Epilogue

EPILOGUE

ONE MONTH LATER

Dessa

We set the wedding date two weeks before Thanksgiving, planning on Seattle going to the world championship, but they lost the last game that would have taken them there. Rightfully so, Garrett was upset and frustrated they lost even though they played one of the best games they have all year. San Francisco simply outperformed them. As he prepares for the next season, we also prepare for the start of our lives together as husband and wife. Even though Garrett put the timeline in my hands and didn't want to push me, I was ready. More than ready to be his wife. Time wasn't going to change my feelings for him, so why wait any longer than we already have? My only request was to not have a snowy wedding, so we decided to have a small, intimate ceremony with only close family and friends at a small beach resort in Siesta Key .

As I stare at myself in the mirror in the bridal room, I run my hands over the silky-smooth fabric of my wedding dress with delicate spaghetti straps, a V-neckline, and a lace-trimmed slit that adds an element of romance. The simplicity is everything I wanted.

A knock on the door startles me, and I spin around, hoping it's not Garrett. Luckily, it's not.

"Hi Nana. You look so beautiful in your dress." I wrap my arms around her in a hug.

"Dear, you're the one who looks beautiful."

I give her a soft smile. "What can I help you with?"

"I wanted to give you something." She reaches into her clutch and pulls out a long black box. Holding it toward me, she lifts the top. Inside sits a gold infinity linked diamond tennis bracelet. I gasp and my hands cover my mouth.

She pulls it out and sets the box on the table next to us. "Hold out your hand." My hand trembles as I do as she says. "Magic happens when all the pieces fall perfectly together. Garrett's grandfather gave this to me the night we consummated our marriage. In fact, Garrett's father was conceived that night." She carefully clasps the bracelet to my wrist.

My eyes go wide for a brief second. I won't break her heart by telling her we've already consummated many times, including once this morning. "Oh wow. This is beautiful." I trail my fingers over the shimmering diamonds as tears prick the corners of my eyes. Don't cry. Don't cry.

"And only the most beautiful women should wear it. I'm happy to have you as part of the family, even though it took so long." She winks.

"Thanks Nana." I wrap my arms around her in another hug. I blink up at the ceiling, willing the tears not to fall so I don't have to do my make-up again.

She pulls away and sandwiches my hand with hers. "Now go make my grandson the happiest man in the world."

I give her a warm smile. "I will, and know he does the same for me."

After Nana leaves, I have a few minutes before the wedding planner comes in to tell me it's time. She escorts me out of the room and outside to a brick patio. The music starts, and Rylee and Joe walk first, followed by Melanie and Randy. The music changes, signaling it's my turn to walk down the aisle. A calming euphoria washes over me. I'm marrying the love of my life. My best friend. My everything.

At the reception, lanterns illuminate the wood patio overlooking the Gulf. The soothing sound of the waves crashing on the beach fills the air. Garrett's arms are wrapped around my waist, and he nuzzles the crook of my neck. We sway back and forth as "My Best Friend" by Tim McGraw plays through the speakers. I glance around. Rylee is dancing with Trey, Melanie and Joe are doing the same along with Tori and Randy. My parents, Garrett's parents, and all of our close family and friends are here. Most of them, anyway. We still haven't heard from Tony. To us, he's just a ghost that disappeared into the night. His parents occasionally talk to him. They're disappointed in his actions, but he's still their son. Garrett made it crystal clear he and Tony would never be in the same room again. Currently, Tony's bouncing between New Mexico and Arizona working various coaching jobs, but he's evidently unable to keep a steady one. Georgia is busy with opening her new boutique. She regrets marrying Tony but is thrilled to have made new friends. I told her we're adopting her so she can't leave. Jake told me congratulations, but he wasn't closing the bar to attend a wedding. Nora volunteered to stay in Harbor Highlands to help him so Lach could come. Instead of finding Lach on the dance floor, I spot him locking lips with a blonde woman at the bar. I nudge Garrett, and he turns his head.

"You know who she is?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "He always said he likes to keep things casual, and there's nothing more casual than a vacation hookup."

The night carries on with drinks and dancing next to the beach. By midnight, everyone is exhausted, including me, but I also don't want to deplete my entire energy bucket so Garrett and I can put the powers of Nana's bracelet to work tonight.

I glance around. "Has anyone seen Lach?"

Lach

I didn't intend to come to Florida to hook up with someone, but when I locked eyes with the blonde bombshell at the bar, that idea was shot to shit. When I offer to buy her a drink, she slides her hands over my thighs and tells me she'd rather have some of mine. Before I can ask her what she meant, her arms wrap around my shoulders, and she kisses me. I hope she likes a whiskey sour since that's all she's going to taste as her tongue strokes against mine.

She inches closer to me, deepening the kiss. In all my life, I've never had a girl take charge like this, and I'm here for it. One hundred and twenty percent. What's even better, tomorrow we'll go our separate ways as if nothing happened. Nothing but a vacation memory .

She pulls away. Her pink, plump lips swollen from our kiss. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"Wait. Should we exchange names or something first?"

Her eyebrows lift. "Are names necessary?"

I shrug. "How will you know what to moan later?"

She giggles. It's so fucking soft and sweet and it makes my dick twitch. "How about this?" She drags the tip of her finger down my chest as her long lashes flutter against her cheeks. "I'll be Kat," she reaches the waistband of my slacks, and her tongue peeks out, wetting her bottom lip, "and you can be Patrick."

