Epilogue

Violet

Several Months Later

I snug up Jake’s blue-checkered tie, getting it as tight as he’ll let me, and smile at him because I almost can’t stand how cute he looks in his little tuxedo, complete with polished shoes.

“Look at you! With an outfit like this, you’re gonna be the next one getting married.”

Jake giggles and makes a face. “But, Mommy, I’m just a kid!”

My heart swells in my chest the same way it always does whenever he calls me that. I’ll never forget the way he shyly asked if he could call me Mommy shortly after I returned from LA. I had to blink back the tears that rose in my eyes, and the happy, proud look on Sawyer’s face as he gazed down at the two of us made something warm and sweet spread through my chest.

Jake’s birth mother may not have had much interest in the title, but as far as I’m concerned, being called “Mommy” by this sweet little boy is one of the highest honors of my life.

“I know, I know,” I tell him, gently tapping his nose. “You’ve got plenty of time and lots of growing up to do before then. But you do look very handsome, just like your dad.”

Jake beams at that, his chest puffing out proudly. “I hope Uncle Noah likes it.”

“Oh, I think he’s going to love it, just like everyone else.”

I mean it too. I’m actually a little worried that Jake’s going to upstage Noah at his own wedding. And I’m sure Margo will have someone there taking a thousand pictures of Jake and everyone else at the wedding for the Aces PR.

“What will it be like when you and Daddy get married? Will I have to wear this again?”

I chuckle at him as I finish with his tie and spin him around so he can see himself in the bathroom mirror. He puts his hands on his hips and puffs out his chest in a Superman pose, and we both laugh.

“You don’t have to wear the exact same thing if you don’t want to,” I tell him. “But I’m sure your dad won’t mind if you do. He won’t have to buy you another suit that way.”

“Okay. But you need a wedding dress, don’t you?” he asks, craning his neck to look up at me. “This dress is pretty, but it’s not like what the bride wears, right?”

“You’re right. The bride’s gown is usually white and pretty fancy.”

“Do you have one you like yet?” he asks, his eyes widening with excitement. “Can I help you pick it out?”

“I’ve seen a few I’ve liked, but nothing that’s really grabbed my heart yet. So maybe I do need a second pair of eyes.”

“I’ll help you find the best one!”

“I’m sure you will, buddy, but we’d better get moving or we’re going to miss the whole thing,” Sawyer says as he steps into the bathroom to check on us.

He catches sight of me in my deep blue dress—Noah and Margo picked a great color theme for their wedding—and freezes. Awe and love play out on his face, and his eyes flash with heat.

“Why don’t you go grab your suit jacket from your room?” Sawyer suggests to Jake, and the little boy runs off at full speed.

As soon as we’re alone, Sawyer closes the bathroom door behind him and kisses me ravenously, like he’s trying to devour me. I kiss him back just as desperately, my hands wandering all over his body. He’s still recovering from his vasectomy reversal, so it’s been a few weeks since we’ve been able to have sex. Sawyer’s taken care of me in other ways, but he hasn’t let me return the favor, so I know he’s got to be going crazy.

“I think I’m finally healed up enough,” he whispers between kisses, but that just makes me want him more, so I press my lips against his again until he cups my face to hold me in place and stare me right in the eyes with his flaming. “Tonight is the night. I’m so fucking hungry for you.”

A knock on the bathroom door startles both of us. “Daddy! I can’t find it.”

Sawyer steals another quick kiss from me before he straightens my dress and opens the door for Jake. “Are you sure you looked?”

“Yes! I looked everywhere, it’s not there.”

“I think it might actually be hanging on one of the chairs in the kitchen,” I tell Sawyer, and Jake seizes on it.

“See! I told you,” he says smartly and rushes off to the kitchen to look.

“We’ll meet you at the door, buddy,” Sawyer calls after him and leads me out of the bathroom, my hand in his. We’ve just reached it when Jake comes clomping across the house toward us, his suit jacket flapping behind him as he carries it over his shoulder.

“Alright, let’s go,” Sawyer says when Jake reaches us and ruffles his hair as he opens the door.

