Epilogue

EVEREST

“Why can’t I get any fucking service here?”

I laugh at Knox’s aggravated tone. We haven’t been standing in front of the bar for more than two minutes and he’s already pissy.

I sling an arm around his shoulder, shaking him a bit. “Some patience would be nice.”

He scoffs. “Why don’t you get your boyfriend to come over here and serve us?”

It’s at that moment that Rhys finally spots us. I’d like to think that the way his face splits into a grin as he approaches is entirely because of me. It’s sure as fuck not because of Knox. He saunters up, handsome as fucking ever, completely drool worthy. I swoon when he winks at me, leaning over the bar as he speaks. “What can I get you?”

I wet my lower lip, doing that fluttery thing with my eyelashes that I know drives him crazy. “Can I get two Barebacks, please?”

He feigns indecision, rubbing his chin before a devious smirk works its way to his lips. “I don’t know. What are you willing to put out for them?”

Instead of answering him, I surge forward, biting down on his bottom lip, soothing the sting with my tongue right after. He groans—loud and heady—and the sound goes straight to my cock.

“Fucking. Barf.”

Rhys growls, turning his head to look at my best friend with severe annoyance. “Knox. Always a displeasure.”

“Fuck off, Conway,” Knox snaps, biting down on his lip ring.

I roll my eyes. So fucking childish. “Be nice, you two.”

Knox doesn’t seem to want to play nice, and I don’t blame him when Rhys isn’t too keen on doing that either. He squeezes my hips, giving Rhys one last vicious look. “Come find me when you have our drinks, babe.”

Rhys watches him walk away, and if looks could kill, Knox would be decomposing as we speak. “If he calls you babe one more time?—”

“I think he does it now just to get a rise out of you,” I tease, poking his arm.

He grumbles, eyes still locked on wherever Knox went. “Well, it’s working.”

I snort and reach forward to walk my fingers up his chest. “I’ll make sure to show you tonight just how much I love this hot, possessive thing you’ve got going on.”

“Yeah?” he questions, brown eyes practically glowing with lustful excitement when they dart back to me. “And how will you do that?”

“With my cock.”

“And what if I want inside that ass tonight?” he teases, his chest already heaving at the thought.

I shrug with a shit-eating grin. “I’ll fight you for it.”

“Be careful what you wish for, baby.” Chuckling, he brushes a piece of hair behind my ear. “You know I always win.”

I throw my head back with a laugh because this fucker is way too competitive for his own good. When I stop, turning back to him, he’s staring at me with an unreadable expression. Where I would have been insecure before, I’m only curious now. “What?”

“I love you so much, Everest,” he whispers so quietly I can almost barely hear it.

Damn him for making me get all teary-eyed. “I love you too.”

“Hello, my two favorite people!”

I reluctantly pull away from my boyfriend to greet Elton in all his bubbly glory. He squeezes himself next to me, slinging his arm around my shoulder, and ruffling my hair with the other. I laugh, batting his hands away, a familiar gesture from when we were kids that feels good to do again.

In the month that’s passed, things have been better between us. It’s not perfect, and we still have a lot of getting to know each other to do, but it’s so much better than it was. I feel like I can actually talk to him now and that significant progress means the world to me.

“Hey, bro,” I say, shrugging out of his hold. “How’s it going?”

“Eh. Going. I plan on getting wasted tonight, so keep the drinks coming,” he says as he drums his knuckles against the bar top.

Rhys and I exchange a look. Elton getting trashed can only mean one thing. He struck out… again . Not sexually, as he has a revolving door of women who want him, but romantically. It’s because he comes on too strong, always wanting to jump straight into forever, and hating the feeling of free falling when no one’s there to catch him.

“So you want to keep your tab open, I’m guessing,” Rhys asks, cocking an eyebrow as he starts making a drink. I don’t think Elton cares one way or another what the drink is, just that it has alcohol and a crap ton of it.

“Yup, and I think this should more than cover it.”

He smacks an envelope down on the bar top in front of Rhys, gesturing for him to open it when he just stares at it. Rhys looks a bit skeptical as he takes the envelope, carefully tearing it open. I can’t see what it is inside, but whatever it is makes him curse. “The fuck is this?”

I take the envelope from him and gawk at what’s inside. It’s a check. A pretty big fucking check, made out to Rhys’s name. I stare at Elton, wondering where the hell he got all this money from, and why he’s giving it to Rhys.

Elton knows that we want answers, so he just shrugs. “You know how you’ve been ‘paying rent ’ all these years? Well, my dad thought it was a good idea to squirrel away that money into a high-yield savings account. Just a bit of looking out.”

“Wait… This is all mine?” Rhys asks, eyes widening as shock makes his face freeze. “Elton. Don’t mess with me.”

“Every single dollar.” Elton snaps his fingers and digs into his backpack. “Oh, and this is yours too.”

Rhys takes another envelope from him, this one larger and padded. He examines it and then throws Elton a glare. “You took my mail?”

Elton chuckles and rubs his hands like an evil villain. “It wouldn’t have been as fun if you didn’t get the two together.”

“Wait, is that what I think it is?” I ask. My heart beating fast, excitement and anticipation race through me because this can only mean one thing.

“I didn’t commit the federal crime of opening it, but I’m pretty sure the fat envelope is good news.”

“ Dear, Mr. Rhys Conway. We are happy to inform you… ” Rhys lifts his face, a breathy laugh leaving him as he shakes his head. “I got into UM.”

I wish the bar wasn’t in between us or else I’d be throwing myself at him. I jump, fist pumping the air. “I knew you could do it!”

Rhys just stares at me. I’m just about to ask him what’s wrong, when all of a sudden, he’s pulling a Superman and hopping over the bar top. I’m not prepared for the way he basically tackles me, taking my mouth in a brutal kiss. I’m disoriented but don’t dare not return his embrace. I groan into his mouth when he palms my ass and lifts me, twirling me in the air as his tongue fucks into me.

“Okay, okay,” I hear Elton say, something sheepish in his voice. “I can tell I’m not wanted.”

When Rhys and I part and he sets me down, Elton is nowhere to be found. I laugh, pressing my forehead against his, absolutely living for the deliriously happy smile on his lips. He fucking did it. The University of Miami would have been idiots to not accept him, but you never know. I’m so insanely proud of him. There’s so much I want to say, but in the middle of a club while he’s trying to work isn’t exactly the ideal time.

I guess I’ll just have to show him just how proud I am of him later.

“Drinks,” I blurt out, suddenly remembering my purpose here.

He snorts and gives my ass a solid pat. “Go see Skylar and tell him I’ll take care of the bill.”

“With all this money, I would expect nothing less.”

“Says the spoiled brat.” I go to walk away, but Rhys catches my elbow. He drags me back to him, and I think for a moment he’s going to suggest we go get it on in the storage closet again, but his face is far too serious for that. “I can’t believe this is really happening.”

My heart cracks a little. After years of believing only bad things happen, of thinking he had no future, I can see why it’s hard to accept when a good thing comes his way.

But he doesn’t have to be scared or wary anymore. “You deserve all of it, Rhys.”

He deserves everything and more. This guy I used to worship then hate and now love is the most incredible person in the world.

I got damn lucky, I know that. With everything we’ve been through, all the shit we had to overcome, it seems almost impossible that this is where we are now. But here we are, one fucked-up love story later, so in intoxicated with each other it’s ridiculous.

And I wouldn’t have changed anything if it meant this is where it led.

The End