Epilogue Two
Gage
Twenty Years Later
"You know we don't have to do this, right?" I murmur to Troian, slipping my arms around her waist from behind.
She glances at me in the mirror, a sweet smile on her face. But I see the anxiety lurking in her gaze. She can't hide it from me. I know her far too well.
"Yes, we do," she says. "We already said we'd be there."
"So? We can blow it off." I brush my lips across her bare shoulder. "I bet Corey and his husband would skip with us and go to dinner instead."
They've become damn good friends over the years, watching out for Troian and our adopted daughters while I was in medical school and then killing myself during my residency.
She turns in my arm, staring up at me. "Are you afraid to go because you're worried someone will say something about me? You know I don't care about that, Gage. High school was a long time ago."
"I'm not afraid to go," I murmur. "I just don't give a fuck about any of those people, butterfly. Why spend the night with assholes who stopped mattering twenty years ago when I could spend it with you instead?"
Her lips curve into a grin. "Maybe I want to be seen on your arm, so they all know that I got the guy."
"There was never any doubt about you getting the guy, baby." I narrow my eyes at her. "The guy in question wasn't having anyone but you."
She laughs softly, her green eyes shining. "We're going to the reunion, Gage. End of discussion."
"Fine," I growl. "But I want you naked and on your hands and knees when it's over."
"Fine." She smirks at me, leaning forward until her lips are at my ear. "But just so you know, I'm not wearing panties tonight."
I growl, caging her in against the sink when she tries to slip out of my arms.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking to see if you're lying to me."
"Do I ever?" she asks, her expression serene.
No. She doesn't. That's what worries the fuck out of me. There's no way I'm going to make it through the whole reunion with my wife on my arm, not wearing panties. I barely make it through the damn day when she is wearing panties.
I still feel like a horny goddamn teenager every time I look at her.
I slip my hand into her pants, growling against her throat when I confirm that she is not, in fact, wearing panties.
"Gage," she moans, squirming in my arms when I press my thumb to her clit. "We're going to be late."
"Too bad." I nip her skin, flicking her clit. "You should have thought of that before you decided to go without panties tonight. You'll spend the whole night soaked in your own juices, making a bigger mess for me to clean up when we get home."
She moans softly, but she doesn't tell me no. She just melts into me, letting me play with her until she's soaking my hand and crying out my name.
I still don't want to go to this fucking reunion when she's limp and boneless in my arms, but there's nothing I won't do for her. She's been my whole world for twenty-four years.
We survived high school and the chaos of a short-lived film career together.
We survived college, medical school, a grueling residency, and a fellowship.
We survived two adoptions, two perfect little girls, and four different cross-country moves.
Troian has been my rock through every single thing life has thrown at us.
She's taught me grace and compassion and how to love like she does, and she's never once stopped looking at me like I'm her hero.
Hell no, I won't tell her no.
So we go to the reunion. We dance and we eat and we make nice with people who stopped mattering a lifetime ago.
And, like always, Troian shows more grace than any of them deserve, especially Victoria, who looks like life gave her exactly what she deserved.
But Troian doesn't rub it in her face when Victoria haltingly asks for forgiveness.
She never does. She simply forgives.
My wife has had two hearts beating inside her body, and she loves hard enough to do them both justice. She loves me enough to bring my whole world to life, over and over again.
And at the end of the night, when we're home in bed and she's on her hands and knees for me, I love her hard enough to remind her that she is—and will always be—the only thing in this world that I need.