Epilogue One
Three months later
Shelby
Walking into the restaurant, I look around for Ace, spotting a couple of his co-workers and his assistant, Tania. "Hi," I say when I get closer to her and a blond woman I've seen a couple of times around. They just closed a big deal and are getting together to celebrate. I had enough time to go home and change before coming here.
"Shelby, right?" She points at me, and I smile at her. "Ace's best friend."
"Um, yeah," I say, not correcting her because, well, I'm not sure that I need to. "That would be me."
"Is he around?" I look around the room, not seeing him anywhere.
"Oh, he was right here," Tania says. "I'll go get him." She nods at me and walks away while a server comes by and asks if I would like something to drink.
"I'll have a white wine," I tell the server, who then walks away.
"So, tell me," the woman says, and I don't even remember her name. "What's it like being Ace's best friend?"
I can't help the smile that fills my face. "It's pretty much the best," I confirm. Things when we were friends were out of this world, but now that we are more, it just cements our relationship. Both of us are more than okay to tell the other if something bothers us.
"Well, I'm not going to lie." She looks around. "I would love to get him in bed." She laughs. "I even threw myself at him a couple of months ago." I swallow the lump in my throat, my face never changing. "I would ride him so hard."
"Hi." I hear Ace approaching us. I look over at the girl, seeing her press her boobs together, and I almost laugh out loud. He's wearing a blue suit with a white button-down long-sleeve shirt. The top two buttons are open. "Tania said you were here." He slips his arm around my waist and bends to kiss my lips. "Were you here long?"
"Excuse me," the blonde says, ducking her head and leaving.
"What did I miss?" he asks, his hand never leaving from my waist.
"She was just telling me how she tried to lure you into bed a couple of months ago," I say without skipping a beat, and he rolls his eyes. "Is that a yes or a no?"
"It's an it would have never happened," he says, and I just tilt my head to the side. "One, I was already wrapped up in you, and two"—he leans down—"all I wanted was you." He kisses my cheek softly.
"Great cover," I say, putting my hand on his chest. The past three months have been hands down the happiest of my life. Every night we make dinner side by side, or we order out. But regardless, we do it together. Every single day I wake up with him beside me. No matter what we do during the day or how late our days go, we go to bed together unless he's traveling. Even when I work Saturday and Sunday, he shows up to have a snack with me or just to be with me.
"Not a cover," he says, kissing my lips. "Nice dress." He looks down at my blush-pink tight skirt with a sleeveless silk top that is tucked in. "I love when you wear a skirt."
"Oh, I know," I reply, not telling him that I wore it on purpose because he likes to fuck me against the door as soon as we get into the house. "I have the doorknob bruise on my ass."
"Are you off tomorrow?" he asks, and I look over at him, nodding.
"Finally, a day off," I groan, my whole body waiting for the day to sleep in.
"We should hit up the baseball game," he mentions, and all I can do is smile. We go to the baseball game whenever we can.
"That sounds amazing." I lean over and kiss his neck. That night when we walk out of the restaurant, it's with his hand in mine, and when he takes me home, there is no mistaking who he wants to come home with.
We walk in, going straight for the seats we always get. This time, there isn't anyone up here. "Looks like it's just us." I sit down in the seat.
"It's still early," he says, sitting next to me. Five innings go by, and I look over at him, seeing that his leg is bouncing. "What’s wrong with you?" I ask, and he just looks at me.
"Do you know that I think I fell in love with you when we went to our first baseball game?" He turns to look at me, and I just laugh. He takes my hand in his. "You're my best friend," he says softly, bringing my hand to his mouth, and all I can do is look at him, my eyebrows pulling together now. "Every single day, I look over, and I'm in awe that I get to call you mine." When he gets up, I hear people clapping all around us, and I don't know what is going on. I look over at the Jumbotron and see Ace and me with a heart around us.
"Ace.” I say his name, turning back to see him on his knee in front of me. "What are you doing?" My heart speeds up in my chest, and my hands start to shake.
"We've been together for only three months," he says. "But deep in my heart, I know it can be thirty years, and I'll still feel the same way. Every single time you walk in the room, my heart speeds up. Every single time you touch me, my body feels a sense of peace. Every single time you kiss me, I know that I want to spend the rest of my life getting kissed by you."
The tears stream down my face. "Oh my God," I say, putting my hands to my mouth. "Are you sure?"
"Never wanted anything more than to make you mine forever," he says, and here in the middle of a baseball game, I nod my head and lunge for him.
"Yes," I agree, burying my face in his neck.
"She said yes!" he shouts, and I look around, seeing everyone coming toward us. My family, his family.
"Oh my God," I say, putting my hand to my mouth. "You did all this?"
"Well, I did have help," he says, and I kiss his lips. "Can I give you the ring?"
"I don't need a ring," I tell him.
"She's lying," Clarabella says from behind him. "She wants the ring." She looks at me. "You want that ring."
He opens the black box and there in the middle sits the ring I had on my vision board when I was thirteen. The round diamond in the middle with the infinity signs at the side all filled with diamonds. "You remembered," I tell him.
"I never forgot." He slides the ring on my finger. "You've always been mine."