Epilogue II #2
I roll my eyes, but I know she’s right. Like Killian, I sometimes don’t enjoy sharing my girl’s attention with someone who sucks up so much of it, but I do like seeing Cassie happy.
After being the reason she lost all her shitty old friends in Holbrook, I’m happy to be the reason she has so many better ones now.
“You know what I’m looking forward to?” I ask her.
“Helping me collect signatures and make the world a better place?”
“No.” I catch her around the waist, pulling her against me even as she tries to get away.
“Tor, if you make us late…”
I kiss her neck, then murmur close to her ear, “I’m looking forward to when this is over, and I get to bring you back home.
You’re going to show me your wedding album,” I say, kissing the skin just below her ear.
“And then we’re going to watch an episode of that Netflix show you love.
” Another kiss a little lower. “And then I’m going to take my beautiful almost-wife into the bedroom, and do you know what I’m going to do to her? ”
Cassie sighs. “You’re not playing fair.”
“I never do,” I tease, nipping at her neck.
Dramatically, she reaches for the bedroom. “I love this future. I want to time travel to it right now.”
“We can,” I say enticingly, letting my hand drift down to cup one of her tits. “Say the word, and I’ll text Silvan that we can’t make it.”
“No,” she says, giving herself the boost she needs and pulling away from me. “I told Sophie I’d be there. She’s counting on me. And you,” she says, lightly accusing. “You promised you’d help me save the world if I wanted to. Stop tempting me to abandon my mission, you… you…”
I tug her back. “Wonderful future husband?”
“I was going to say dastardly villain, but I do like that better.” She grins as she leans against me, wanting so hard to give in, but she rallies and pulls away. “No, I have to be strong. You can fuck the sense out of me later, but right now, we’re going to make a difference.”
So, we do.
Everything is pretty much set up by the time we get there.
There was never any plan to set up last night.
That was just my excuse to get her on campus, but there are tables set up now, ice chests and lemonade dispensers on top with little white cups on either side.
It’s a honey pot setup. The girls plan to lure in passing students and faculty with friendly smiles and free lemonade, then ask them to sign their petition and support the cause.
We’re here for event security, just in case some ill-mannered asshole looks at one of our girls wrong.
We aren’t expecting any trouble, but we wouldn’t leave it to chance.
Our presence alone should be enough to keep things friendly, but I already clock a few confused looks from guys who know us by reputation alone, who see Sophie Koch organizing a petition against a project her father-in-law stands to profit from directly, and her ruthless husband, sole heir to the family fortune, here supporting her attempt to disrupt his plans.
From a strictly fiscal standpoint, it doesn’t make sense, but the girls are more considerate of the human side of things.
Or, in Sophie’s case, the cows’ side of things.
To a guy who isn’t in love with one of them, or whose narrow view of the world is limited to black and white, I’m sure it looks strange.
Our women are marching around campus with signs that essentially boil down to “sign here to inconvenience the motherfuckers!” And we, the motherfuckers, are standing guard making sure no one forgets to smile while they sign their name.
The message is a little mixed, to be sure.
But all of us here—except maybe Hex, who hasn’t found his other half yet—know the harmony of having that balance in our lives.
If we didn’t have caring partners to complement us and occasionally get in our way, who knows what kind of monsters we might turn into.
My gaze drifts, tracking the guys who are already here.
Killian is helping with setup. Silvan is, too.
Hex has set himself up away from the tables in a chair with a view so he can watch the girls work.
I watch Addison bring him a cup of our girlfriends’ lemonade—which he doesn’t deserve because he’s definitely not going to sign their petition.
Hex notices us approaching first. He offers a slight nod of acknowledgment before he takes a drink. “Are you laboring or watching the show?”
“We’re pretty much set up,” Addison says before I can answer, shoving a packet of paper beneath the clip of a pink sparkly clipboard. “We just need to give our girlies the run-through.”
“That’s my cue,” Cassie whispers with a mischievous look in my direction.
Reluctantly, I drop her hand and let her go to join her friends. I wait for mine by Hex. “You bring more of those chairs?”
He shakes his head. “Every man for himself, I’m afraid.”
“I could use some help,” one of the girls says from the table, meeting my gaze with a hopeful wave.
Hex shoots me a look of private amusement, and I sigh, but I walk over to her table anyway. “What do you need, Vanessa?”
