Epilogue
Six Months Later
Puerto Rico
Alex
Puerto Rico was not what I had expected…and yet everything I had hoped it would be.
Sofia and I walked lazily down the beach near the hotel we had checked into after spending five days with her family on the other side of the island.
We had initially planned for a two-week vacation, but Sofia had received word that the WNBA wanted her in New York for the premiere of the short documentary about the league’s history she had filmed and cowritten the script for.
As I suspected, Mallory was charmed by Sofia and quickly realized she was the perfect person to be the face of the thirtieth-anniversary campaign.
It certainly helped that Sofia’s new series about pioneering women in sports, featuring Natasha, Megan, and several other Scorpions players, had gone viral, cementing her as a proponent of women’s athletics.
Watching Sofia grow in confidence never failed to amaze me, and I was continuously reminded of how lucky I was to be her partner.
“When I imagined visiting Puerto Rico with you, this is what I pictured,” she murmured, raising her hand to shield her eyes from the sun glinting off the water.
“Walking along the beach together?” I asked, lightly bumping my shoulder into hers. “Not the crazy parties with our families in Ponce?”
Amusement sparked in her golden-brown eyes.
When my parents learned I would be visiting the island, and with my Puerto Rican girlfriend, they had surprised me by arriving in San Juan at the same time.
It had been…weird to see my parents navigate Puerto Rico with such familiarity.
I hadn’t had many opportunities to socialize with them since I left for college years before, so spending time with them, in such a casual manner, had been awkward at first. It had also been interesting to watch my mom and dad interact with Santiago and Carmen, who had welcomed them like old friends.
It helped that they adored Sofia.
The last week had been an experience unlike any I’d ever had.
I’d met family members I had only ever known by name, visited places I had heard about in my parents’ memories, and felt connected to my roots, to my heritage, as I never had before.
I’d also been given a glimpse of my parents that I’d never seen before.
It was a peek of them as teenagers, lively and carefree, before an accidental pregnancy had yoked them together for life.
For years, I had believed that my parents had stayed together because of some toxic, entrenched religious beliefs, but seeing my mother and father interact with each other here, the smiles and laughs they shared, the quiet looks, I realized I didn’t really know them at all.
It took coming to Puerto Rico to see them as fully formed people, flaws, strengths, and all.
The hand and arm squeezes from my mother and the shoulder claps from my father made me think that perhaps they thought the same of me.
But it was spending time with Sofia and her family that made my chest tight.
I had been head over heels for her since the moment I saw her stunning face on my phone, but being with her in her homeland, surrounded by her people, had allowed me a view of everything that made Sofia who she was.
Had made my love for this amazing woman more profound.
I turned to watch Sofia now. She had wandered away toward the water to sort through the shells that littered the sand, the sea breeze fluttering the ties of her white sarong and pulling curls from her messy bun and tossing them about her face.
Christ, she was beautiful. Even now, after months of calling her my girlfriend, she made my heart ache under my ribs.
I still could not believe she was mine…and, more importantly, that I was hers.
Sofia strolled to me now, her palms filled with shells. Without a word, I pulled a ziplock bag from my pocket and opened it, holding it out to her.
“Look at this one,” she said, pointing to an iridescent crescent-shaped shell in the center of her palm. “Its ridges are perfectly spaced, and isn’t the color pretty?”
“You have an eye for pretty things,” I murmured.
Her answering laugh was all sunny delight.
“God, I’ve missed this,” Sofia breathed, pivoting to the ocean to soak in the idyllic view, while I was content to soak in her.
From her sparkling doe eyes, her long, sooty lashes that fanned out along the crests of her cheeks, to her pink lips tipped up in a dreamy smile.
Her manicured nail continued to run over the shell, and I was reminded of how talented she was at using those elegant hands on me.
My teeth clamped together until the heat in my blood returned to a gentle simmer.
But Sofia seemed to sense my mood—as she usually did—because she smirked, reaching out to squeeze my forearm. “Are you getting tired of being in the sun?”
“I’m happy to walk along this beach for as long as you want,” I said, rubbing a bit of sand off her jaw with my knuckle.
Sofia lifted a sun-kissed shoulder, tucking her collection of shells into the plastic bag and slipping it back into my pocket. “We can go back to the room and take a nap before dinner.”
“I’m not tired.” I pressed my lips to her temple, inhaling the fruity scents of her shampoo, sunblock, and familiar floral essence.
She walked a few paces away, in the direction of the hotel, before she paused, peering at me over her shoulder with her brow arched. “Who said anything about being tired?”
Holy shit, this woman.
Without a word, I stalked toward her and grabbed her hand, hauling her toward the hotel. Sofia chuckled as our feet kicked up sand, but I kept walking.
“Alex,” she shrieked, her fingers squeezing mine, “slow down.”
I did not slow down.
Sofia’s laugh was tossed about by the wind. “You act as if we haven’t had any alone time.”
“We haven’t,” I bit out. “Your abuela didn’t want us to share a room at her house, and then she only relented because your parents were staying in the room next to ours. It’s a little hard to get in the mood knowing your dad might hear us.”
It had been torture to sleep next to Sofia every night and not be able to touch her, taste her, like I was used to.
I had been primed for release since the moment we left Phoenix, and being near her every day without being able to indulge in the passion that crackled like electricity between us was slowly driving me insane.
“Good thing I booked this hotel for us to have a few days alone,” Sofia said, jogging forward until she could look back and flash me a smile.
“You’re a genius,” I said, directing her to the bay of elevators off the hotel lobby.
Thankfully, no one was inside the elevator when the doors slid open, and I crowded Sofia back against the mirrored wall after selecting our floor.
