Nico’s Epilogue
NICO’S EPILOGUE
I have to stop myself from proposing at least once a week.
Especially when I’m standing in the kitchen, watching her laugh with my parents. She fits in so seamlessly with my family, it’s hard to imagine I ever lived a life without her.
I wanted to intertwine our lives as soon as we made things official.
It felt like I’d been waiting my whole life for Scarlett, and I didn’t want to spend another day without her.
But this was new for Scarlett and she was still discovering herself.
The last thing she needed was a man suggesting she move in with him—the day after they got together.
Although that’s not to say I didn’t fall to my knees in relief when she broached the subject a few weeks later.
Now, I get to wake up to her smile every morning and fall asleep with her in my arms every night.
I get to ask her every single day how her classes are going, and what she’s researching on her own, just because she’s so excited to learn new things.
I get to watch her laugh with my parents during our monthly family dinner.
And fall more in love with her every time.
“Dude,” Alexander grumbles from his seat at the island. “You’re staring again.”
I huff a laugh and go back to the salad I’m almost done assembling. “I’d say I’m sorry, but…”
He rolls his eyes and takes a swig of his beer. “But you’re not. Yeah, we know.” Then he frowns and kicks Lucas in the shin where he’s silently sitting on the barstool next to him. “What’s up with you? You haven’t said ten words since you walked in here.”
Lucas seems to shake from a trance. He has looked distracted tonight. He keeps looking at his phone, which wouldn’t be unusual if it wasn’t followed by him frowning and then looking off into the distance.
“Me? Oh, I’m just giving your communication style a try,” he says, waving Alexander away. “Maybe you’re right; maybe grunts are more effective than words.”
Alexander and I look at each other, then back at Lucas.
“Alexander has a better chance at becoming a beauty queen than you do taking a vow of silence,” I say dryly.
It earns me an angry grunt from Alexander.
Lucas slumps forward onto the counter with a defeated breath. “Okay, fine. I’m distracted.”
We wait patiently for the explanation, but nothing could prepare us for the moment he straightens and says angrily, “I got my ass handed to me in court today.”
I gawk at Lucas. Alexander’s beer freezes on the way to his lips.
After a moment, I turn toward Alexander and say, “I don’t know if I’m more surprised at the fact, or hearing him admit the fact.”
“Definitely the second,” Alexander mutters.
“Ugh, focus,” Lucas says with a rare glare. “This is serious. I haven’t lost like this since…actually, I don’t think I’ve ever lost like this. The guy absolutely wiped the floor with me.”
“So…what happened?” I ask carefully.
Lucas blows out a frustrated breath. “Opposing counsel’s private investigator got their hands on some case-ending information.” He frowns and grumbles, “Information my client should have shared with me, but thought he could hide. Apparently, the PI managed to dig it up anyway.”
I bite down on my amused smirk. Alexander doesn’t bother hiding his.
“If my team didn’t even know about it, how the fuck did this PI find out?” Lucas complains. “Where was he even looking?”
“Why do you assume it’s a he?” I ask, only half-joking. “Women are probably way better at sleuthing.”
Lucas snorts. “If it’s a woman, I’d like to meet her. I could use her on my team.”
Just then, Scarlett appears in the kitchen. “A lot of animated discussion going on over here,” she comments as she reaches for the side dishes. “What are you boys talking about?”
While she’s close enough, I quickly press a kiss to her hair. “Lucas got humbled by a woman today.”
Scarlett’s eyebrows rise. “Really? Wow. Can I meet her?”
Lucas rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to retort, but we hear my mom call out, “I would also like to meet her!”
The apartment fills with laughter. Even Alexander cracks a grin.
“You guys are bullies,” Lucas grumbles, reaching for one of the side dishes. But he still affectionately hip checks Scarlett on his way to the dining table. “I’m never being vulnerable with you again.”
By the time dinner is over and the pastries Lucas showed up with have been consumed, I’m eager to be alone with my girlfriend again. And Scarlett can read every thought in my head because she’s smiling when I shut the front door a little too forcefully behind Lucas and Alexander.
“You don’t think they’ll be offended you kicked them out?” she asks with a laugh as I stalk toward her. “Between this and the teasing—”
“No more talking about my brothers,” I grumble, pulling her down onto the couch with me. “I’ve shared your attention enough for one night.”
She curls up in my lap with a happy sigh. “You always have my attention.”
“I’m happy to hear it,” I say, wrapping my arms around her. I drop my cheek to her head as one hand starts to brush along her thigh.
When she yawns, I pull back to look at her. “Tired?”
She nods and snuggles closer. “It’s just been a long month. It’ll be a relief when my semester is over.”
I start to massage her back. “You’ve been working hard. You should take a break after finals, actually do something to relax.”
“You should relax, too,” she says, poking me in the side. “I bet you’re putting in just as much time at the gym as you did when you were fighting.”
I don’t disagree with that. Because she’s right; after I made the decision to retire, I took all of the time and effort I’d spent on myself for my career, and I redirected it to the gym and its fighters.
I don’t know if being a gym owner is going to be my long-term career, but for now, it’s a relief to have something I feel good about doing.
“It’s peak fight season. It’ll slow down soon,” I explain. When Scarlett lifts an eyebrow, I add, “I mean, you’re right, but also…it’s peak fight season.”
Scarlett settles back against my chest. “Maybe we should plan something relaxing next month. We could both probably use it.”
For some reason, a conversation comes to mind when she says that. One I had with Lucas and Alexander all those months ago in the back of a Mexican restaurant. The original proposed solution to all my problems.
Before Scarlett came along.
“Maybe we should go on vacation,” I suggest casually.
Scarlett freezes for a split second, then laughter fills the air.
“Amara kept pushing me to take a vacation when we first met,” she says in an amused voice. “It was going to be my last-ditch effort to find some semblance of happiness.”
For a moment, I can only blink at her. I knew a lot of our connection stemmed from us both living a lonely existence, but I never would have imagined we were attempting the same solutions for it.
It makes me that much more grateful we found each other.
Wrapping my arms around her once again, I say, “As glad as I am that you didn’t take that vacation, I do actually like the idea of taking one now.”
Scarlett lets out a thoughtful hum. “I do too. Sitting on the beach with a book in my hand and dinner reservations to look forward to sounds like paradise.” She tilts her face up to brush her lips against mine. “Especially if you’re with me.”
“That sounds amazing,” I murmur as I return the kiss-that’s-not-a-kiss. “I’m in.”
I feel her lips curl up. “Where should we go then?”
I’m smiling as I kiss her again. “I believe someone once suggested Greece?”
I wonder if I can hold onto this ring long enough to propose to her there…
Thank you for reading Love for Hire!