Epilogue #2
“You got it, soldier.”
His manly growl and kiss to the cheek set my soul on fire, and I had to force myself to get back to finishing everything I’d gone overboard preparing.
Not long after, Andy and Jace arrived, hugging me with all their might, their interactions with Bailey and Rhea exactly the same as they’d been in Mykonos almost twelve months ago to the day.
After Andy had grovelled enough to assure Bailey he’d never do anything to hurt me or Henry again, the two of them had hooked up several times over the last year, but neither one of them seemed invested enough to make the same move Henry and I had to stay together.
Andy and Bailey were two fires, no ice, and they were either an inferno that raged for everyone to marvel at, or they were both left to fizzle out, leaving them with nothing much to do except…
screw. They’d probably hook up again tonight if they had their way, and honestly, that had nothing to do with Henry or me. They were grown adults.
Rhea and Jace, however, still flirted like they had in Mykonos, dancing around each other with impeccable choreography, yet they’d never fully gone there.
Even though what they did with their lives was up to them, a little part of me really saw the potential they had and hoped they’d somehow figure it out.
They’re chemistry came far too naturally for them to never even try.
James and Nina arrived next, with my parents turning up in separate cars soon after, somehow arriving and walking through the door at the same time.
“My darling girl,” Mum said, rushing towards me with an embrace that came more naturally to her now, as though she’d been set free from the chains that had tied her down and kept her in her own misery for far too long.
“Hey, Mum.” I closed my eyes and squeezed back tighter.
In the last eight months, our relationship had only bloomed, and I had to wonder how much weight she’d been carrying around with her when Grandpa became sick, and she hadn’t felt like she had the kind of support from Dad that I always had with Henry.
“You all settled in, sweetheart?” Dad said, hugging me soon after Mum once he’d placed two bottles of wine on the kitchen island. “The place looks great.”
“I think we’re just about unpacked. Thanks again for all your help with the move.”
“That’s what dads are for.”
I watched as he and Mum navigated the kitchen together, reaching for plates and oven dishes to take out to the garden tables, and I let their newfound happiness and ease around one another sink in.
They looked like two different people to me now that the arguments and strain had disappeared.
I had no idea if they’d get back together again in the future, and I had no desire to pry on their feelings.
Whatever life had in store for them, I only hoped they found their peace once and for all.
Even if that meant loving other people along the way.
When the time came for me to finally leave the kitchen and make my way out into the garden, all my friends and family turned to watch me walk down the few steps that led from the decking to the grass.
I stopped in my tracks, my long skirt hitched up in one hand as I eyed each and every one of them warily.
“What? Why are you all staring at me?” I asked, glancing behind me to see if someone unexpected had arrived before I turned back to face them all again. “Do I have food in my hair or something?” I reached up to run my fingers through it.
Henry stepped forward, holding an ice-cold beer as he held his free hand out to me.
With suspicion, I let mine slip into his, our fingers entwining as he pulled me forward.
“Guess people can’t believe what a lucky bastard I am,” he said, but not so quietly that Andy and Jace didn’t start immediately laughing and making gagging noises at Henry’s expense.
“Ignore them. Jealousy makes men act like boys.”
“They always act like boys. Infants, in fact.”
“Hey!” Andy cried. “That’s not nice.”
“The truth never is, Andy. Suck it up.” I grinned.
“Am I late to the party?” came a voice from behind me.
We all turned to look up at the decking to see Lillie standing there, staring down at me.
Silence descended over everyone as though they’d all been starved of breath. Henry’s hand tightened around mine, and within an instant…
I smiled.
“Lillie!” I tore myself from Henry and made my way back up the stairs to greet her the same way everyone had greeted me so far today: with a hug she deserved. “You made it. I thought you said you couldn’t get time off work?”
“I couldn’t… but I’ll deal with that fallout next week. You guys were more important.” She chuckled, pulling back as she held onto my arms. “This place looks amazing, Phoebe. Just like you.”
“You’re being too kind again.”
“No such thing.”
When we first came face to face almost a year ago, there’d been an awkwardness, naturally, more from me than her.
