Epilogue
EMMA
February
“Ineed that final piece on affordable housing in the next ten minutes!” I walk around my desk and grab my things, already running late to catch a ride with Levi and Stevie.
“Need any help?” Ben comes over next to me, and I bypass him before sitting down to ensure I’ve given everything to Oliver, except for the affordable housing piece, which is going through copy edits.
“Yeah, if you can get the new copy editor to hurry the hell up, that’d be swell.”
Ben whistles. “What’s got you all riled up?” I roll my eyes and bite my lip to hide my smile, knowing Ben loves hearing about Grayson. “Hot date with your older man?”
Shaking my head, I type the final sentence of my last email and hit send.
“Kind of. My friends and I are headed to the city for the weekend, and we’re all grabbing dinner, but Grayson left last night and had a drink with my other friend, Jake, alone for the first time.
They both said it went well, yet they left out any and all details.
” Because they like to torture me, apparently.
“Nervous?”
Nodding, I don’t bother to hide my fidgeting. “Oh yeah.”
“Brighton, here’s the affordable housing piece. I just emailed it to you, too.”
The new copy editor hands me the feature article one of our writers wrote, and I ignore the use of my dad’s last name, which people are comfortable calling me here.
When I first stepped into the newsroom this semester, I decided to let everything go, to start over and make sure I’d never do anything to risk my job again, no matter how much it was worth it in the end the last time.
It’s been hectic and extremely exhausting to be an editor, but I absolutely love it.
It’s most definitely what I’m good at, and I still get to write sometimes.
“Finally.” Standing, I jog over to Oliver and hand him the article. “I’m cutting out a little early today, like I mentioned yesterday. Are we good to go?”
Oliver spares me a glance. “Go home, Haywood. Have a nice weekend.”
My lips tilt upward. He’s the only one who still calls me Haywood, and I’m not sure why, but it feels good to have some familiarity with the guy. “You too, boss.”
Speed walking to my desk, I whip my coat off my chair and grab the small suitcase under my desk, along with my purse, saying my goodbyes to Ben.
“Good luck.” He waggles his brows while sitting on Eric’s desk. The two made it official over winter break and seem happy. I’m not bad at this matchmaking thing.
I sigh as I head to the parking lot where Levi and Stevie are waiting for the two-hour drive into Manhattan.
“Love on Top” by Beyoncé plays when I open the back-seat door, and I throw my suitcase on the floor, quickly hopping in.
“You’re late,” Levi huffs out.
Stevie slaps his arm. “What he means is, how are you? How was your day? How was work?”
Laughing, I tell her, “I’m good, it was great, and work was exhausting but never boring as per usual.” I look at Levi through the review mirror. “Are you going to drive or what?”
He apologizes to Stevie and throws a wink at me as his way of apologizing.
Well, it’s better than nothing.
“Was Grayson able to get anything out of Jake?” Levi turns onto the highway.
I’d pushed Grayson to try to get some information from Jake discreetly, but men are useless when it comes to that kind of shit. He tried to ask, then some guyish subject came up, and they got drunk. Needless to say, it wasn’t even worth trying.
“I got nothing. I barely know what they spoke about.” I rest my head against the window.
“He’ll tell us when he’s ready,” Levi says, lacking the usual confidence in his voice.
It’s been a while since Jake got back from Aspen, and he hasn’t told us much, only about how much he skied.
When we asked about the girl he was pictured with more than once, he kept changing the subject.
The three of us talked afterward, knowing something was up and that there was more to the story.
Whether it’s about his parents, the mystery girl, or something else, we don’t know, but we’ll find out… somehow.
“Yeah, he will.”
“So, Grayson told me his new restaurant in Driscoll will be up and running in a month or so.” Jake lifts his third neat whiskey and downs it, already sounding a little tipsy.
My eyes narrow toward Kami, who looks at me questioningly as well.
Jake doesn’t usually get drunk unless we’re at a party, and we’re currently in an extremely nice restaurant on the Upper West Side.
It seems, though, like he and Grayson got along well last night, as both of them reassured me dozens of times before we sat down to eat.
Then I saw it happen in real time while we ordered food and received our appetizers. They have inside jokes and everything.
The rest of my friends have already gotten to know Grayson. It reminds me a bit of when we met Cameron and how, after a few hangouts, he fit right in.
“How the hell did you pull that off?” Cam asks from next to Kami, where the seven of us are seated at a round table.
Grayson grabs my hand under the table and intertwines our fingers, then picks up his fork with his left hand. “The place was already a restaurant. I’m just changing a few things, and I knew some people who could expedite the permits.”
That’s when I realize he didn’t notice what he did with our hands. We’re officially at the point in our relationship where we’re so used to each other’s mannerisms and the way we touch in public that it’s instinctual.
I look up at him as he talks, and when he’s finished, Grayson’s blue-green eyes meet mine and soften, with crinkles forming at the corners.
