Epilogue
Blake
Five months later
“Are you sure this looks okay?” I huff, adjusting my graduation cap.
“It’s fine. Stop messing with it.” Cooper chuckles, grabbing my hands and bringing them up to his lips, pressing a soft kiss on my knuckles.
It’s always the simple touches that get me going. “Stop it, you’re going to make me pop a damn boner before going on stage in front of hundreds of people.”
“All I did was kiss your hand.” He gives me a sly grin.
“You damn well know how you affect me.” I glare up at him. My mood is a bit off today, but I’m trying to stay positive the best I can. I don’t want my sour mood to ruin Cooper’s day. He worked hard to be here.
“Fine, fine. I’ll keep all the kisses for after the ceremony. Better?”
“No,” I mumble. “Because I don’t want to wait. I love your kisses.”
“Pick one, Latte Boy. Kisses or no kisses.” He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. I groan when I feel his semi pressing against mine.
“Kisses.” I lick my lips, a new wave of arousal hitting me. “Always kisses.”
Cooper cups the back of my head, placing a soft kiss on my lips. I hum with satisfaction, chasing his lips as he pulls away. “We better go find the girls and get our seats.”
Cooper takes my hand in his and together we search for our friends.
“Blakey, Coopy!” Val followed by Lexie, Tabitha and Ellie start heading towards us. “I can’t believe we’re really here. Graduating college. We’re adults heading out into the big, bad world. It’s kind of terrifying.”
“If anyone should be afraid, it’s the rest of the world. You’re going to be running wild now.” Lexie gives her friend a watery smile.
“No crying!” Val warns. “I do not want to mess up my makeup. And there’s nothing to cry about, we’re going to be living in the same town. We’re going to see each other all the time.”
“Yeah, but it’s not the same. I’m used to seeing you everyday.
All of you.” Lexie turns her tear filled eyes on me and Cooper.
A wave of emotion hits me. These girls are my best friends.
I’ve come to love all of them, and I can’t see my life without them.
I understand how Lexie feels. It’s going to be a bit of an adjustment.
“No matter where life takes us, we’re going to make sure we take time for one another, okay?” Cooper pulls Lexie in for a hug.
“We better.”
“Come on,” Ellie says, looping her arm through hers. “We have to go find our seats.”
The girls start walking ahead of us and we follow a few steps behind.
“So, I was thinking.” Cooper leans in and lowers his voice.
“Oh no, that can’t be good,” I mutter.
“Ha-ha.” He chuckles. “No really, I’ve been thinking a lot about our lives and what comes next outside of college.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask, not missing the way my heart picks up speed.
A lot has happened over the past year. Most of it was good, some of it, not so much.
Cooper losing his place on the football team hurt me more than it did him. If he wasn’t defending me, he wouldn’t have been kicked off.
No matter how many times he says he doesn’t regret it, I still can’t help but feel guilty.
But I also can’t deny that him sticking up for me like that, fighting for me, losing something he loved to protect me, just proved how amazing of a man he is. That he really does love me. He chose me. No one other than my mom and sister has ever chosen me.
I’m not sure if he knows how much that meant to me.
“And?” I wait for his answer, every second that ticks by filled with dread.
Is this the moment he says that this was only a college relationship, that now we’re out in the real world we need to branch away from this perfect little world we’ve built in our heads.
“Blake. I can see the panic on your face. You have nothing to worry about. It’s not a bad thing. I mean, unless you don’t want to live with me.”
“Live with you?” My eyes widen, head snapping up to gape at him. “You want me to live with you?”
“I mean, we pretty much live together anyways.” He chuckles. “We spend all our free time either at your place or mine. But I was thinking maybe we get our own place. I looked at a few apartments online and they seem—”
“Yes,” I blurt out. “I’ll move in with you. I’ll do anything with you. Wanna get married? Name the time and place, and I’ll be there. You want kids? I’ll find a way to get pregnant. Whatever you want, it’s yours, no questions asked.”
Cooper stops and it takes me a second to realize that he’s no longer beside me. “What?” I ask, turning to face him.
“You asking me to marry you, Blake Clark?” The corner of his lips kick up.
“What?” I splutter. “No, that’s not what I meant. Unless you'd say yes then, yeah?”
He tosses his head back and laughs. Warmth floods my face as I look around.
“What’s so funny?” I grumble.
“Nothing's funny, baby. I just think you’re so damn cute. It’s just another reason to add to the million reasons I love you.
” He pulls me into his arms again. “You wanna have my babies huh? Well, I don’t think that’s possible.
” He leans in, brushing his lips against mine.
“But I sure as fuck want to try. As many times as it takes.”
“By any chance do we have time to sneak away for a quickie?” I groan, all the blood in my body flooding straight down to my cock.
“I wish.” He groans, giving me a quick, but dirty kiss. “I fucking wish. After. Right now, we graduate.”
“Fine,” I grumble. “I’d rather have you inside me just so you know. It’s a much better time than this.” I hate big crowds, all eyes on me. What if I trip over something when I get up there and the next thing I know, I’ve gone viral?
“Trust me, I agree.” He brushes my lower lip with his thumb.
The way he’s looking at me tells me he doesn’t want to be here right now anymore than I do.
“So, are we really doing this? Getting a place of our own?”A smile splits my face.
