Epilogue
Cameron
Several Months Later
“ I don’t understand why you’re so nervous. It’s been months and you guys haven’t had any issues.” Roman’s taunting tone only seemed to rile Cameron up even more.
He shot the man a death glare. “Because Sophia has been very vocal about the fact that she never planned on settling down.”
“Wrong,” Roman said pointedly. “She’s said she doesn’t date. Not that she won’t marry. You got past the hardest part. It’s a guarantee that she’ll say yes.”
“No, it’s not,” Cameron insisted, fidgeting more than he liked.
He’d only crossed the space to the main house because Roman had emerged from his truck and Cameron had needed someone’s opinion on the ring.
He should have known better than to ask Roman.
First of all, he was a guy. Secondly, they hadn’t started off on the best of terms.
Roman smirked at him with a quirk of his brow. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. She could tell you no. Maybe you’re not husband material.”
Cameron’s steps faltered and he stared at Roman with a gaping mouth.
The man merely laughed. “ Easy . I don’t know much, but I can see it just like everyone else. Sophia is head over heels for you. She’s not going to turn you down. Not even with a ring like that.”
This time, Cameron frowned at the ring. “What? Is it not?—”
Roman laughed again. “You make it too easy.”
Cameron nearly snarled at Roman for all the teasing. “Just wait until you fall in love with a girl and you’re worried she doesn’t feel the same way you do.”
He folded his arms. “Not going to happen. I don’t catch feelings easy.
I have lots of friends. And I’ve been on lots of dates.
The girls flock to me. But…” He shrugged.
“I dunno. I just don’t get the sense that I couldn’t live without them.
” His eyes shifted as a car pulled up and a pretty, petite woman climbed out.
She smiled broadly at Roman as she shut the door.
“Is that one of the women you’re talking about? The ones who catch feelings for you but not the other way around?” Cameron prodded.
Roman snorted. “Nah. That’s just Olivia.
We’ve been best friends since we were kids.
” His brows pulled together. “She doesn’t usually come all the way out here to hang, though.
Usually, we meet in town. I’ll catch you later.
” Roman jogged toward Olivia, then turned so he was jogging backward and gave Cameron a knowing look.
“Text me when you get your answer. I want to know how bad she destroys you.”
Cameron glowered at Roman’s retreating, laughing form.
He glanced down at the ring, then shoved it into his pocket.
It was perfect for Sophia. She might not have picked it out, but he’d been very attentive to her over the last year or so.
She didn’t like gawdy. Simple and unique.
That was her taste, her style. From the red streaks in her short hair to the casual clothes she preferred to wear, this ring, with its single round stone, would match her flair to a tee.
The door to the house opened and he froze, feeling her eyes on him before he turned. He’d told her he’d be here to pick her up in about twenty minutes. She was early. Or maybe she thought he was.
And he couldn’t care less.
She was dressed in a simple black blouse and a pair of cut-off jean shorts. She leaned against the doorjamb and smirked at him. “Hey, handsome.”
Cameron prowled toward her, his smile growing. “Hey, Red.”
Sophia rolled her eyes, then pulled the door shut and headed down the steps toward him. Her eyes drifted toward where Roman and Olivia were talking, and she cocked her head slightly. He followed her attention with his own gaze as she came up beside him.
His arm slipped around her waist, and he pressed a kiss to her temple. “What are you thinking?”
“Hmm?” she murmured.
“Roman’s friend? Is she… more than that?”
Sophia snickered. “No. We always thought there might be something. Mateo and me. But nothing has ever started between them. The guys she dates are nerdier. Roman’s not her type.”
“And Roman’s type?”
She turned to him and tugged at his shirt to pull him into her. “No one knows.”
He chuckled. “That’s too bad. With how much he’s helped, I sorta wish I could help him find the level of happiness that we have.”
She glanced over at her brother. “He helped? How?”
Cameron shrugged. “I guess he’s felt more like a brother to me than my own.”
That had her frowning, and it caught his attention.
“What’s that look for?”
Sophia chewed on her lower lip and avoided looking directly at him. “You talk to your brother lately?” She’d been asking him that question a lot over the last several months.
He and his brother had kept in contact, but nothing life-changing had occurred. “No more than usual.” His heart thundered at the mention of his brother. Not today. He couldn’t think about his brother with what he had planned today. “Sophia, what’s wrong? Did he say something to you?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t talked to him since…”
He already knew the rest of that statement. But that didn’t mean that Samuel hadn’t said something to her that bothered her. “What did he say?”
