Epilogue
This was not part of the plan.
Not the pit stop in the Little White Chapel’s bathroom, anyway.
“We’re going to miss our turn,” Luke scolds, spinning me to face the mirror. “We’ve only got two minutes.”
“You followed me here! I was touching up my makeup.” I swipe his favorite strawberry gloss over my lips, and he knocks the tube out of my hand, pillaging my mouth with a kiss that echoes in the deepest recesses of my body. I pull back for air. “And now you’re distracting me with your tongue.”
“You look so beautiful in white. Kiss me again.”
“So needy tonight.” I grope behind me, still half fused at the mouth as I feel for him. “What’s the occasion?”
He blinks toward the mirror, undeniably gorgeous in a white button-up. “Spontaneous marriage to the woman of my goddamn dreams.” His strong arms circle me, holding me against his chest as he plants kisses down my neck. “Our wedding makes me so fucking hard.”
My heart fills until it nearly bursts. “It’s not too late for us to go back to the hotel. I’ll let you do that thing we both like, and we can elope tomorrow. As long as I marry you by the end of this trip—”
“I don’t need two minutes.” He hitches my already short dress even higher up my hips, and my hands land on the counter to brace myself. He bends me over, and our eyes lock in the mirror. “Not this time.”
We miss our ten p.m. slot by three minutes, because I’m hard for our wedding, too.
It’s Vegas, so after a quick chat with the chapel concierge, we’re signed up for 10:10 instead. No one booked that spot.
Our lucky break.
I circle Luke’s hand as we search for our witnesses in the busy, rowdy lobby. “Are you sure you won’t regret not having our families here?”
“This one is for us.” He kisses my knuckles. “The next one can be for them.”
Berkeley and Will are standing five feet apart. I’d feel bad about the terrible time they’re having in Vegas if they weren’t so insufferable in their bickering.
And here we thought it’d be fun to bring our friends along for an impromptu vacation.
“You two ready?” I make a lassoing gesture to gather them closer.
Berkeley sighs, dejected, and hooks her arm through mine. “You are disgusting in your happiness.”
“You are disgusting in your hotness. Stop upstaging the bride.”
She gestures at her plunging neckline. “Considering you lied and said we were going to the High Roller, this is what you get.”
“We’ll get to that.” I toss Luke a smile. “After.”
He grunts and pulls me into a sloppy kiss.
“You two really put the ‘P’ in PDA,” Will notes loudly.
Berkeley buffs her nails. “Finally. Something we agree on.”
10:10 sneaks up, and we descend on the chapel. The Elvis impersonator looks less like Elvis than my dad, but he’ll do.
We recite the routine chapel vows, but when we slide gold bands on each other’s fingers—his sturdy, mine shaky—I’m certain we’re the only two people in the world who have ever done this. When music pipes through the speakers, and we’re officially declared husband and wife, his honey-hazel eyes are the only pair on Earth as he leans in to claim me. Since the second we met, it’s always, only, been us against the world. Our kiss tastes like lingering strawberry gloss. It goes on so long Berkeley prods me in the ankle with her shoe.
The wedding recessional makes me want to dance.
The elopement is fast, sacred, and almost didn’t happen because my husband can’t keep his hands off me and can’t stop stealing little moments for us to savor.
I never want him to stop.
It’s perfect.
We lead our best friends to the High Roller, boarding the last open bar pod of the night. And like a good bride and groom, we ignore them as they get liquored up and find our favorite spot against the glass.
We ignore the rest of the full pod, too, holding each other close and swaying as we ascend over Vegas. The moment is achingly ours.
He presses his mouth against my ear. “I did write my own vows, you know.”
Goose bumps cascade down my neck. Every word he speaks is precious, but this feels like the lottery dumped in my bank account. “I’m going to cry when I hear them at the next ceremony, aren’t I? If we do the big wedding our families want?”
“I’m not worried about what anyone else wants. You’re my family now.” He tilts my chin so I can see his face, and now, we’re the only ones who have ever ridden this ride. We’re the only two people who kiss like we’re alone, no matter where we are. “I’ll put you first and love you most every time. Those are my vows. And frankly, I don’t care if anyone else ever hears them as long as you do. This wedding was enough for me. You’ll always be enough.”
A current of pleasure radiates through my chest, reaching nooks of my heart that I didn’t know existed until I met him.
I spin to face my husband. “There’s something you should probably know now that we’re married.”
He smooths the hair hanging over my shoulder. “Something I haven’t learned in the last year and a half?”
I scrounge the tattered napkin from my purse and place it in his palm.
His brows knit together. “You kept it.”
“I did.”
A smile threatens his lips. “You kept my terrible chicken-scratch drawing of you dancing.”
“It was the first present you ever gave me!” My eyes seek his. “Turn it over.”
He flips the tiny paper scrap.
“You drew me,” I say quietly. “I drew us. Where I see us a year from now, I mean. A glimpse of where we’ll be on our paper anniversary.”
His eyes flit side to side, studying the lines. “Us next to a house that is proportionally our size?”
“I think it’s time. Rogelio thinks you’re ready for the expansion. Your nieces aren’t getting any younger, and I’m an aunt now, too. And our moms…well, you know. As long as we live a healthy distance from Westlake, I’m all in. I’m ready for California.”
“Cass—”
“Luke. You know I’m right. This was always your goal.”
Hesitation clouds his gaze. “You love North Carolina. What about your job?”
I shrug. “I worked a full season. I’ve networked. My foot is very much in the door. Now I have the experience to apply for any coaching job.”
“And Berkeley?”
I swallow, peeking past him. “Okay, I’m deeply in denial about that part. But I can make a pretty convincing case for California. She’s not tethered to Asheville.”
He laughs, tracing my cheek with his thumb. “You can be very persuasive.”
It’s tacit agreement. My stomach flips. Not because I’m scared to move—Luke is my home. He always will be, no matter where we go. But because I want to give him as much as he gives me, and I think he’s prepared to let me. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“For one, I’m surprised.” His brow arches. “My wife hates plans, and this reeks of a plan.”
“I’m not saying we plan every facet of our life. I love spontaneous sex, for example. In fact, I’m not entirely sure you shouldn’t sneak your hand in my dress right now. But in this instance, regarding the matter of our address, I’m willing to make an exception.”
“You are my dream woman.” His hands cradle my face, adoration in his eyes. “Billions of people in the world, and somehow I found you.”
I frame his hands with my own, soaking up his warmth. “We found each other.”
Despite the odds. Despite every roadblock. Or maybe because of them.
Everything went wrong so we could be right.
Together.
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