Epilogue
“A re you sure you’re ready for this?”
“Baby, how many times have I told you? I’m waiting for you to catch up. I’ve been ready since you tasered me.” Austin winks.
We’re back in Seattle for the week. It gives us time to catch up with family and Austin has a face-to-face session with Alfie.
Which if we’re being brutally honest, is mainly them just shooting the shit.
But until tonight, we have one final video to do for the year.
It’s not a workout this time, more of a life update.
The video of me talking directly to the “Masked Man” went viral, my stats went crazy, and my follower count rose by another fifty thousand in a week.
The interest in my channel was more than I could have imagined.
And now, as well as workout videos, I do lifestyle videos, too.
It’s nice to talk about health holistically, and it’s given me the opportunity to grow, too.
Our life in Austin evolved quickly when Austin permanently relocated.
We quickly moved out of the apartment I had rented, and Austin bought a three-bedroom house with a yard and a basement, of course .
While we’re not looking to fill up the rooms just yet, there’s space for us to grow our family if we want to.
For now, I have my very own studio where I run my videos.
There is a shared office space, which we’ve decided to split right down the middle.
My half is bright colors and fun decorations.
A little bit out there, but it’s in line with where I’m moving the business especially now that I’m partnering with Nicole’s fun and bright clothing company.
Austin’s side is styled more in line with the office in Seattle.
It’s an old money vibe, with a penchant for antiques and hedonism.
It’s unconventional, but it works and, honestly, looks slightly ridiculous.
But I love it. And it helps that when we’re both working from home, we’re four feet away from encouraging the other to play hooky.
It’s December now, and we’ve been together for eighteen months, minus the little time apart for a month, which we definitely don’t count.
We kept Austin’s identity a secret for as long as possible until there were one too many articles of Dr. Alfie Adams being my “Masked Man.” One online conspiracy theorist even caught Alfie coming out of the house in Texas when he visited six months ago, causing an absolute uproar.
To introduce Austin as Austin, we released a live video introducing him as the “Masked Man,” which ended in him growling at some of the comments, stating they were disappointed and whether I had considered Alfie.
His growly nature only seemed to help his cause as the comments went wild for his overly protective playful hyperbole.
The assumption was that it was his “character” when, in reality, I had to get Alfie to call him and calm him down.
For today, we’ve decided to begin the video the same as before.
This time, the snow makes things a lot harder, and I trip and fall a few times.
My heart is beating faster than ever, the cold air taking sharp cuts at my throat and lungs.
The plan is that I’m going to pretend to scrape my shoe down the thin layer of skin on his shin before slamming it down on his foot.
Then we’ll go into a slower explanation.
As scripted, I let him catch me easily, and rather than holding my back against his chest like we practiced, he spins me so I’m standing directly in front of him.
I’m laughing, thinking he’s forgotten the moves despite practicing fifty times last night.
But he’s not laughing. He pulls his mask up, but his face is almost ghostlike, even without the plastic Ghostface mask.
My breathing hitches when he drops to one knee.
“Olivia Daniels,” he says slowly as if trying to steady himself.
I pull one hand away and hold it to my mouth. The tears have begun already.
“You have brought me so much joy, baby. My whole life was violence and struggle and feeling like I was never enough for anything. I felt like I deserved to be miserable and alone. You taught me how to love, not just you, but myself.”
“Austin, you’ve always known how to love.”
He nods gently, but there are tears in his eyes.
“There’s nothing I can do that will repay you for everything you’ve given me.
But I promise you, I’ll spend my whole life loving you, taking care of you, giving you everything you deserve.
I’ll do anything for you, Killer, but first, will you please, please, marry me? ”
I’m nodding; the whole speech, I’m nodding.
There is no way in hell I am ever going to say no to this man.
This incredible, beautiful, wonderful man that already takes care of me in so many ways.
I used to take care of everything for me and Danny; he’s relinquished some of that burden.
He’s given me more than he realizes. A home, a life, time .
Time to just be a twenty-something-year-old woman with friends, a business, and a life.
Time to really appreciate the little things.
But most of all, he’s shown me truly how it is to be loved.
Something I haven’t felt since my parents died.
I feel complete with him. I feel at home with him.
“Yes. Yes!” I laugh. “There was never going to be another answer.”
I kneel down as he pulls out a small, pink velvet box from his pocket. His hands shake a little as he pries open the lid. Inside, an opal sits on a gold band, haloed with ten stunning diamonds. They glisten and sparkle, catching in the tears that cloud my vision .
“Austin, this ring, it’s beautiful, it’s just like—”
“Your mom’s.”
He smiles, pulling the ring out of the box and, after kissing it, slipping it onto my ring finger.
“I wanted it to remind you that you deserve love just like your parents. And I’m going to take care of you for the rest of my life, just like you took care of everything after they passed away. I promise you, Olivia, I swear it.” His eyes implore mine.
I understand his need to have me believe him. He’s completely the opposite of what I initially thought he was, but he still feels the need to prove it every day.
I cradle his face with my shaking hands. “You’re a good man, Austin Black. And I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you. But I already said yes. You don’t need to convince me to marry you. It’s a dream come true to be loved by a man like you.”
I kiss him softly, tears tracking down my cheeks and mingling with our lips.
His tongue licks along the seam of my lips, and I open for him.
I smile into his mouth, my only wish being that I could call my parents to tell them.
But a flurry of snow whips around us, causing us both to break apart.
The still air and blue skies surround us, except for a little tornado spinning around us.
As soon as the snow is lifted, the wind stops, and snowflakes flutter back down around us.
I know in my heart my parents are here; it’s their little sign to say they approve.
He rests his head on mine, taking a few breaths.
“I have two more things for you if it’s okay?” he asks, with an edge of anxiousness.
He pulls out a second velvet box. I frown, confused as to why he would bring two rings.
“Firstly, or secondly”—he laughs—“you might not want to wear your engagement ring when you’re working out or doing your videos or runs or whatever else you’re doing. But I’d love for you to wear something. ”
He opens the box to a second ring, this time a band of diamonds lined across a gold band. It’s stunning in its own way, but not nearly as regal as the one he gave me first.
“They’re still diamonds.” He laughs. “But I guess they won’t catch on to anything as easily.”
“You’re too generous, Austin. So thoughtful. I love the idea, and I’ll absolutely wear at least one at a time. Thank you.” I kiss him again, and he smiles, letting out a big breath. His shoulders relax a little, and I laugh at how nervous this big beast of a man is—such a gentle giant.
“And finally. I have this.” He pulls out a Ghostface mask that’s covered in pink glitter.
I throw my head back and laugh.
“Oh my gosh, I love it. You want me to be the villain?”
“I thought we could team up. Maybe now that you’re going to be Mrs. Black, you could be Mrs. Masked Man as well.”
“Oh my god, the channel is going to love this. People will eat it up.”
“I’ll eat you up, Killer,” he murmurs against my lips.
“Promise?”
He winks, helping me to my feet. My knees practically shake from a mixture of adrenaline and kneeling in the snow for so long.
We’ll announce our engagement in a few weeks, but we’ll keep that recording just for us.
We do a mock one where Austin offers me the mask on one knee, and we do one shot pretending to kiss through the masks and another where we both lean our heads eerily to the side.
We watch them back, and I can’t help but jump up and down in excitement.
His goofiness and his indulgent nature warm me fully, even out in the snow.
I can’t wait to get back to our lives together. Home truly is in Austin now—in more ways than one.