EPILOGUE TWO

FIVE YEARS LATER

MARCUS

Autumn leaves float on the air as Nicole and I cruise the Blue Ridge Parkway for our fourth wedding anniversary. This getaway has been planned for months, but it all could’ve been ruined by the trick of timing and Mother Nature.

“Another week and we would’ve missed this.” Nicole waves a hand toward the red and orange valley winding through the mountains beside us. “Everything would’ve turned dull and brown.”

“How do you do that?” I shake my head in wonder. Despite our age difference, Nicole and I share similar thoughts eighty percent of the time, and that other twenty percent is spent playfully ribbing each other’s “bad” choices before we form a compromise or one submits—usually in bed.

It’s one of the best ways I’ve ever found to end disagreements.

Whether I win or lose.

“Do what?” she asks, tilting her head to the side so the sun glints off her pink sunglasses.

“Read my mind. I was just thinking how lucky we were to catch all the fall colors before they dried up. I know the weather report said this would be the prime week to visit, but you never know with those things.”

“You ought to know by now that I know you better than you know yourself.” A burst of laughter follows her matter-of-fact statement. And while she’s teasing, she's not far off.

Nicole has the uncanny ability to reach past all of my walls and get straight to the heart of the matter. After two decades of marriage, Cora never read me so well, or maybe she just didn't care to.

“True.” I flash her a smile full of love. “You've got me all figured out, wife. The student surpasses the teacher.”

“Not this again,” Nicole groans and rolls her eyes in mock annoyance. It's become an inside joke how much I've learned from her about life and love when she technically started as my student.

I may have crammed knowledge about biology into her clever brain, but she's the one who showed me how a relationship between equal partners should truly work.

And I'll never forget my good fortune.

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Don’t miss the first chapter of Liam and Mae’s story, Campus Bookworm , next or start at the beginning of the Curvy College Reunion series with Campus Good Girl !

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