He gets Jake settled in his booster seat and hangs his suit jacket from the little hook built into the ceiling of the back seat so it doesn’t get wrinkled, and we head out of the city toward where the wedding venue sits nestled among the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

When we arrive, most of the other guests are already there. The ceremony is being held outside behind the building, so we step through the building and drop off the wedding gifts we brought before joining the rest of the party outside. Pine trees stretch around the area with string lights dangling from their branches, giving the environment an almost fairytale feel. Rustic, polished wooden pews sit in neat rows spreading out from the stone altar where a matching, handcrafted wooden arch sits streaming with flowers and navy-blue lace.

“This is stunning,” I breathe as I turn in a slow circle, taking it all in.

“Yeah, it really is. It’ll be hard to top this with ours, but I’m gonna try my best,” Sawyer promises as he reaches for my hand. “Come on, let’s go make the rounds.”

Noah and Margo aren’t around, but that’s no surprise. They’re probably behind closed doors making the final preparations for their big reveals before the ceremony, but the rest of the Aces are here. We join Theo, Reese, Callie, and Becca, who are already chatting with Grant, Maxim, and Cameron.

As we approach, I pick up the tail end of their conversation—something about a new rookie who’s just been signed to the team, an unknown from California who apparently really impressed Coach Dunaway in a showcase he saw.

“Hey, I’m all for some new blood,” Theo says, his arm wrapped around Becca as she leans into him casually. “It keeps us all on our toes.”

“You talking about the new guy?” Sawyer asks as the circle opens up to let us in.

“Yeah.” Reese nods. “I’m looking forward to meeting him when we start training camp.”

“What’s his name?” I ask curiously.

“Declan something.” Maxim scrunches up his face. “Uh, Murray, I think.”

I listen with interest as the guys discuss the incoming rookie, making predictions about the upcoming season and already declaring that they’re in a great position for another Cup win. They’re all still riding high from their playoffs victory at the end of this past season, especially after having come so close to winning the season before that and not quite pulling it off.

After a few more minutes of hockey talk, the conversation turns to the reason we’re all here today.

“I can’t believe it’s the big day,” Theo says. “I thought Noah was gonna go out of his mind waiting for it to get here. I’m almost surprised he didn’t just whisk Margo off in the dead of night one evening to elope with her. He’s been calling her ‘my future wife’ for months.”

“Marriage seems to be in the air lately,” Reese teases, his eyes settling on the sparkling diamond on my finger.

“Which begs the question, when is our favorite grump going to find someone to propose to?” Theo asks and claps Grant on the shoulder.

Grant glares at him, and everyone laughs.

“See, I think he’s just going to end up marrying a hockey net since he spends so much time hanging out with them,” Reese says, and Grant punches his arm playfully.

“Alright, alright. Leave the poor guy alone. We’d better get seated before all the pomp and circumstance starts,” Sawyer says, and Grant flashes him a grateful look as we all file toward the pews. Sawyer and I sit with Jake between us in the second row with a perfect view of the altar.

“Where’s Uncle Noah and Aunt Margo? Isn’t this their wedding?” Jake asks, and I laugh.

“They’ll be out soon. They aren’t supposed to see each other before the ceremony starts. It’s a surprise.”

Jake scrunches his face at me. “What kind of surprise is that? They already know what the other one looks like.”

Sawyer snorts and brings a finger to his mouth to quiet Jake down. “It’s what they’re wearing that’s the surprise, buddy,” he whispers as a piano starts playing from somewhere behind us.

Everyone turns their heads at once to look, and Noah stands at the end of the long stone walkway leading to the altar in a crisp, form-fitting navy suit. He strides toward the altar confidently, beaming, and waits there with the officiant for Margo to appear.

When she does, there are audible gasps from the small audience gathered. She’s wearing a beautiful white gown with lace accents and a train that’s so long an attendant trails behind her to make sure she doesn’t trip on it or snag it on anything. A man I assume is her father walks her down the aisle to give her away, and it’s hard not to tear up with the rest of the people watching—not least of all because I know I’m going to be doing something similar soon.

Sawyer and I link hands behind Jake’s back, and he squeezes me affectionately. I’ve already been humming with excitement about my own wedding, but watching Margo and Noah tie the knot like this makes it feel so much more real. Sawyer must be feeling it too because his eyes are a little misty.