Her surprise and flicker of guilt were all he needed to know he was on the right track. He pulled her to him, his hands on her waist to prevent her from pulling away.
“You can tell me,” he insisted. “I won’t get mad.”
“It really is something you should talk to him about.”
“Sophia…” he warned.
She shut her eyes, then blew out a breath. “Fine. But you can’t tell him I told you. And you can’t get mad. You promised.”
The way his heart picked up at her words wasn’t doing him any good.
He was a few seconds away from calling his brother to chew him out.
But then her words cut him off cold. She wove a story that was so detailed he had no other option but to believe it.
His brother had made mistakes, but he hadn’t intended to hurt Cameron.
All those years ago, he’d tried to be the good big brother in his own way.
When Sophia was done, all he could do was stare at her.
“You promised,” she said quietly.
He swallowed hard, then nodded. “I’m not… mad. Not really.” He was shocked more than anything. “I’m just… digesting.” His brother had actually helped in a strange kind of way.
“Are you… okay?”
Cameron nodded. “Better than ever.” At some point, he’d have to confront his brother over this story.
He’d need to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.
But right now, he needed to do something else.
He flashed Sophia a smile and draped his arm around her shoulders as he led her toward his truck.
“Let’s head out.” He gave a nod to Roman as they passed and overheard Olivia’s words before climbing into the truck.
“Please? I’m desperate. I should have never told him about you, but that’s where we’re at.”
Sure sounded like they were more than friends. Cameron glanced at Sophia, but it didn’t seem like she’d heard the same thing he had. She knew Roman better than Cameron, and it wasn’t any of his business what happened between him and his friends .
Sophia glanced in his direction as he closed the driver-side door and started the truck. She had the most adorable grin on her face—and yet it was telling. She knew something.
Cameron paused.
“What?” she laughed.
“You tell me. What’s going on?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to. What’s going on? No secrets, remember?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s nothing.”
“I know you. That smile you’re wearing? It’s not nothing.”
Once again, she brushed him off. “Maybe I’m just happy. Can’t that be a possibility?”
Cameron’s eyes narrowed. He put the vehicle into drive and headed off.
There was a fair in town, and he’d called in advance to make sure they had a Ferris wheel.
Then he’d offered extra money for them to shut the ride down for a half hour so the two of them could ride it all on their own.
It wasn’t exactly how their first date had gone, but they both had a soft spot for the ride at the fair and he knew it would be the best place to declare his undying love for her.
The second they walked up to the Ferris wheel, he knew exactly what Sophia’s smile meant. There was a large banner that had been hung to the metal rafters of the machine—and typed out in bold lettering was the word “YES.”
He stopped and turned to face Sophia, finding her biting her lip and holding back a giggle. “How did you… when… who…” Then his expression flattened. “Roman.”
She shook her head, taking his hands in hers. “Isabelle has a friend working the fair this year before she heads off for college this fall.”
Cameron groaned. “Is nothing sacred anymore?”
Her hands tightened over his, and she hopped up on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.
“In a small town like this one? Not hardly.” Then she tilted her head slightly and smirked at him.
“But to be fair, you didn’t have to tell them your plans in their entirety.
” A laugh bubbled from her throat, and it was the most delicious sound he’d heard all day.
“Honestly, I don’t think that I would have heard about your plans if Isabelle hadn’t been worried about me.
She knew I wasn’t interested in…” Her voice trailed off and she blushed. “Well, not until I met you.”
Marriage .
That was what she’d been about to say.
He didn’t know whether to be worried or relieved at this moment.
Isabelle had probably done him a favor. He didn’t know what he would have done if Sophia had hesitated for even a moment once he asked her to marry him.
Now the tension in his shoulders could ease.
He already knew the answer to the most important question he would have ever asked Sophia in their lifetime.
“Well?” she drawled. “Are you going to ask me, or what?”
One side of his mouth quirked upward, and he lowered himself onto one knee. Gazing up at her, he knew this was the turning point in his life. From this moment forward, it was only going to get better. “Sophia, will you?—”
“Yes!” she all but hollered as she threw her arms around him with another fit of giggles. Then she pressed her forehead against his. “A thousand times, yes.”