels and a dress—similar to how I was the first time I was here—and since I am not a woman who is comfortable in heels, I stumble a bit.
Asher is there, pulling me into his side as we bob and weave around people vying for his attention.
We find our way to the back, to the quieter side of the floor, and over to the bathrooms.
“You’re sure about this?” I question.
“Trust me.”
Ugh. “I got pregnant the last time I did that in this place.”
He laughs but doesn’t comment further as he takes us into the empty women’s room. The automatic light flickers on, still the same blue it was the last time we were in here.
“It’s like déjà vu,” I quip, skipping over to the counter. “How did we do this last time? I don’t remember much.”
Asher comes in behind me, his hands planting on the counter on either side of me, his eyes molten as they meet mine in the reflection of the mirror. His lips skim along my exposed shoulder.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers reverently. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you that night. I’d never wanted a woman like that before. I knew instantly there was something special and different about you.”
A flutter hits my belly. Deft fingers swoop my hair over to my other shoulder, and then his mouth continues its assault on my shoulder, slipping up to my neck. A soft moan trickles out from the back of my throat.
“I love you,” he says, swinging one arm around my waist. “So much. We haven’t been together that long, but these months with you and Mason have been the best of my life.
I can’t imagine being with anyone else. You’re perfect for me, Wynter.
I can’t tell you how happy you make me, and all I want is to make you this happy in return. ”
I lean back into him, tilting my head to give him better access to my sensitive skin. “You do. Always.”
“You mean that?” he questions, nibbling on my earlobe.
I meet his cautious eyes in the mirror. “Of course. It hasn’t been easy. In fact, it’s been a pretty crazy several months, but I wouldn’t change it either. It brought us here. Both literally and figuratively. These months with you have been the best of my life too.”
He grins. “Hands on the counter.”
My heart races as I do as he instructs, my skin turning hot, humming with an electrical current. He starts digging into his pocket, pressing himself against me. “What are you doing?” I question.
“Getting a condom.”
“Are you kidding?” I laugh. “We haven’t used one of those in a long time.”
“I told you I had to make this up to you. That means I right all my wrongs.”
I roll my eyes and wiggle my ass against him, urging him on. He may put on the condom, but knowing him, there is no way it stays on.
“Shit,” he hisses, and I hear it smack against the floor. “Crap. Can you help?”
“What?” A bemused laugh escapes my lungs. I spin around to find Asher down on one knee, holding a small red box up at me. “Are you kidding me?!” This time I shriek. “What are you doing?”
He flips open the box, suddenly quiet for what is very likely the first time in his life, to reveal a large solitaire emerald on a platinum band. It’s absolutely stunning and simple and perfect. But…
“We’re in the bathroom of a club.”
He takes my hand with the one not holding the box. “I know. I thought of that. And I knew that’s exactly what you’d say, so I’m here with my argument.”
“Okay,” I say in a shaky voice, my gaze flipping back and forth between the ring and his eyes.
“This bathroom, believe it or not, represents a special place for me. It’s where I met you. It’s where we made our son. It was the start of something I never anticipated to be possible. I want to rewrite this bathroom for us. I want to rewrite our beginning while I make you my future.”
Oh, hell. “You’re really proposing?”
“I really am. I want to marry you, Wynter. I know some people will say it’s too soon or it happened too fast. But I don’t believe in too soon or too fast. I believe when it’s right it’s right, and when it’s meant to be, nothing can stop it.
I want your last name to be my last name—Mason’s too—and I want my ring on your finger, and I want to be there when our children grow inside of you.
I want all your moments to be my moments too.
It’s you, my queen. It’ll always be. And I will spend my life by your side, holding your hand, kissing your lips, and telling you every day how I grow more and more in love with you. ”
Oh, God.
I tug him up by the collar of his shirt and slam my lips to his. There is one word ringing in my head, besides yes, of course. It’s beloved. This man is my beloved. That’s who I’ll be to him. It’s how we’ll live our lives together. Always.
The End.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Irresistibly Risky!