Epilogue
ZOEY
Three months later…
“Zoey, Zoey, Zoey,” Amira says as she runs down the hallway toward me.
I brace myself, knowing the power of her hugs. Even though she’s little, she packs one hell of a wallop when she comes at you at full force.
Hunter’s a good twenty feet behind her, carrying two bags of groceries. “Amira,” he calls out, but it’s useless.
I open my arms as she springs into the air, colliding with me.
“Oof,” I mutter, staggering backward, but I somehow find my footing and stay upright. I wrap my arms around her, giving her a giant bear hug. “What’s up, sweetie?”
“Mom’s better now,” she says as she twirls a lock of my hair around her little finger.
“She is?” I knew her treatments had ended, and her newest scans came back showing no evidence of cancer. She’s currently in remission but will be monitored in case there’s a reoccurrence.
“Yes.” Amira’s voice is so high-pitched it makes my ears ring. “Can we celebrate?”
“Of course.” I kiss her cheeks, loving her excitement for all things. Her ability to celebrate every event in life is something I’ll strive to do in the future myself. “What were you thinking?”
“We need a cake.”
“Cupcakes?” I ask, preferring the frosting-to-cake ratio better than on a typical slice of cake.
“Even better.” She turns to glance at her father without leaving my arms. “Daddy, can we make cupcakes?”
“Only if we can use sprinkles too,” he tells her.
The man knows the way to a girl’s heart. “Well, duh.”
She says it so casually, I can’t stop myself from laughing.
This little girl has weaseled her way into my heart.
At times, she’s even made me question my decision to never have children of my own.
My cousin and sister have done their best to make me believe that the pain is worth it, too.
I still think they’re lying, but if it happens in the future, I won’t have a total meltdown.
I’m still on the pill. I haven’t completely lost my marbles. We’re nowhere near the kid talk. We’ve been dating for three months, and it’s the longest I’ve ever been in a relationship with anyone in my life.
“Your place or mine?” I ask him when he gets close enough.
“Mine. Amira has all her things there.”
It’s a common question we seem to have every day. We stay in one person’s place or the other's. At least it’s easy since they’re next to each other.
“You cook, I’ll clean.”
Hunter leans over and kisses my cheek, making Amira giggle. “Missed you,” he whispers.
“Cupcakes,” Amira calls out, wiggling out of my arms and interrupting the moment. She grabs my hand and then her father’s, hauling us toward the door.
“Bossy little thing, aren’t you?” I tease Amira, but my feet move because there’s no point in fighting it.
“I’m making pasta. You hungry?” Hunter asks me.
“Starving.” I haven’t eaten all day. I had to go into the bar early this morning. It hadn’t had a deep clean in weeks, and it needed it. I spent hours steam-mopping the floor and scouring every surface I could until the place was spotless.
“Get everything done?” he asks as he unlocks the door.
“Yep. Everything.”
Hunter offered to come with me, but I wouldn’t put him through that. I like things the way I like them, and I’m picky about the results.
“Hold this,” Hunter says, placing something cool and hard in my hand.
I glance down, finding a new key. “What’s this?” I ask as I follow him into his place.
“A key to my apartment. I thought you should have your own.”
I gawk at him, my mind working faster than my mouth can catch up.
Amira kicks off her shoes and runs to her room, leaving us alone in the entryway.
“You’re giving me a key.”
“Is that okay?” he asks, setting the bags of groceries on the table near the door.
“Well, yeah, sure. I just wasn’t expecting it.”
I don’t know why it feels like such a huge step. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not. We’ve been playing apartment shuffle for months now. I don’t know why I haven’t given him a key to my place yet. I should’ve been the one to think of it first.
“No?” he asks.
I’m so busy staring at the key that I don’t even notice when he drops down on one knee.
“What are you…” I don’t get the sentence out before he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box.
My heart feels like it somersaults down from my chest and straight into my abdomen. Is he? Oh my God. He’s… Fuck. We’ve talked about the future and what that would look like for us. Of course, we’ve talked about getting married and our forever, but I didn’t think it would come this soon.
“Zoey Gallo, will you do me the honor of marrying me? It doesn’t have to be soon, but I can’t go another day without having you as my fiancée. I want forever. There’s not a day I want to draw breath where you aren’t mine. Now and always.” He holds out the box and flips open the top.
My breath catches when the overhead lights glint off the ring. It’s stunning. Not overly large, but I’m not into jewelry. It’s the perfect size and shape—princess cut.
My vision becomes blurry as I try to gaze down at him. My lips quiver as I try to speak. I give up, holding out my hand in front of me. “Yes,” I cry, nearly dropping to my knees in front of him.
How could I not say yes? The man took a bullet for me, and not a day has gone by since he entered my life that I haven’t felt safe and loved.
He’s everything I wanted but didn’t think was ever possible. I’ve spent most of my life with the wrong type, always bumping into the assholes who only wanted me for one thing. But every single horrible encounter was worth it because now I have Hunter.
When he slides the ring on my finger, I throw myself into his arms, and he falls backward onto his ass. I pepper his face with kisses before I finally find his mouth, kissing him with all the emotion I feel in this moment.
Is this quick? Hell yeah, it is. Am I good with it? Hell yeah, I am. I’ve been with enough bad to know when something special lands in my lap, and I’ll do anything to hold on to him, including becoming his wife.
Hunter holds me tight as I deepen the kiss.
Amira gasps, and I pull back like we’ve been caught by our parents.
“Did you ask her, Daddy?”
He blows out a breath and climbs to his feet, somehow holding on to me while he does it. The man is strong, and I freaking love that for me. “I did, sweetheart. She said yes.”
“You knew?” I ask Amira.
My parents never would’ve trusted me with a secret so big at her age. Even now, I’m not sure they would, but that goes for everyone in the family.
She nods, practically squealing. “I did.” She runs toward us, colliding with her father’s side and wrapping her arms around his legs. “She’s going to marry us.”
I chuckle, loving how she’s included herself. And she isn’t wrong.
They’re a package deal, and now I’m part of it too.
“Cupcakes,” Amira says, reminding us of our earlier promise.
“I’ll help her with them while you make dinner,” I tell Hunter as my feet finally touch the floor.
He lifts my hand, kissing my finger where the ring meets my skin. “I like this.”
“Me too,” I tell him, and I mean all of it.
The ring.
The kid.
Us.
Our future.
The happily ever after I always wanted but never thought I’d get.
The wish that finally came true.