“She looks so beautiful,” Jake whispers when Margo walks past us. “Mommy, are you gonna have a gown like that too?”

“She’ll have one even more amazing than that, I promise,” Sawyer whispers back.

Everyone falls silent when Margo reaches Noah, until he lifts her veil and sees her face for the first time since the wedding started. She looks radiant, and the happy tears pooling in the corners of her eyes only add to her beauty.

The officiant launches into the ceremony, and before I know it, Noah’s starting his vows, telling Margo how much he loves her and how much she means to him. It’s so touching, but all I can think about is what Sawyer’s going to say to me when it’s our turn—and wondering if I’ll be able to do as good of a job as Margo is at keeping it together.

Then it’s Margo’s turn to promise her life to Noah. I try to focus on what she’s saying, but my mind wanders to my own eventual vows. I never really thought about it before because I’d written off getting married, but now that I’m engaged, I don’t know how I’m supposed to condense all the feelings I have for Sawyer into a few words. It feels impossible.

Sawyer squeezes my hand again, pulling me back to the ceremony where the officiant is already asking the big questions: do you take each other, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, now and forever? A fresh round of tears wells in my eyes because I already know the answer to every one of those questions is an enthusiastic yes, so I clutch Sawyer’s hand and glance over at him, hoping my feelings are coming across.

Margo and Noah agree to take each other and exchange their rings.

“Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the beaming officiant tells Noah, and he lunges at Margo, taking her face in both his hands to kiss her.

“Gross,” Jake whispers, wrinkling his nose a little.

I can’t help but laugh softly, and fortunately, his voice is drowned out by the rest of the crowd jumping to their feet to cheer and clap for the newlyweds. The piano strikes up again and Margo’s bridal party showers the newly married couple and the crowd with confetti. Noah scoops Margo up in his arms and carries her away from the altar, her train thrown over his shoulder.

“Congratulations!” I call to them as they pass, but they’re so lost in each other that they don’t hear it. I don’t blame them. I’m sure I’ll be the same way when my day comes.

“Now the party begins,” Sawyer tells Jake and links hands with both of us to follow the bride and groom back into the building for the reception.

There’s already music thumping inside, and a gigantic white wedding cake with dark blue icing sits waiting at the center of the room. Enough food to feed a small nation waits on another table, and the dozens of round tables strewn throughout the room are piled with wedding gifts for the guests. Sawyer wasn’t kidding when he said that Noah must have gone all out for the wedding.

I spot Callie and Becca across the room waiting in line at the open bar.

“I’m gonna go get us something to drink,” I tell Sawyer, taking the opportunity to catch up with the girls.

Sawyer smiles and nods at me as Jake tugs on his hand.

“Can I go play with those other kids?” Jake asks.

“Yeah, sure, buddy. Let’s go meet them,” Sawyer says, then leads him by the hand over to where a group of kids Jake’s age are circled up and dancing together.

Becca and Callie are the last two in line at the bar, so I sidle up beside them.

“What a beautiful wedding,” I say, and Callie lights up.

“Right?” She beams. “Talk about setting the bar high for the rest of us.”

“They look so happy.” Becca glances over at Noah and Margo, her expression fond. Then she glances over at me and Callie. “Is it making you excited for your big day?”

“God, yes.” I laugh. “It feels way too far away, even though I know we’ll need that time to plan it all and get ready. But I can’t wait.”

“Neither can we,” Callie says, nudging me lightly with her hip. “Reese is totally buzzing about it. He won’t stop talking about how he wants to give you away.”

I grin. Reese and I don’t have the best relationship with our parents, who sort of lost interest in us after their divorce, so the idea of my big brother walking me down the aisle on one of the most important days of my life means a lot.

“I’d love that.”

The bartender interrupts the conversation to take our orders, so I request a couple of cocktails. While I’m waiting for them to be made, Sawyer sneaks up behind me and wraps his arms around me.

“There’s the woman of my dreams,” he whispers in my ear and kisses my neck, making me sway with him.

Callie flashes us a playful look as she takes her drink and leaves with Becca, giving us a chance to be alone for a second.

