Epilogue
One year later—May
The quiet thrum of the air conditioning unit livened the otherwise silent hotel room despite the undressed people sprawled under the duvet of their California king. With her head tucked against her boyfriend”s chest and his hand lovingly massaging her sore hip, Giselle straddled the line between half-awake and dreamland with heavy-lidded eyes.
The dimmed but bright enough light from her phone screen anchored her in the waking world, held captive by the scroll of videos and pictures. The flash of new likes in the top corner teased a tired smile out of her, seeing the number slowly increase every few minutes.
”Giselle?” Jude”s voice rumbled, sounding exhausted. Neither had been sleeping much at all for the past few days.
Giselle hummed, ”Yes, darling?”
”What are you up to over there? It”s bright.”
”Scrolling through my social media feed.”
”My dove, we”re on vacation. There”s time for social media later, like after we nap and hit the beach for a couple of hours of sun and sparkling Grecian waters.” As it stood, the two were on vacation in beautiful Santorini.
After he graduated from West Bridge with honors and a successful thesis under Dr. Miranda-Silva”s supervision, his gap year between undergrad and the race for the Ph.D. began the second he pulled out of the school”s parking lot.
As for Giselle, she completed the first half of her degree program with top grades. Jude started the gentle crack to pull her out of her shell, but community college finished the job. Once a wallflower, Giselle blossomed from her cocoon to become a genuine social butterfly, and those strides made her future business in flowers more likely to succeed.
Due to their incredible year, David and Miriam booked them a few weeks in Santorini to celebrate. They didn”t regret it for a single moment, not with the apartment in the city taken care of by his parents.
”I know,” Giselle sighed but closed her apps and phone. She nuzzled harder against Jude”s chest. Their bodies shuffled around until his chest and her back curved together. Spooning. . . the best way to wake up. ”But everyone”s so excited to see our adventures.”
”Yeah, but I”d like to make more adventures first. We can update everyone who is being nosy later.” Jude”s mouth skimmed down her earlobe, punctuating his words with the occasional nibble against her ear.
Giselle”s hips ground backward against his. Jude”s breath hitched, but the groan that came after stoked a small fire in her stomach. She grinned, ”What kind of adventure did you have in mind?”
”Mmm, you and me, the beach, that adorable pink string bikini you snuck into your bag after your shopping trip in LA.”
”I think I see the vision.”
”I knew you would.”
Giselle laughed, and so did Jude, curling further into the other”s body. Their limbs tangled together, blurring where she stopped and where he started. Their body heat caught on like wildfire.
She tried to close her eyes and stay in the moment, basking in the feel of Jude beside her. But the flash of her phone ahead on the bed sent Giselle”s eyes fluttering back open. Her hand grasped it and the sheets around the phone.
”I should probably text your mom about the apartment,” Giselle murmured, earning a quiet groan from Jude.
”Giselle put the phone down. My parents have it under control.”
”But the plants and Carrot—”
”Carrot is living his best life in the apartment with his heated bed, catnip toys, and raw diet for his tummy issues. They will spoil him rotten. Your plants will also be fine since you left the instructions for their care in our kitchen. Our apartment will be okay,” said Jude.
A tiny flutter at ”our apartment” had Giselle”s heart drumming away in her chest, loud and excited. A shared space started as a welcome convenience but became something neither could live without. Something they never wanted to live without.
Giselle dropped her phone and rolled onto her other side, finding Jude”s soft eyes in the dimly lit room. The sunshine barely seeped through the curtains to illuminate Jude”s handsome face through the high shadows. Still, Giselle reached out her hands to trace the outline of her lover through the dark.
”Can you imagine what will happen when we give them human grandchildren? I already know we”ll be snitched on to Grandma and Grandpa.”
”I don”t doubt it for a second. But that”s a worry for another day.”
”Mmm, sounds like a plan.” Giselle tipped Jude”s head closer, her fingers threading through his hair. ”When are we supposed to head back home?”
”Uh. . . we still have a week. Our tickets bring us back home in June,” Jude murmured, but his eyes held hers with the intensity of hunger. She knew his tells all too well.
”Great. So, could we move our homecoming dinner to the Ridge? Daisy texted me that she”d be down there for her corporate retreat around that time, and I”ve been dying to go shopping with her.”
”Whatever you want, dove. Now, let”s forget about home for a little bit?”
”Great plan.”
”Thank you. I try.”
Jude crushed his mouth against hers, and Giselle”s fingers gripped tighter in his hair, moaning softly when he rolled her onto her back. Jude hovered over her with the duvet sliding down his back to bunch around his hips, illuminated by stray sunlight, to Giselle”s endless delight.
After over a year together, the future still looked brighter with each passing day. Giselle believed in soulmates before him, but Jude had always been the right person, even at the wrong time.
Lucky for them, they got it right the second time around.