Chapter 18 #2
Griffin continues, his voice growing more serious.
“But here’s what really amazed the bridge builder: he realized the troll hadn’t been protecting the forest for himself.
He’d been carrying on work his family had started generations ago—work that kept the streams clean, the wildlife safe, the ancient trees standing tall.
The troll’s father had shouldered this enormous responsibility alone, and when his heart grew weak, he’d passed the burden to his son.
The troll had been struggling under the weight of legacy and duty, thinking he had to be strong enough to bear it all by himself. ”
I have to blink hard against the tears threatening to fall. He sees me.
“‘Why, the troll’s not a troll at all,’ the bridge builder realized.
‘He’s actually freaking amazing.’ And that’s when the bridge builder realized he’d been looking at things wrong for a long, long time.
He’d spent years building bridges to impress people who didn’t matter, fighting battles with ogres who weren’t worth his time.
But he realized maybe there was a different kind of bridge worth building, as long as he had someone to build with at his side. ”
Griffin’s hazel eyes blaze across the feet that separate us, and a slow smile spreads across my face despite the emotion clogging my throat.
I place my hand over my heart and hope he knows I’d hand it to him if I could.
“So the bridge builder decided to start building again, right there in the enchanted forest, where he’d found himself a home, but this time, he didn’t want to build fancy bridges that led nowhere.
He wanted to build bridges that connect people.
Bridges that were whole. Bridges that couldn’t crumble.
Bridges that matter. With… with people who matter.
Specifically with the beautiful, wild, grumpy, and not-at-all-troll-like man, who…
” Griffin takes a deep breath, his voice dropping.
“…who the bridge builder had fallen madly in love with.”
Oh, fuck.
The last words come out as a whisper, but in the sudden silence of the auditorium, they ring like a bell. Griffin comes to a stop and swallows hard, his cheeks bright red under the lights.
He’s so beautiful that just looking at him makes my chest hurt.
“Thank you, everyone,” he says simply, setting the mic back into the stand.
I’m on my feet before I can think twice, crossing the floor and up the three stairs to the stage. Behind me, the audience erupts into cheers and applause, but all I can see is Griffin.
“Wait, how does it end?” Perky’s voice cuts through the noise. “You can’t end a fairy tale like that!”
Griffin’s eyes are wide as I approach, but he doesn’t move a muscle. “I don’t exactly know how it ends yet, Perky—” he begins.
I reach him then and slot my hands into their place at his sides. “I do,” I tell him, my words carrying through the mic. “We live happily ever after.”
And then I kiss the shit out of Griffin, right there on-stage in front of the whole town.
The crowd goes wild—cheers and whistles and applause that folks in the next county can probably hear. But all I care about is Griffin’s mouth under mine, the way he melts into me, the soft sound of relief and surrender he makes that the microphone definitely picks up.
I pull back just enough to whisper against his lips, “I love you, Griffin Mercer. I will build bridges with you any day of the week, whether it’s here or in New York. Whatever you want, we’ll figure it out.”
Griffin’s eyes go wide. “Wait, really? You’d be okay if I went to New York?”
“If that’s where your dream job is, baby.” I cup his face in my hands, thumbs brushing over his pink cheeks. “And all this troll wants is for you to be happy.”
Griffin’s smile lights up the whole stage. “I love you too, Beckett Axford. But I told Alan no… and I already turned down the other offer last night. I want to stay in Winsome. I want to build a life here. With you.” He kisses me again, quick and sweet.
I honestly don’t know what to do with myself. I’m so relieved, so fucking thrilled, I’m lightheaded.
So when Griffin pulls back with a teasing look and says, “But there might be one tiny thing that would make me even happier…” I don’t hesitate.
“Anything,” I say, and I mean it.
“Would you…” He bites his lip. “Would you sing the photosynthesis song for me?”
I open my mouth, then shut it again. “You could have anything, city boy, and that’s what you pick?”
Griffin’s smile is wide and full of affection. “When I’m with you, I’m already happier than I’ve been in a long time.”
And that is how I, Beckett Axford, full-grown adult, forestry professional, and (very) recently reformed intimidating troll, found myself standing on-stage in front of the entire town of Winsome, with Griffin’s arm around my waist, doing an impression of a tree while singing about converting sunlight into energy…
and not giving a good goddamn that Holden was recording the whole thing on his phone.
Because like a tree, I’d been stunted and struggling, all my energy spent just staying upright. Then the gorgeous man at my side had brought sunshine to my life. He’d woken me up. He’d reminded me of my roots. He’d expanded my mind, nourished my soul, and encouraged me to flourish.
And I knew in my bones that the love Griffin and I shared would continue to grow just like the forest around us, climbing straight and true and toward the light.