“I’d love nothing more than to wake up next to you every morning and fall asleep next to you every night.
I’ll move in with you, Cooper. Trust me, I’d have done it the moment we started dating. ”
“I love how obsessed you are with me.” He chuckles.
“Like you’re not obsessed with me.” I roll my eyes. “You’re so much worse.”
“I am. But you love it.”
“I do.” I bite my lower lip.
‘And I love you.” His voice lowers as he leans in to kiss me again.
“And I love you more.”
We’re just about to start making out again when we’re pulled apart. “That’s enough you two,” Chase says. “As hot as it would be to see you two going at it, I don’t think the rest of the place would appreciate it.”
“You might be graduating, but until you walk across that stage, I’m still your coach. Fuck in your own time. Seats, now.” Brody pushes Cooper forward, making my boyfriend laugh.
After Cooper got kicked off the team, he was still able to stay and finish his degree. As for Mickey, he dropped the assault charges when I threatened to press charges for not only what he did to me the night Cooper got arrested, but for all the times in the past, including high school.
That didn’t mean he got off easy. He was still expelled from school. After I went to the Dean’s office to beg them to let Cooper back on the team, I spilled all my dark past moments.
Theo isn’t a fan of bullies and no amount of money could pay him off. Believe me, Mickey’s parents tried. The fact was, Mickey filmed us having sex and tried to blackmail me with it. Public sex might not be legal, but neither is distributing a sex tape taken without consent.
It’s the best outcome I could have asked for honestly. I’m not sure how much ground I’d have to stand on for years of unreported incidents being brought up years later.
Cooper wanted Mickey to go to jail for what he’s done to me, but all I want is to be free to live my life with him, and just enjoy being happy.
“We’re going, we’re going,” Cooper huffs.
I’m dying of embarrassment right now. “Have fun you two. Be safe,” Chase yells after us. “Wear a condom, we don’t want any unwanted pregnancies.”
“I’m going to kill him,” I hiss, shooting him a murderous glare over my shoulder as we walk away. The fucker just grins and waves, giving me a wink.
I like Cooper’s winks so much better.
“Don’t, he’s worse than Val. Val takes the hint most times, Chase will feed off it and make it much worse.”
“No unwanted pregnancies. We’re men.” I roll my eyes.
“You weren’t thinking that just a moment before when you offered to have my babies.” Cooper chuckles. “A very sweet offer, by the way.”
“Fuck off.” I groan, wanting the ground to swallow me whole. Sometimes I really should think before I speak.
We find our seats just in time for the ceremony to start.
It’s honestly boring. I don’t bother listening to the speeches, too busy looking behind me where Cooper is sitting a few rows back. Stupid alphabetical order bullshit.
One by one, people get called up. When it’s my turn, I swallow down the nerves and walk across the stage.
I’m expecting some courtesy claps, maybe a little shout from my mom for how proud she is of me. What I don’t expect is my name to be screamed, followed by not only my mom and sister, but Cooper, Val, Ellie, Lexie, Tabitha and Bailey whooping and hollering.
My head snaps to the side, lips parting in shock. A wave of emotion hits me at the sight of my people. I have people. Friends. A found family.
I look back at younger me and I want to cry. All the times I’d come home defeated, ready to give up, wondering what I did to deserve such cruelness. Who knew all it took was a golden boy football player and his sunshine smile to change my whole world?
I owe him my life. He’s the reason all my dreams came true, and more. He gave me someone to love and be loved by, he gave me some of the best friends in the whole world.
But most of all, he taught me how to love myself for the first time in my life.
My eyes find Cooper’s and there it is, the smile that melts my heart. I give him one back, only mine is a little wobbly, as I try my best to hold back tears.
I finish my walk, grab my diploma and go sit back down. I’m a ball of nervous excitement, eager to get this done and over with, and to start the next chapter of my life. With the man of my dreams, the best of friends and a family who I’d die for.
I’ve gone from the boy who had nothing, to the man who has everything.
Each time one of my friends walks across, I bite down my anxiety and cheer just as loud as they did for me.
Cooper’s name is called and I’m pretty sure I scream so loud my voice gives out. I’m beaming ear to ear with pride, clapping so hard my hands hurt.
He did it. He worked so damn hard to get here and I’m so fucking proud.
When everything is done and we’re all dismissed, a part of me feels a small bit of sadness. Not because I’m going to miss college, just the moments this past year that shaped and changed the rest of my life. But that time isn’t over yet, if anything life is just beginning.
Making my way over to Cooper, I run towards him, laughing as he waits for me with open arms.
He catches me and we both laugh. “We did it.”
“Fuck yeah we did.” He chuckles, kissing me roughly. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“It was all you. You just needed someone to take a little extra time with you.”
“Thank you for believing in me,” he murmurs against my lips.
“I think it’s me who should be thanking you. You’re the one who took the risk on me.”
“Nothing about making you mine was a risk, baby. It was a fucking privilege.”
“I love you, Cooper Novak.”
“I love you, Blake Clark.”
“So, what do we do now?” I ask, looking around.
“Anything and everything.” He winks, making my heart skip a beat.
We have our whole lives to decide. We’re not in a rush. Let’s take our time, enjoy every moment. But as long as you’re by my side, that's the only place I wanna be.”
“Yeah.” I smile, nodding my head. “I think that sounds pretty damn perfect to me.”
The end