Epilogue

EPILOGUE

EMMETT, 3 MONTHS LATER

"I can do it," Storm said, walking around his gleaming new kitchen and twirling with his arms outstretched. "I can make a cup of coffee in the morning, sit down at the bay window, and look out at the hot tub."

I grinned at him. "Is that your ideal morning? Gazing out at your hot tub?"

"Gazing at you , honestly," he said, kissing me. "I love you."

"I love you," I replied. "I love you so much."

It was wild how easy it was to say now. How eternal my love for him felt, just a few months after we'd finally fallen for each other.

When you know, you know.

It wasn't even a quote that my dad ever said—it was just something I'd come to think a lot about Storm, now that we were a bona fide couple, so head over heels in love that it ached sometimes.

With him, I knew . Knew that he was my person, even when he drove me crazy. Knew that he deserved all the love in the world, and that I wanted to give it to him daily.

Knew that he was well worth the recent media storm that had been following us, too.

It wasn't that they ever wrote bad things about me, like Storm was worried about.

It was the opposite.

"Did anyone send you the article in the New Times from this morning?" I asked Storm now as he brewed himself a cup of coffee in his new kitchen.

"Nah, what are they saying now?" he asked.

"They said that we are the hottest power couple for the new year," I said. "They even called Waycott Marketing a promising new business venture."

Storm smiled and whistled. "Look at that," he said. "Told you it was going to be a success."

"It's still insanely young," I said. "But I have high hopes. I really think Dad would have been proud."

"He would have been. I know it."

Winter was in full swing now. Storm's house was perfect—not too fancy, just like him, but modernized and beautiful, like a forest hideaway. Along the walls of his living room, he'd bought and hung up five Cartier-Bresson black and white photograph prints, just because he knew he was my favorite photographer.

Storm did a lot of little things like that, thinking of me. And it made me feel like a king, every day.

Outside the big, beautiful bay window in the kitchen nook, there was snow piled up around every corner of Storm's yard. We'd just let Oreo and Pepper out to play in it, and I watched them bound around in the snow now, hopping like bunnies. The fence between our yards was brand-new, a beautiful wooden fence that Oreo couldn't get through anymore.

And of course, the moment she stopped popping up in my yard unannounced, she ended up over there all of the time anyway.

Because Storm was at my house as much as I was at his—and we fucking loved it.

"You know what we could do with the fence?" I said, musing out loud.

"Oh no," Storm said. "I'm not ready for more home renovation projects. Not yet."

I laughed. "It wouldn't be anything big. But we could put some sort of little doggie door in it, so Oreo and Pepper can go between our yards whenever they want."

"Way too much power for my little maniac fluffball," Storm said. "But that is a really cute idea."

"I'm going to go put on my outfit, and then we should head out in the next ten minutes, okay?" I asked Storm, sliding my arms around him.

"Mmm," he hummed. "Or we can stay here and fuck."

"You sucked me off this morning. And we fucked last night."

"Just the way I like it," he murmured.

I felt so good being this close to him, feeling slightly small as he wrapped his arms around me, too.

Storm really did take care of me in a way I'd never let anyone do before. It was a new feeling, and one I hadn't realized I'd been desperately in need of.

"Love you. So fucking much."

He kissed the top of my head. "I love you, too. I know we need to leave. I don't want to be late for Chase's bash."

Soon, we were all dressed and ready to head over to Chase and Adam's party.

Chase had invited us and a lot of the other guys over to his boyfriend's house for some kind of winter brunch party this Saturday. We'd been expecting a small gathering, but when we arrived at Adam's house, we saw something else entirely.

"Whoa," Storm said as we walked up to the house. "This is major."

Gold, silver, and white balloons were tied up along the walkway that led to the front door, lining the path.

We headed to the front door, and Chase greeted us, decked out in the nicest clothes I'd ever seen him in.

"Hello!" he said, giving us both big hugs.

"Chase," I said. "If I'd have known this was going to be such a swanky brunch party, I'd have worn a better suit."

He burst out laughing. "The suit you're already wearing isn't good enough? You look like a million bucks, as always."

"Yes, but I could have done even better ," I said, which earned another laugh.

The inside of the house was just as lavishly decorated. Everything was in a silver and gold theme, with more balloons, streamers, and beautiful little lights all over.

"I thought we'd be fashionably late, but are we the last ones here?" Storm asked, looking over and seeing all of the Fixer Brothers guys and camera crew gathered in the living room, drinking mimosas and eating little appetizers.

"I think you are the final ones here, but that's okay," Chase said. " Eee . I have to go find Adam and tell him you've arrived."