She’d been such an important part of Henry’s story, I couldn’t help but wonder how she’d take to me, but to her credit, Lillie had welcomed me with open arms, and so much had been said with that one smile she’d given me.
I’m okay, I promise. I want you to be, too.
Since then, she’d been like the sister I never had, her feelings for Henry gone as soon as she saw us together.
“I’ve never seen him smile the way he smiles with you,” she’d whispered, and that had been all it had taken for her to fit into this unexpected life we’d created.
As I turned to look at the others, with my arm around Lillie’s waist, I met Henry’s gaze, and the world stopped. He beamed up at me with such love and such pride, it should have made me feel somewhat embarrassed.
Instead, I soaked it all in.
Before Mykonos, I’d thought being selfish was a bad thing, something to avoid, and that indulging my own fantasises instead of thinking of others would lead to an unfulfilled life.
As it turned out, being selfish had led me to getting everything I’d ever wanted with the man I’d never dared to dream of.
The man who turned out to be better in reality than any Reed Easton ever could be in fiction. I never had to give him up.
There were already too many highlights to our story to remember. There’d be no last page to turn until we took our final breaths in this life and found each other all over again in the next.
Of that, I had no doubt.
We belonged.
HENRY
One week later…
“I still can’t believe you pulled this off without me knowing,” Phoebe said as she stood in the middle of the apartment, turning around slowly and taking it all in as though she hadn’t spent some of the best nights of her life in here already.
I still couldn’t believe she’d stuck around and agreed to love my moody arse for the last year, and now here we were, back in Mykonos together, celebrating twelve blissfully happy months of us.
Instead of voicing that to her though, I pushed my hands into the pockets of my swim shorts and simply took her in—this woman who’d stumbled into my life, grabbed me by the balls, and brought me to my knees without even trying.
Phoebe had grown even more beautiful since then, if that were even possible, but seeing her standing in front of me in that same white bikini she’d worn the first time I saw her, and those damn denim, cut-off shorts…
It was enough to take my breath away.
“Henry?”
I blinked back into the moment and looked up from her smooth, tanned legs to meet her sparkling eyes, her perfect smile making my heart beat even faster than it already had been from the moment I’d seen her step out of the bedroom.
“Hmm?”
“Are you okay? You’ve been acting weird since we woke up this morning.”
“Yeah. Fine.” I cleared my throat.
She saw straight through my bullshit the way she always did and stepped closer until she could rise up on her toes and press the back of her hand to my forehead. “Huh. No temperature, so you’re not getting ill.”
I pulled her closer to me, so her tits were pressed against my body. “I said I’m fine.”
“There he is.” She beamed up at me.
“Never left you, smart arse.”
“You’d better not, either.” Phoebe stretched out her dancer’s figure and pressed those perfect petal lips against mine, indulging me with a kiss before she dropped back down to her feet and stepped out from my embrace.
“Now, let’s get this little role play thing of yours out of the way before I chicken out. ”
“Chicken out? What are you scared of?”
“I’m a dancer, Henry, not an actor.”
“This isn’t acting, Phoebe. We’re just reliving a core memory. Only this time, with a few… adjustments.”
“Adjustments?” She raised a brow.
“You’ll see.”
From the look on her face, I knew we had to go now or never before she really did back out. It had taken me a few hours the night before, after we’d arrived for our first night in Mykonos, to convince her to do this, and I didn’t intend on giving her enough time to back out now.
“See you downstairs in two minutes?”
A look of uncertainty flashed over her face before she gave me a firm nod and bit down on her bottom lip.
“Good girl.” I leaned in to kiss her once more before I pulled away and whispered, “Don’t forget your flip flops.”
“You’re so weird.” She chuckled.
“Trust me.” With a playful slap on her arse cheek that brought out a squeak of surprise, I made my way out of our apartment and headed down the stairs to the pathway where Phoebe and I had first met, exactly a year ago to the day.
Twelve perfect months of nauseating happiness since my world had been turned upside down for the better.
Nerves danced around in my stomach in a way I rarely experienced as I found the exact spot where she’d slammed into me, all the memories of that time washing over me. There’d been so many things I’d done wrong the first time I laid eyes on her, nothing mattered more than putting them right now.