She flashes me a smile she hopes is charming and grabs one of the cups next to her lemonade dispenser. As she fills it up, she says, “I’ve never made homemade lemonade before. Can you taste mine and tell me if it’s sweet enough?”
I don’t like the way she uses those words, but Vanessa has thrown herself at every available—or, in her mind, potentially available—guy in my friend group, so it’s not surprising. “Sure,” I say, taking the cup from her.
Rather than drink it myself, I go over and grab Cassie mid-conversation and bring her to Vanessa’s table.
“What are we doing?” Cassie asks as I position her in front of me. Her gaze drops to the cup in my hand, her brow furrowing ever so slightly in confusion.
Without explanation, I bring the cup to her lips. She doesn’t know why she’s taking a drink, but she’s a good girl, so when I tip it back, she swallows without question, holding my gaze.
Warmth moves through me. I move the cup away from her mouth, then I explain, “Vanessa wanted to know how her lemonade tasted.”
“Oh.” She flashes the girl a smile. “Tastes good to me.”
Vanessa offers a tepid smile back. “Thanks.”
I catch Cassie’s chin, leaning in and kissing the sweetness off her lips.
Initially, I was only kissing her to make a point, but now that her mouth is pressed against mine, her hand reaching naturally to pull me close, I’m wishing we didn’t have to do any of this bullshit, and we could just go home.
Cassie pulls back gently, looking up at me with that loving glint in her eyes. She wants the same thing, but she has a responsibility and wants to help her friends, too.
“Sweet enough for you?” she teases.
“I wish we still had that bed set up in the library,” I murmur.
She grins, leaning in for one more kiss, then pulling away and putting space between us so she can accomplish her tasks without being distracted.
I glance at Vanessa but don’t bother answering about the lemonade. It wasn’t an authentic concern, anyway.
I drift back over to where the guys have gathered. “Vanessa still at it?” Silvan asks.
“She should have tried taking a picture of Cassie’s face and making a mask out of it,” Hex says lightly. “That may have worked for at least a second.”
I crack a smile. I don’t tell him she could get facial reconstruction surgery to look exactly like Cassie, and it wouldn’t make a difference to me. She could never be Cassie.
Vanessa doesn’t really like me, anyway. She’s just another Nina—looking to marry into a certain kind of lifestyle, to snag a certain type of husband.
There’s nothing wrong with having a type, but she’s wasting every second she spends looking in my direction because the only wife I’ll ever have is already wearing my ring.
I know the moment the other girls notice it because I hear the dramatic gasp and see Sophie grab Cassie’s hand.
“Oh my god,” Sophie says, her face brightening with excitement. “Did he finally do it?”
“Finally, she says.” Hex shakes his head. “Like we all have a foot in the grave.”
I smirk, but I know he doesn’t get it. I move closer to the girls, and Hex abandons his throne to join us too, never one to miss a show.
Cassie beams, holding out her hand and moving her pretty fingers to draw attention to her new engagement ring.
It’s in the art deco style she’s been drawn to since we first got the idea for the wedding theme.
I picked an estate piece from the 1920s because I knew she’d prefer something with real history to something new.
Besides, I buy her plenty of new jewelry.
I wanted her wedding jewelry to be something different.
“It’s so pretty,” Sophie gushes, inspecting it at different angles, probably to judge the sparkle.
Addison drops her clipboard on the nearest table and comes over to inspect the goods as well. “What are we looking at?”
“Tor proposed,” Sophie announces, holding out Cassie’s hand.
“Aww.” Addison takes a look. “Good job, Tor.”
“I love the style,” Vanessa says, sounding much less enthused, but not wanting to be left out. “It’s so unique.”
“It’s perfect,” Cassie says, gazing at me with a fond smile on her pretty face. “For us—and for the wedding theme.”
Addison’s eyes widen. “You already have a theme? Man, so many of our friends are getting married. We’re in for a real war of the weddings. Do you have a date set?”
Cassie opens her mouth, but before she can answer, Hex interrupts.
“Are you pregnant?” he asks, tactlessly, as he often is.
“What? No,” Cassie says, frowning at him.
“Then what’s the rush?” he asks, glancing at me.
“When you know, you know,” I tell him.
And I’ve known for a long time.
Silvan slaps Hex on the back. “Soon you’ll be the only bachelor around this place.”
“And the only sane one,” he says with mild disdain, which only grows when he looks down at the clipboards. “Why am I even here for this? I don’t volunteer for things.”