I didn’t give her a chance to speak before I crashed my mouth down on hers.
Fuck, she tasted good, and when her arms wove around my neck and she pressed her perfect body to my chest, my cock swelled painfully in my swim trunks.
Dragging my hand from her jaw to tangle in her curls, I licked into her mouth, gently tugging her head back to take the kiss deeper.
When a giggle bubbled up Sofia’s throat, I pulled back, panting against her lips.
“Alex, mi amor, I need you to keep all this”—she nuzzled her nose along my chin while her hand slipped between us to pat the bulge that tented my shorts—“in check until we reach the room. This is a family resort.”
Rolling my eyes, I pulled back, although I kept my arm wrapped around her shoulders. “Shouldn’t kids be in school?” I grumbled.
“It’s summertime,” she said on a laugh, although she nestled close to my side. “We’re lucky we were able to get a room at all.”
“No,” I growled, “you’re lucky I have so much self-control or else you’d have your back pressed against the wall again and your thighs wrapped around my head.”
Sofia gasped, her dark eyes wide as she jerked her gaze to mine. “Alex,” she whispered. “I didn’t realize you’d been so frustrated.”
I snorted. “Of course I’m frustrated. I’ve been sharing a bed with the smartest, sexiest woman I know and haven’t been able to touch her.” I buried my face in her sweet-smelling hair. “It’s been months since I’ve had to restrain myself around you.”
“Pobrecito,” Sofia crooned, patting my chest.
When the elevator doors opened on our floor, she took my hand and led me down the hallway to our room.
After swiping her key card, I followed her inside and immediately toed off my shoes.
I ignored the sweeping view of the ocean and the expanse of sandy beach glinting almost pink in the light of the setting sun and instead focused on Sofia, who had walked a few feet ahead.
I came up behind her with a growl and yanked the straps of her swimsuit down her arms until her breasts spilled out.
Grasping them in my palms and running my thumbs over her quickly hardening nipples, I nibbled along the side of her neck before sucking on the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder.
“Get on the bed,” I bit out.
She stepped away, glancing at me over her shoulder as she freed her curls to cascade down her back.
Sofia held my gaze as she peeled her swimsuit over her hips and thighs before kicking it away.
Climbing onto the king-sized bed, she arranged herself on her back, propped on her elbows, a mass of curls falling over her shoulders and chest, playing peekaboo with her breasts.
God, she was unbelievable, and she was all mine.
With shaking hands, I quickly stripped off my T-shirt and swim trunks and prowled over her, snaring her lips in a hot, wet kiss.
“We’re not leaving this room for the rest of the night,” I breathed.
Sofia nodded, angling her hips to rub her core against my cock. My answering moan rattled my lips. “We can order room service.”
Bending my head, I licked a stripe across one pert nipple. “Then let’s work up an appetite.”
An inordinate amount of time later, Sofia and I lay tangled in the sheets, the sliding glass door to our private terrace wide open to welcome in the cool sea breeze.
The rhythm of the ocean crashing against the shore mixed with the distant sounds of merengue music from the hotel restaurant, creating the perfect soundtrack.
“Are you glad you came?” Sofia whispered, her fingers stroking down my sternum.
“Of course.” I held her closer to my side, pressing my face to her curls, breathing her in. “This trip has been good for my soul.”
Sofia kissed my chest. “Mine, too. I’m so glad we could meet each other’s families. Mine loved you, you know.”
I had suspected her titís, tíos, and cousins approved of me when I was invited to play cards with the men one night after a loud, delicious dinner, but hearing Sofia say it sent a long breath rushing from my lungs.
“And my family loved you,” I said.
Her smile pressed against my skin. “And I loved them, too. I’m so happy we could spend time with your parents. They’re really great, Alex.”
I supposed they were. I was grateful to be in a position where I could agree with her unreservedly.
“Are you excited to meet Luna?” I asked, easing the conversation to the future.
She surprised a laugh from me when she sat upright, clutching the sheet to her chest. “I can’t believe I’m going to meet my new niece!”
Olivia and Javi had welcomed a baby girl into the world four weeks prior in what Carmen had described as a long and blessedly boring delivery.
Grandma and Grandpa Santiago had regaled the rest of the family with tales of their new granddaughter, whom they had visited before flying to the island.
We planned to visit the baby after our trip to New York, and I was looking forward to seeing the new parents and the newest member of the family.
And I wanted to see my girlfriend in her new role as Tití Sofia.
“You’re going to be an amazing aunt,” I said, pulling her down until she lay draped across my chest.
“I hope so.” She fiddled with the hairs on my chest. “Can I confess something?”
“Of course.”
“As excited as I am to meet Luna and go to New York to celebrate the documentary and see Caitlin…” Sofia sucked in a deep breath before biting her lip. “I’m anxious to get home.”
I brushed curls back from her face. “Are you?”
Sofia nodded. “I’ve loved visiting with family and meeting yours, but I miss it being just the two of us. Cuddled up on the couch. You answering emails and reviewing slide decks, and me researching.”
A knot lodged in the back of my throat, and it took me an embarrassingly long moment to swallow it down. “I like having you all to myself, too.”
“You do?” Her dark eyes blinked down at me.
“I do.” I ran my thumb across her bottom lip before I brought her down to cover her mouth with mine. When I pulled back several moments later, we were both out of breath. “Although home for me is not a place. It’s you. Wherever you are feels like home.”
A slow, sweet smile dawned on her face. “You’re my home, too.”
And there it was. That feeling I had searched for, through different jobs and cities and relationships, had been found in this remarkable woman sprawled on top of me. God, I was a lucky bastard.