Epilogue
Wes
Six months later
I waited as long as I could for this day.
Watching Isla sleep peacefully beside me, I’m so fucking relieved I can end this torture.
I’ve ignored the instinct to ask Isla to move in with me every morning for the last three months.
The words nearly explode off my tongue at the first sight of her beside me in bed.
She already spends most of her time at my place, only heading back to Brooks’s condo when she needs a refresh on her clothes and to see him.
Half her wardrobe lines one side of my closet, and her beauty products scatter around the bathroom.
But I haven’t wanted to spook her by moving too fast. To give her any reason to reconsider this relationship.
“Why are you thinking so hard this early in the morning?” Isla groans from beside me, her eyes still shut.
We’re both early risers, but neither of us likes it.
“You don’t even know what time it is,” I say. The blackout curtains in my bedroom make it impossible to judge whether it’s the middle of the night or mid-afternoon without glancing at a clock.
“The alarm hasn’t gone off.” She mutters the words into her pillow, voice still coated in sleep. She cracks an eye open, studying me with suspicion. “Unless I slept through it? Or you shut it off?”
Without me there to shake her shoulder, Isla requires six alarms spaced five minutes apart to wake up fully.
I move toward her, sliding an arm around her middle. She’s only wearing undergarments, like usual, preferring to sleep with fewer clothes on underneath several blankets. Her skin is warm beneath my fingertips, despite the shiver that runs through her body as I continue my exploration.
“We’re off today, remember?” I whisper beside her ear.
A smile graces her lips. “We are?”
“Mhm,” I hum, pressing a kiss to her neck as my hand brushes under her cotton bra. “And alone.”
Thea spent the night at her friend’s house. After Ella decided to marry the guy she met on Love is Blind, she wanted her to move back to California, but Thea shocked us all by saying she wanted to stay here.
Isla shifts onto her side, hand landing on my chest and sliding south until she grips me through my shorts. “I love when we’re alone.”
“Me too,” I groan, one hand palming her breast while my thumb flicks over her hardened nipple. The other slips beneath her underwear, two fingers slowly circling her clit. “And not only because of this.”
She tightens her grasp on me, working her hand up and down my shaft. “I know.” The words come out breathless, as she begins to moan. “I can’t wait to spend the day with you.”
I capture her mouth with mine, kissing her as slowly as my hands move against her skin. It’s torture for me as much as it is for her, but I enjoy working her into a whimpering mess. She’s doing it to me, too. Gripping me hard, but moving at a leisurely pace, slowly making me lose my mind.
I break the kiss to ask her, “What did you have in mind?”
Isla swallows hard, fighting to form words as my fingers dip inside her. “A long, hot shower.”
The image of her, wet and naked in front of me, appears in my mind. I blow out a breath, trying to keep myself under control.
“What’s wrong, Taz?” she teases, then runs her tongue up my neck.
I press down harder, deliberately moving against the spot that always makes her come. Two can play that game.
“Wes,” she gasps. I ease off the pressure to crank up her frustration. Isla bucks her hips against me, seeking what she’s lost. “I need you now. Okay? Now.”
“Fast or slow, Red?” I murmur, pulling back from her. I pull my boxers down my legs, kicking them off me.
“Fast,” she whimpers. “I’m already so close.”
I roll her onto her back, climbing to my knees and settling between her legs. She’s a vision under me, strawberry blond hair spread across my sheets, legs wide open, begging for me to enter her. “I love you in this position.”
Isla reaches for me, digging her fingers into my forearms. “I’m about to get out of this position if you don’t take me now.”
I chuckle. “Always so impatient.”
“I can do it myself,” she taunts, as she drives her fingers into her pussy.
“Stop,” I growl, my hand roughly gripping my cock, aching for her. Isla removes her hand, smirking at me with a look that says That’s what I thought. I lift her hips, then drive into her, knocking that smug look off her face.
“Yes,” she sighs, as I withdraw completely and thrust into her again. “Kiss me.”
I bend at the waist, lowering my body onto hers. She seizes my mouth, a punishing kiss to match the pace I maintain between her legs. Her tongue massages mine, sending a bolt of electricity up my spine. We’re both a shaking mess, limbs tight, begging for release.
Isla’s orgasm slams into her suddenly, a relieved breath leaving her as she pulls out of our kiss.
I push into her again and again, only allowing myself to finish when I’m sure she’s completely wrung out.
She hugs me tight, as I jerk against her, every bit of tension leaving my body before I collapse.
She runs her hand through my hair, the strands longer and in need of a haircut, though she doesn’t seem to mind. “Every time I think I can’t feel more”—I raise my head, resting my chin on her chest as I stare into those ocean blue eyes—“you make a liar out of me.”
“Move in with me.” The words slip out so easily after I’ve spent months locking them in my brain.
“What?” she says through a huff of laughter.
“I never want you to leave.” I shake my head, realizing the way that sounds.
The meaning is true, though. I don’t like spending time away from her.
“Let me try that again. Isla, I want to wake up with you every morning for the rest of my life. For this to be our home. I love you so fucking much, it hurts.”
There are more words I’m struggling to say. There are also four other words I’m keeping tucked away, for now.
A gorgeous smile blooms across her face. “Ask me again in like four hours.”
“Why?”
“I want to be sure you really want this, and not because you’re sex drunk.”
“Wait here,” I say, easing myself out of her and hopping off the bed.
I rush to the kitchen, eager to show her the proof of exactly how much I want her here with me.
The walk back with a cake sporting the words, Move in with me?
, is slower, but I go as quickly as I can. I’ve waited so long for this moment.
“You did not,” she says, covering her mouth.
“Lemon with cream cheese icing.” I place the tray with the cake on it onto the bed. “Your favorite.”
“When did you even have time to make this? And how did you hide it from me?”
I shrug a shoulder. “I might’ve been awake for a few hours.” The fear rises in me, despite the way she’s gleaming at me now, full of love. “Please don’t run."
Isla lands a hand on each side of my head, then presses her lips strongly against mine. “Wes, I love you. This already feels like my home because you’re here. But I’d love to make it official.” She tosses me a cheeky smile. “And talk about a few changes.”
I grab her side, and she yelps. “Changes, huh?”
“Well, you said it was our home.” She runs her finger along the edge of the cake, scooping up some icing and placing it into her mouth. “Change can be good, Davidson.”
I lie back against the headboard, tugging Isla with me until she’s burrowed against my side. “What did you have in mind, Covington?”
I already know I’m going to say yes, but we wouldn’t be us if I gave in so easily.
I love that she’s given this some thought—how she’d like to turn this place into our home.
My heart begins to settle, or as much as it can with a naked Isla pressed against me.
She makes me feel safe and out of control in equal measure.
We’re on the same page about our feelings and this relationship.
And all I can do is hope that remains the same, that when I ask my four-word question, she’s ready to say yes.