Epilogue
STEVIE
Middle of July - One and a half months before Senior Year
The sun settles as five p.m. passes, and the heat is now tolerable. I keep my eyes closed as I fix my bikini top to cover my breasts properly.
The sun disappears completely in a second. Confused, I open my eyes to find a wet-haired Levi standing next to my towel where I’m laying out. His muscles flex as he pushes his hair back, and my gaze travels down his torso, where I find his still existing eight-pack.
“Your bikini doesn’t cover much up, does it now?
” he huffs out, sounding as jealous and annoyed as ever.
“Every man on this beach is looking at what’s mine, and as much as I approve of their taste, I’m not enjoying the fact that some of them are fixing themselves in their pants. ” His lip curls in disgust.
Well, that’s disturbing, but hell, it’s a beach. I’m going to wear what I want, and he knows that.
Something catches the corner of my eye, and I hold in my laugh at what I find. I lift my hand and point to the group of twenty-something-year-old girls passing by. All of them practically break their necks trying to catch the attention of the dark-haired, blue-eyed Adonis standing in front of me.
Levi follows my finger, glances at the girls, and looks back down at me.
“I don’t like women looking like they’re ready to throw their panties at my husband, but there’s nothing I can do about it without getting arrested, now, is there?”
He narrows his eyes back before smirking devilishly. “Later.”
Shivering and smiling, I say, “I’ll hold you to that.”
Levi sits on the towel next to me, and his phone buzzes for the umpteenth time since we’ve gotten to the beach, which is not too far from my dad’s house in Barcelona.
It’s the first stop of our two-and-a-half-week vacation, which everyone surprised us with.
Our next stop is France, followed by Italy.
The money we were given was just enough to visit a handful of cities in cheap rooms, but Levi and I agreed that this was our last chance to travel for a while, considering we’ll both be swamped for the rest of the summer.
Then, senior year will get even busier, and we’ll hopefully have jobs after we graduate.
We’ve been married for about a month now, and it’s exactly like everyone has described the first month to be. Scratch that, it’s been better. For the first time in a long, long time, I’m no longer scared of what’s going to happen next. I’m just here for the ride with the man I love.
As my husband grabs his phone, I brush a finger over the tattoo he got at Ethan’s shop a week after our wedding.
It’s a timeline of the things we’ve done since we met.
A symbol for every item we checked on the list, including a small pair of handcuffs from when we got arrested.
On the end, a guitar case sits on top of a piano with a bouquet of lavender next to it.
The piece takes up most of his right bicep, and my heart melts just like it did the first time I saw it. I told him he was crazy for doing it, and he was doomed if we ever got divorced, but even the mention of the word felt wrong.
Those dark blue eyes meet mine, and he leans over to give me a brief kiss. “What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”
I smile against his lips. “Just thinking about how we’re never going to get a divorce.”
Levi grips the side of my face, and his eyes darken for a second. Not anger, only the possessiveness I’ve become so akin to. One that will always turn me on and make me feel at peace somehow. “Whose are you?”
“Levi, not here—”
He grips the back of my head. “Say it. You obviously need a reminder.”
I let out a short breath, our lips merely an inch apart. “Yours.” He raises a brow. “Forever yours.”
My husband kisses me languidly. “Good girl,” he whispers, and tucks me into the crook of his arm.
I’m about to ask him if he wants to get dinner before he drags me back to bed at my dad’s place, where we’re thankfully alone most of the time, when he groans.
“The group chat is blowing up. They keep asking how we’re doing.”
I motion to his phone and scroll through the Scooby Gang group chat messages before landing on the most recent ones.
Kami: Are you guys visiting Em and Jake in England after Italy?
Em: I told them not to. Jake is going to social events that I’m not, and vice versa.
Jake: Yeah, it’s all family business to keep up pretenses, and also to find me a wife.
Turning to Levi, I raise a brow. “You were serious about Jake needing to get engaged before graduating to get his inheritance?”
He chuckles. “Why would I make that up? His family is insane.”
Looking back at the chat, I try to picture a life with all those riches, only to end up being with someone you may not love for the rest of your life. It sounds suffocating.
Kami: You mean “a woman of good breeding”?
I audibly gag, and Levi’s chest moves when he sees what part of the conversation I’m reading. Who says things like that anymore? We’re not cattle.
Jake: Not my words, Kamila.
Emma: I, for one, am going to try to have some fun away from my grandparents and catch up on my summer reading. You up for the fun part, Jake?
Jake: Always, but I’m leaving right when your events end.
Kami: Okay, guys, we’re flooding the lovebirds’ messages. Let’s stop.
Jake: They’re probably too busy getting down and dirty to see these messages. I say we spam them until we kill the mood.
Smirking, I start typing.
Levi: Can’t kill the mood, Jake. Even if you were to walk in on us in person, we’d keep going, and you’d get an amazing front-row seat. There’s no stopping once we’ve started. -Stevie
“Fuck, Bambi.” Levi laughs from my side. “You’re practically encouraging the guy now.”
I cringe. Comebacks aren’t exactly my forte. “Yeah, I didn’t think that through.”
Responses come in quickly.
Em: Ew, please don’t do it in front of me.
Kami: Oh God, don’t give him any ideas.
Levi lets out what sounds like a harsh breath and chuckles at the same time.
Jake: Kinky, Stevie. I like it.
“Oops,” I mutter.
“Enough.” Levi snatches the phone away. “I’m muting the chat.”
He looks visibly annoyed, and I turn myself over until I’m on top of him. “Sorry, Hotshot. Jake’s hard, if not impossible, to scare away.”
Rolling his eyes, he sits up, puts me on his lap, and lightly kisses my neck. And just like that, everything is forgiven.
The sun is starting to set, and we keep quiet for a while. I lean my head in the crook of his neck, and he kisses the top of my head every now and then.
Not only is this kind of silence comfortable with him, but it’s fun. We both know when the other needs it and when we don’t, we thrive in conversation.
I absentmindedly rub his ring finger, remembering our perfect wedding.
My favorite part was one of the most intimate ones: he and I performing together in front of an audience for the first time since Valentine’s Day.
Both of us were doing what we love. That is, until our loved ones joined us and everything ended up sounding like a hot mess. It was still the best day of my life.
Most people will call us young and reckless; some already have. We’re both ready for more of that when we get back to the real world. Yet I can’t help but think that those same people have never experienced a love like this, one based on a beautiful friendship.
Levi also gave me the gift of a lifetime—people.
His people who have now become my people.
We both found everything we’ve been looking for in each other.
Somebody to accept us not only at our worst, but to accept the unexpected.
It is rare and nearly impossible to find what we have, and I never plan on letting it go.
“Ready to leave?” he asks against my cheek.
I hug him tighter as the sun lowers farther. “Not yet.”
“Whenever you’re ready, my love.”
Those two words still make my heart flutter, and I know that come hell or high water, Levi’s going to be by my side.
Forever and always.
The best part? This is only the beginning.