He flitted off as Storm and I joined the rest of the guys.

"Does Chase seem even more like an excited butterfly to you, today?" I murmured to Storm.

"Yes. One thousand times yes."

"I wonder what's up."

We mixed and mingled with the rest of the guys for about half an hour. Adam's house was beautiful—he was another past renovation client from the Fixer Brothers' show, and their work was no less perfect than it was in Storm's house. Storm and I found Landry and chatted with him about some stuff for Waycott Marketing and also looked at his phone, scrolling through potential cats he was thinking of adopting.

A while later, Chase clinked his mimosa glass as Adam was turning on the big screen TV in the living room.

Soon, Chase's brother's face popped up on the TV screen. Jamie, the nice young guy from California that I'd briefly met earlier this fall.

"Hello!" Jamie said, waving out at us all. "Wow, sad I'm missing this party."

"Well," Chase said, walking over to Adam's side and taking his hand. "We wouldn't want you to miss it for the world, Jamie, because Adam and I have an announcement to make."

Chase was beaming. Adam was, too. They held hands, looking out at us.

"We're engaged," Adam said, looking the happiest I'd ever seen him.

" We're fucking getting married, baby! " Chase shouted out to all of us in his typical bubbly, energetic way. "And you're all invited, next winter!"

Everyone in the room erupted into cheers and applause.

Jamie's face, particularly, became a jaw-dropped shock face like I'd never seen before.

"My brother's getting married?" Jamie asked, and I swore I saw a single tear fall down his face. "I'm so proud. I love you, Chase!"

Everyone went to hug Chase and Adam. Nathan and Shawn made plenty of jokes about the credit they deserved for bringing them together, all while congratulating them, too.

"Like we said, the wedding will be next winter, at a beautiful ski resort here in the mountains. And it'll come way sooner than you'd think," Chase said. "We hope you all can be there."

"Fuck yeah! " Kace called out from the side of the room.

"And my very single brother Jamie will be there, too," Chase said, winking over at Landry, who was sitting at the edge of the couch. "For any eligible bachelors out there."

"Wait, did you just say something about me?" Jamie asked over the video call on the screen.

Landry also blushed, looking up at it.

"Just that I can't wait until you're all together with me at my wedding," Chase said. "God, I even love saying it. Wedding ."

Everyone broke off into chatter and laughter again, and finally, we knew what we were here to celebrate.

"A winter wedding," I said to Storm and Landry now. "Wow. I don't think I've been to one before."

"A winter wedding would have sounded terrible to me back in the day, but now I think it's going to be amazing. Getting married in a beautiful, cozy ski lodge? I love it."

"Would you ever want a winter wedding, though?" Landry asked Storm.

I stood beside them with my heart suddenly pounding faster than ever.

Storm and I told each other we loved each other plenty these days, of course. But we definitely hadn't brought up the idea of marriage yet.

What if he didn't believe in marriage at all?

He hummed, pondering Landry's question. "Well," he said. "It would depend on what my partner wanted, theoretically. I could be down for a winter wedding, if it was beautiful, although I'd probably slightly prefer a summer one. It's all about love when it comes to marriage, right?"

I felt like my heart might fly out of my chest.

So he didn't hate the idea of it, after all.

I was glad to know that.

Storm turned to me, a little mischievous smile on his face. "What about you?"

"Oh, uh, me?" I asked, more bashful than I'd been in a long, long time. "I like marriage."

He and Landry clearly were both trying not to laugh. "Yeah? You like it?"

I cleared my throat.

I've wanted it for my whole damn life, I thought.

"It's definitely an idea I like," I settled on saying. Storm beamed out at me, and my heart did more little flips in my chest.

"One day," he said simply, leaning in and squeezing me close.

I love you, I love you, I fucking love you so much.

"One day," I said.

The rest of Chase and Adam's engagement party was a blast. The mimosas started to hit people's blood, and even those that didn't drink were ready to cut loose and party.

I finally felt like I had fulfillment in my life that didn't all come from my career. In fact, my career had imploded, and I'd still risen out of it and started something new, that would sprout slowly over time.

Dad would be proud of me.

I knew that.

And I also knew that he would love Storm, too. That he would be happy to welcome Storm into the family, and proud to see me and Storm start a family of our own, one day.

One day , I thought, my throat a little tight just thinking it as I looked at Storm, truly belonging here with our whole ragtag crew of friends. I put my hand at the small of his back, needing to share little touches with him whenever I possibly could. I was addicted to him, in the best way.

We both belonged here. Belonged together, too.

I loved Storm for every crazy, wild, passionate moment we shared. And now, I wouldn't want it any other way.

Thank you for reading!