Epilogue
Dakota
“You guys are the worst,” I make a face at Holly as she yanks her lips off of Ford’s. “You guys have been together, what, a month? And you’re still sucking face like that in public. Come on.”
Holly just giggles and cuddles closer to Ford. I mean, I don’t hate them. I’m just the third wheel. Again. Story of my life.
“You’re the one that got us together, Dakota. You have only yourself to blame.” Holly wraps her arms around me now and plants a wet kiss on my cheek.
“Gross!” I push her away.
“I can’t help it. The love’s just pouring out of me.”
“Ya. Ya. Great.” I wipe my cheek. “That’s super great for you.”
“Come on, Koty.” She grins at me. “Why so grumpy? You know how much I love you for helping me find the love of my life. Maybe I can return the favor.”
“The only favor I currently need is to get my basement developed. So unless you’re gonna get me a sweet deal from your boyfriend…” Ridiculously, I bat my lashes at Ford who just laughs at me. “Then you probably can’t help me.”
“I wish I could, Dakota, but I’m swamped at work right now. And this one—” he snags Holly back into his arms “—is taking up all my free time.”
I’m happy for them. Truly. They’re meant to be together, and it actually warms my heart how in love they are. I know they’ll stand the test of time. I mean, you just have to look at them to see how much love there is between them.
“I can ask my brothers though. Maybe one of them can help out?” He offers hopefully.
And Holly piggybacks on that. “Surely one of them has some spare time. There are six of them—”
“Five,” I interrupt.
“Well, five apart from Ford—”
“Nope. Just five.” I don’t want to explain myself. Holly should already know how I feel. But maybe all the love floating around in her head has fogged her memory. Yup. It has. “Don’t give me that scrunched up look. You know what I’m talking about.”
Ford, God bless him, starts counting his brothers for my benefit. “Me, Cam, Daughtry, Nash, Colter, and Barnett.” He’s cute. I get why she’s into him. He’s even holding up six fingers as if to prove it to me. So I walk over and push down finger number two.
“Ya. That’s better.”
“Cam?” He asks.
“Yup. Don’t even bother asking him. I wouldn’t let him do my basement if he paid me to do it.”
“Um…care to explain that one?”
“Without wanting to offend you, I’d just rather eat a pail of dirt than be around Cam for longer than it takes to walk past him on the street.”
“I—”
And I hear Holly whisper to him, “Don’t bother going into it, Ford. I’ll tell you about it later.”
Better her than me. If I got talking on that subject, I probably wouldn’t shut up.
Then she flashes me a reassuring smile. “It’s all good. I’m sure Ford can work his magic on one of his brothers.”
“My magic doesn’t work as well on them as it works on you,” he says none too quietly in her ear.
“On that note,” I make a face at them, “I’ll see you two later.” I give them both a quick hug, which turns into a ridiculous group hug because Ford won’t let her go. But it’s all good. At least they make me laugh.
I’m super lucky to have such amazing friends. Now…if only I can find someone to help me fix my house.