Epilogue
MAX
Voices filled the house, everyone talking at once. Grace and Simon were in the middle of a heated debate about a book they’d just finished. My teammates had taken over the couch, arguing over hockey stats and demolishing a tray of wings.
Seth waved a chicken bone at me. “Hey, Max! You don’t get to chirp us when you’ve skipped half the summer workouts.”
I couldn’t help but grin. At first, hearing them use my real name felt weird. Now it just felt right.
“Keep it up, Seth. You’re next on my hit list when we take the ice again.”
I jumped in, called them out on their bad math and stole a wing from under their hands. And just to wind them up, I reminded them none of their fancy goals would happen if I didn’t clean up their messes first.
Aidan was trying to wrangle Lucas as he ran circles around my coffee table.
Lucy, on the other hand, was taking her job as host very seriously, as she had promised – no, demanded – she would.
My mom was even here, talking happily with Emma’s parents and holding a glass of wine, as if they had known each other for years.
And through it all – the noise, the overlapping conversations – my eyes kept finding her.
Emma.
I still couldn’t believe she was here, living in my house.
She was everywhere: her books taking over the nightstand, her notes stuck to the fridge, her scent in the pillows and that ridiculously big lamp hanging above our dining room table.
Damn, I loved it all. She looked radiant tonight.
Her cheeks were flushed from laughing, and she had her hair behind her ear as she listened closely to Will tell her one of his ridiculous stories.
Of course she caught me staring, and her lips turned up in that private smile that was only for me.
I leaned against the door frame and pretended to sip my drink while waiting for her to excuse herself and cross the room to me. She always did.
“There you are,” she said softly when she reached me, slipping into my space like she belonged there, which she did. Her hand brushed mine, casual and hidden between us.
“Thank you for tonight,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome, baby,” I bent and brushed a kiss against the corner of her mouth.
Later, when the kids had taken over the stereo and were dancing in the living room, Emma slipped into the kitchen.
I followed her and found her alone at the counter, pouring more wine.
Voices from the living room buzzed behind the wall, muffled and distant.
I stepped in behind her, close enough that she could feel the warmth of me, nothing that would look suspicious.
“Hi,” I said, my voice low, my breath brushing her ear.
She leaned back, just a little – enough to show she didn’t mind.
I kissed her neck, my lips staying there a second longer than necessary.
She turned around, smiling, making this sound that was half a laugh and half a sigh. I felt it more than I heard it.
“Hey,” she whispered, soft and a little amused, like she knew exactly the effect she had on me. I bent and kissed her, slowly and deep. She melted against me, her fingers curling in my shirt. She laughed against my mouth, and honestly, that sound alone almost did me in.
“You look beautiful tonight,” I said, grinning. “Makes me want to ditch this whole thing, take you upstairs, and finish your birthday properly.”
“You’d never make it past Grace,” she teased.
I ran my thumb along her jaw. “Worth a try.”
She laughed again, shaking her head, and just then Grace cleared her throat from the doorway. I groaned and dragged a hand down my face. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, while Emma slipped away with her glass and a knowing smile.
My sister just raised an eyebrow at me and waited until Emma was back in the living room before she said anything. “When are you going to ask?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Tomorrow. When we’re alone. She’ll kill me if I do it in front of all these people.”
Grace’s eyes softened, her whole face warm with affection. “Are you nervous?”
I shook my head. “No. I know she’ll say yes.” And God, I did. I had never been so sure of anything.
Grace reached over and squeezed my arm before heading back into the fray.
As the night went on, loud and full, I sat on the couch with Emma leaning against my chest, surrounded by the people we loved. I’d spent years thinking home was something you earned or chased. Turns out it was this. Not the house or the noise, not even the crowd. Her. Always her.
Tomorrow I’d ask. But tonight, I let myself savour the sweetness of knowing she was already mine.