“I can’t wait for later tonight. I’ve missed being inside you so much,” Sawyer murmurs low enough that I’m the only one who can hear it. He presses my body against his, and I feel his cock hardening.

“Sawyer, we’re in public,” I whisper with a laugh, although I can’t resist leaning into him a little more and “accidentally” grinding my ass against his crotch.

He groans softly in response, lowering his voice even more. “Oh, I know. Public sex is still one thing we haven’t checked off your bucket list, remember?”

His words send a shiver down my spine, and I’m sure I’m blushing like crazy as the bartender passes me the drinks I ordered.

I turn and hand Sawyer his cocktail, and he clinks his against mine before he takes a sip of it. As we walk away from the bar, I glance over at him, my stomach fluttering with nervous excitement as I murmur, “You’re right. We never did check that particular item off my list.”

Sawyer’s gaze shoots to mine, and I can see his eyes darken as his pupils expand. “What are you saying, heartbreaker?”

“I’m saying that Grant is watching Jake, so we’ve got a few minutes all to ourselves. Which means we could…”

I let my words trail off tantalizingly, and he plucks the cocktail from my hand, setting it and his down on a nearby table. Then he takes my hand and pulls me after him, leading me away from the crowd.

“Where are we going?” I ask, laughing breathlessly at the single-minded purposefulness of his walk.

“I’m not sure yet,” he mutters, glancing around. “But when I find the place, I’ll know it.”

We wrap around the main reception hall and down a hallway where he spots a utility closet and stops to try the handle. It opens, and Sawyer turns to smile at me.

“Perfect.”

Maybe I should be scandalized, but my blood is pumping at the thought of him fucking me right here, with at least a hundred people in the next room. Besides, this was my idea.

He ushers me in, then follows and closes the door behind us. The closet isn’t very big, but there’s enough room for the two of us to move around even with the brooms and other cleaning supplies inside.

There are little ventilation slits at the bottom of the door, letting enough light in that I can barely make out Sawyer’s face. He grins at me, his gray eyes glinting in the dim light. And then he’s on me, his lips pressing against mine, his hands already grabbing bunches of my dress to pull it up.

I can taste the lingering burn and sweetness of the cocktail on his tongue, and it only turns me on more.

“That’s my dirty girl. I know you want this as badly as I do,” he whispers between kisses, and my body thrums like a struck chord.

He has no idea how right he is. I’ve been patient while he recovered from his vasectomy reversal, but ever since he cornered me in the bathroom earlier today, my patience has run out.

He kisses me again, his mouth pressing hungrily into mine.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, even in the dark,” he says and spins me around by the hips.

I grope in the shadow for the opposite wall and use it to steady myself as I bend over, jutting my ass out at him. He shoves my dress up over my waist and I reach back to hold it in place so he can yank down my panties. He teases my pussy with his fingers, dragging them up and down across my aching, needy slit, and groans.

“Fuck, you’re already soaking wet for me.”

I whimper, my body shuddering at his touch. “I can’t wait another second. Please fuck me.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice.”

The clink of his belt echoes in the closet as he undoes it, and I hear it clatter against the concrete floor as he shoves his pants down a bit. His thick, swollen cock head finds my entrance as he starts to press into me, and my breath catches in the back of my throat because something feels different.

I turn around and he slips out of me. When I glance down at his cock, something glints back at me in the faint light from the ventilation slits.

“You got another piercing,” I say and instinctively reach down to touch it. A thick, round metal rod dangles from the hole of his cock with large metal barbells on either end.

Sawyer smirks at me. “It’s a Prince Albert. I got it for you.”

My heart flutters as I palm his cock, feeling the weight and heft of it and the piercings along its underside. “When did you get it?”

“Back when I got the vasectomy reversal. I figured it would give me a good excuse to hide it while both healed up.”

“So that’s why you haven’t been letting me get anywhere near your cock.”

“Surprise,” he says with a devilish grin. I can’t stop running my hands around his cock head and the new piercing. I can’t wait to see how it’s going to feel inside me with the rest of the piercings.

Sawyer groans and tries to pull out of my grip. “Fuck, you’re gonna make me come if you keep doing that.”