“Hi, love,” he whispers. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”
Shrugging, I decide not to tell him my realization.
“Just that I love you.”
Grayson raises an eyebrow. “I love you too, but I know that’s not it.”
Lifting my fork and popping a cherry tomato in my mouth, I smile innocently. “That is all, I swear.”
After I finish chewing, with Grayson’s stare still fixed on me, he lifts the napkin from my lap and gently wipes the side of my mouth. The intimate gesture already has me ready for him, and he knows it.
A small smirk plays on his lips before he smoothly places the cloth napkin back on my legs, then gives me a swift kiss on the lips, followed by one on my forehead, and finally one on my nose.
My heart swells twice as big as I giggle at his playfulness, and my friends “aww” at our interaction. At that, I flip them off, hearing the mockery in their tone.
Grayson leans in again as we share dessert. “I’m so lucky that you’re mine.”
It catches me off guard, not the statement itself, but that he said it in front of my friends, even if it was quiet. Kamila, who’s next to me, hears it. She pretends not to, but I can tell by her expression.
Turning my face, I grin, and the hummingbirds find their way in. The flap of their wings is always there in my stomach when he’s near me or when I think about him. Other times, they’re not as strong; however, now, they’re as powerful as ever.
His eyes examine every detail of my face, and he continues to stroke my thumb with the hand that’s been intertwined with mine for the past forty minutes. “I decided on the name of the restaurant,” he casually says.
“Yeah?”
Grayson nods. “But I need your permission to use it.”
I tilt my head. “Okay?”
He sighs nervously. “Charlotte’s.”
My body freezes. I shouldn’t be surprised by Grayson’s grand gestures anymore, but this feels different. He wants to name the restaurant after my cousin…my forever best friend.
“What about your parents’ names?” I whisper, tears gathering in my eyes.
“The soup kitchen is named after them, remember? At least their initials.” Grayson’s eyes watch me as I remember why it was so difficult to find information on his parents last semester. “You don’t have to say yes. I can always name it something else. It’s completely up to you.”
Somebody orders the check in the background, snapping me out of my trance. “Can we save that name for the bookstore? I think it’d be more fitting.”
The tension in his shoulders and face eases. “Of course. I think that’s perfect.”
I quickly wipe away a tear that escaped at the thought of how much my cousin would have loved a place like the bookstore named after her. We’ve been going back and forth over names, and none have felt right until now.
“You okay there?”
My lips turn upward as a tear drops on my cheek. “I’m perfect. I’m sorry, I got overwhelmed for a second.” I gently tap my eyes and look around the room, finding the right spot.
After Jake insists on paying the bill and we argue over splitting it, we stand up and put on our coats. I grab Grayson’s hand and pull him away from the group until we’re in a private spot near the exit.
“What—”
I grab the collar of Grayson’s shirt and kiss him with all the passion and love I can muster.
This man loves me as much, or maybe more, than I love him.
I’m not entirely sure why or how that is, but through everything he’s done for me, told me, and shown me, it’s clear that his love for me is limitless.
Letting go of him before we do something that will get us in trouble, I find him with lustful eyes, along with a shine of adoration hovering over them.
“I’m going to continue doing these things if it means I keep getting sex, blow jobs, and mind-blowing kisses,” he says breathlessly.
Laughing, I swat his chest. “If you do anything like this again, you’re going to make me swoon, and I refuse to swoon.” I put a hand on my hip. “You also get sex, blow jobs, and great make-out sessions on the regular.”
He smirks. “Yeah, I do.”
We kiss one more time, both of us laughing like teenagers, before our friends reach us.
Kami motions toward the door. “Out, you two. We want to go home.”
Grayson wraps his arm around my shoulders and tucks me into his chest, making me feel secure, safe, and warm.
As much as I love my parents and my childhood home, Grayson is my new home—a different kind of home.
One I’d dreamed of as a kid. The path here, however, was much more complicated and unique than I had ever expected.
We still face judgment from people talking about our age or the rare times when others will recognize us outside campus and maybe in our business, but it doesn’t matter, not when it comes to this.
His gaze locks with mine as the hummingbirds return once more.
Grayson told me I was the one. He said I was the only future he could see, and I feel the same way.
And to think, this is only the beginning…
The moment all seven of us step out of the restaurant, we’re surrounded by flashing lights and people shouting behind those flashes. My heart jumps to my throat, already familiar with the experience.
Fucking paps.
The city is free rein for all of us, especially Jake, although it’s been a while.
“Is everyone okay?” I hear Cameron say loudly.
Grayson is yelling at one of the paparazzi to get the fuck away, while I’m trying to make out their questions.
The next one is loud and clear. Jake appears by my side, wide-eyed and sweating in thirty-degree weather, just before someone asks, “Jake, is it true that you’re engaged?”