Epilogue
“Another one?”
Luca looks up from his laptop, a blinding smile on his face. “Yeah, I guess so.”
He laughs, sending my heart into flutters. “I just can’t believe people love my words this much.”
I’ve loved his words since we were kids. But now, with his third book deal, he’s finally starting to see that I’m not the only one. “Do you feel like a real author yet?”
The incredulous laugh that bursts from his chest has me smiling. “No.”
“How many books do you think it’ll take before you feel like a real author?”
He looks down at the computer again, a slight smile on his lips. “I don’t know, really. Ten, maybe.”
As it turns out, there is a market for books about survivors of domestic violence, and I’m so fucking proud of Luca for all he’s done, I can’t even stand it.
He wasn’t sure if he would ever be ready to write a story with a character who went through the same things as him.
But after talking it over with his therapist and Theo, he decided he wanted to speak his truth and write it.
Now? It’s his number one bestseller and the book that made him a household name.
“Are you sure you don’t want to buy a bigger house?” I ask.
Luca’s eyes snap to me. “Why would I want that?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I never planned to live here forever, and I’d like to give you something nicer eventually.”
Closing his laptop, he crawls across the couch to me and climbs into my lap, straddling me.
“This is home to me. If you want something else, we can definitely do something else, but I don’t know.
” He shrugs. “I do my best writing under the gazebo. What if we move and the muse stays here? Probably best not to tempt fate.”
“Okay.” I smile, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him closer. “Let’s buy this place then.”
“Hell yeah.” He nibbles his bottom lip, and when he turns his head, I catch sight of the dark hickey at the base of his throat. Fuck, I’ll never get tired of seeing my marks on him like that. “I do have a question, though,” he murmurs, locking his eyes on mine.
I rub my hands up and down his back. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he says, nodding. “Are you ever gonna propose to me?”
I’m a bit taken aback, and when I inhale, I nearly choke to death on my own spit. Luca laughs while I try to get myself under control, and when I finally manage it, I rasp out, “What?”
“I just figured you would have already asked me to marry you, and you haven’t, so I thought it was time to ask.”
“Luca.” His eyes widen, and I resist the urge to smile. “I was never going to propose to you.”
His brows draw together, and he turns his nose up at me. “Well, what the fuck? Why not? You don’t like me or something?”
I can’t help but laugh. “I like you plenty. In fact, I love the shit out of you.” I drag him closer, pressing my lips to his. He tries to fight me, but it doesn’t last, and he ends up smiling against my lips.
“Then what’s the problem? You don’t wanna get married?”
I shake my head. “No, that’s not it either. When you got here, you had sworn off dating and love. And then we fell in love and started dating.” I shrug. “I didn’t want to push my luck. You never mentioned it, so I never did either.”
He’s quiet for a second, then a breathtaking smile spreads across his face. “Okay, that makes sense. Will you marry me?”
If he’s on some type of mission to make me die tonight, he’s succeeding. At least this time I manage not to choke half to death. “Are you being serious?”
“Does this seem like something I’d joke about?”
No, it doesn’t. It would be one hell of a cruel joke if he were. I drag him to me, kissing him again. His tongue teases mine, his fingers tangling in my hair as he moans.
When he breaks the kiss, he’s panting softly, his warm breath gusting over my lips. “Yes or no, Austin?”
“Yes, baby. Always yes. It’s not even a question for me.”
I can feel his sigh of relief, and then we’re kissing again. I could do this for the rest of my life, and when it hits me that I can, my heart nearly explodes.
I pull away, sitting back so I can cup Luca’s face in my hands. “Did we just get engaged?”
His smile is brighter than the sun, and even though I was sure there was no way I could possibly love him more, some tiny little door in my heart opens and even more floods out. “Yes. We did, indeed.”
“Fuck.” I take in his beautiful face, my eyes following the curve of his cheekbone down to his jaw.
“Are you happy?” he asks quietly.
So goddamn happy. “More than words can describe.”
Luca sighs, melting in my hold. “You know, when I first started healing from all that I’d been through, I had a crazy thought.”
I sit up a little straighter, gazing into Luca’s gorgeous eyes. “Oh?”
He nods. “Yeah… I thought for sure I’d never get a happily ever after, and I think that’s why I stopped writing, you know?
Like all the things I’d longed for and hoped for were dead, and I couldn’t find that magic to bring any stories to life.
But then, I started falling in love with you, and all the pieces started to come back to me.
Not dead. Just hiding. Hiding until they could find someone safe to hold them. ”
When he pauses to take a deep breath, I swallow hard, not sure where he’s going with this, but desperate to find out.
“I used to think there wasn’t a happily ever after for me, and then I started thinking maybe there was, if it was with you. You’re all the things. My best friend and my safety, the protector of all the tiny pieces of Luca that make me who I am.”
He leans in, brushing his nose against mine. “And now? You also get to be my happily ever after.”
“Guess what, baby?” I whisper, catching his lips with mine in a slow, sweet kiss.
“What?” he whispers back.
“You’re mine too.”
THE END.