“Then come inside me,” I tell him and hook one leg around his waist to guide him into me.

He groans and takes me by the waist with both hands to lift me up, then rests my back against the concrete wall to hold me in place. He slides into me, the new piercing slipping through my folds, and it takes everything I have not to let out a moan the entire building will hear. It feels incredible, cold at first but warming quickly, and the way it stretches and glides against my walls makes me shiver.

“You feel even better than I remember,” Sawyer groans as he presses himself the rest of the way into me. I wrap my arms around his neck, clinging to him and burying my face in the crook of his shoulder to muffle my whimpering as he starts to fuck me hard and needily.

“Touch yourself. I want you soaking wet. Make yourself a fucking mess for me,” Sawyer orders.

My hand slips between our bodies to find my clit, and I work it furiously as he glides in and out of me. It’s been so long—too long—since we’ve been able to do this, and I’m already getting close from the feeling of his cock filling me and my palm grinding against my clit.

Sawyer thrusts into me sharply. “Yeah, just like that, heartbreaker. I’m going to fuck you to pieces to make up for lost time.”

“Oh my god,” I groan and erupt on his cock, but he doesn’t let up. He fucks me through it, getting more desperate with each thrust. I bury my face in his neck, moaning against it.

“Let it out, heartbreaker, but it’s just the start. I’m gonna make you come again,” Sawyer grunts as he thrusts in and out of me with a growing intensity, refusing to let me come down.

His body claps against mine, filling the closet with the sound. If anyone walked by, there’s no way they wouldn’t hear us in here, but I’m too gone to care. The only thing that matters to me right now is the way Sawyer’s making me feel, inside and out.

His eyes bore into mine, flaming in the dim light from outside, and when he crashes his lips into mine, I shudder and lose it again.

“That’s my good girl. Come with me,” Sawyer whispers. “But we’d better keep it down.” He puts a hand over my mouth to muffle the noises I’m making and rests his forehead against mine as his eyes squeeze shut. His breathing turns ragged, and a few thrusts later, he lets out all the breath he’s been holding as he comes. His body bucks against mine in spasms until he empties the last of himself in me, then stands gasping and trembling to hold us both up.

Chuckling, he pulls out gently and lowers me back to my feet before he reaches down to scoop up the cum that’s already trailing down the inside of my thigh. He pushes it back in with two fingers and massages my clit with his thumb, making my breath catch and my heart race. Now that he’s had his vasectomy reversed, this could get me pregnant—but the thought turns me on way more than it scares me.

“You know what you’re doing, right?” I whisper to him, and he smirks and nods.

“I do. And I hope this is the one. I can’t wait to see you pregnant with my baby,” he says, still fingering me and stroking my clit with his thumb.

Blood rushes to my face at his words and a gasp tumbles out of my mouth. Sawyer nods, encouraging me, and lets out a hungry growl at the look on my face as another orgasm sweeps over me. My eyes flutter shut and squeeze so hard that little lights and stars appear on the inside of my eyelids. My legs wobble and I fall back against the wall, but Sawyer holds me steady with his free hand while he fingers me through it.

It feels like it goes on forever, but when my eyes finally peel open again, the love of my life is right there. Still supporting and holding me up—just like he always will.

“That was perfect,” I whisper.

He makes a noise in his throat, slowly dragging his fingers out of me. “No, you’re perfect.”

I laugh softly, cupping the back of his neck and kissing him again. When we separate, he arches a brow at me, his eyes glinting in the darkness.

“That was the last item on your list, you know,” he says.

My eyes widen, and I mentally run through both the list and everything we’ve done together. I shake my head ruefully as I nod. “Yeah, I guess it was.”

“You know what this means, don’t you?”

“What?”

His smile turns sinful and hungry, and I swear he could make me come again just by looking at me the way he is right now. “We’ll have to make a whole new bucket list. Together.”

Anticipation flutters in my stomach, and I trail my fingers down his broad chest, feeling the heartbeat that thuds steadily behind his ribs. The heart that beats for me. For Jake. For his family.

Wrapping my hand around the tie he’s still wearing, I pull him in for a deep kiss, smiling against his lips.

“I’m ready whenever you are, Mr. Townsend.”