Fuck. She can call me Bob, Jim, Harry, or whatever the hell she wants. I clear my throat. "Now that's established, where are we going?"

Her teeth sink into her bottom lip for a brief second. "Where's your room?"

Damn. She's not a stroll-on-the-beach first kind of girl. I can work with this. I push my stool away and rise to my feet, and she does the same. With the heels she's wearing, she's about the same height as me, maybe an inch or two shorter. On the entire walk to my room, her hands roam over my chest and down my abs. Several times, her fingers graze my hardening dick. She throws her arms around my neck and continues to walk while kissing and sucking on my neck. My hand roams over her ass until I reach the hem of her short, flowy dress. I slide it up, brushing my fingertips over the bare curve of her ass.

When we reach my door, she continues to distract me with open mouth kisses along my jaw while her fingers toy with the waistband of my slacks. My fingers fumble to pull the keycard from my pocket and press it to the keypad. It's not an easy feat while a woman is rubbing herself all over your dick. Finally, it flashes green and I push through the door. Once inside, I spin us around and give her my undivided attention. With her back against the door, I meet her lips in a searing hot kiss. Without breaking contact, I slide my hand down her leg until I reach her knee. I lift, hiking her leg over my hip. I want to find out if she's wearing a thong or nothing at all. She moans into my mouth as I thrust against her. Her fingers wrap around my wrist, and she tugs my hand away. I'm convinced she's changed her mind and wants to put a stop to this, so I break our kiss. Scanning her face, I wait for her to say something, but instead her lips tip up into a smile as she slides my hand under her dress. My fingers graze her bare pussy, and there's my answer. I crash my lips to hers in a bruising kiss. I slide two fingers through her wetness, she moans into my mouth, and I swallow the sound. Her hips gyrate against my hand, pleasuring herself. I've never been with a girl who takes exactly what she wants. It's fucking sexy as hell.

Her head falls back, breaking our kiss. "Oh! Yes! Patrick! Fuck me with your fingers."

My strokes falter. I won't lie, it's a little jarring to hear someone else's name, but this is her game. I'm just here to play. Without notice, I spear her with two fingers.

"Ahhh! Yes! More!"

I continue to thrust into her, harder and harder. The palm of my hand rubs her clit, and she moans and whimpers, and her wet heat coats my fingers. I kiss her neck while pressing my nose to the sunflower tattoo behind her ear, inhaling a whisper of sweet honey and citrus. Her chest heaves as she rocks against my hand as I continue to finger fuck her.

Her nails dig into my shoulder as her pussy clamps around my fingers. "Oh. Oh. Yes!"

I pull back so I can watch her come undone. Her pink, plump lips falls open on a gasp. Slowly, her eyes flutter open.

I remove my hand from under her dress, and her leg drops to the floor. Lifting my hand to my mouth, I smear her orgasm over my bottom lip before sticking my fingers in my mouth. She watches my every move as I suck off her orgasm. "Fucking delicious."

Her gaze drops to my dick tenting my slacks and then back up. "Do you have a condom?"

I freeze. Do I have a condom? Fuck! Why don't I have a condom? "No. But I can get one." Trey must have one, or Garrett, or someone.

"I suggest, if you want to keep the party going, you do that."

With my hands on her hips, I pull her away from the door, and she giggles. I slam my mouth to hers in a fervent kiss, mostly to give her something to think about while I go on a condom run.

With my lips brushing hers, I whisper, "I'll be right back." Spinning around, I fling open the door and race down the corridor to Rylee and Trey's room. With my fist, I pound against the door, willing him to answer and to answer quick. Time's wasting. When he doesn't answer, I try again. Shit. I bet they're still at the reception. My forehead drops to the door with a heavy thud.

Voices from down the hall catch my attention, and I roll my head to the side. Strolling down the hallway is a man and woman, around my age, holding hands. Maybe they also have sex? Protected sex. Would it be weird to ask strangers for a condom? I don't know, but I'm about to find out.

"Um. Excuse me?" I ask as the couple approaches.

They come to a stop a few feet away. "Can I help you?" the man asks .

I rub the back of my neck. "This is going to sound strange, but would you have a spare condom I could get from you? I have a girl back in my room," I hike my thumb down the hall, "and I'm fresh out."

They glance at each other, and the woman shrugs a shoulder. The guy nods. "Yeah. We're just a few doors down. I'll get you one."

"Thanks. You made my evening." I give myself a fist pump. The night is turning around.

Once I secure the condom from the kind strangers, I strut through the door of my room. "Kat! I got a condom!" I stop dead in my tracks. The room is silent, and the blonde bombshell is nowhere to be found. I glance around the room, and there's no sign of her. I stroll into the bathroom and flip on the light. Empty. I sit on the edge of the bed and toss the condom on the comforter next to me. She left. After waiting for twenty minutes, I'm certain she's not coming back.

Thank you for reading Make My Heart Malt! Want more Garrett and Dessa? Claim your copy of their fun and steamy bonus scene when you join my newsletter!

Lach's story is next in I Wanna Be Your Lager.

A scorching brother's best friend, surprise pregnancy standalone novel by romantic comedy author Gia Stevens…

My love life has always been a disaster, but finding out my boss—the one I've been secretly dating—is married? That's a new low, even for me.

Before I return home with my tail tucked between my legs, I need a minute.

A wild, anonymous fling with a sexy stranger seemed like the perfect distraction. No complications, no strings. What could possibly go wrong?

The moment I get back home, I'm hit with two big shocks: one, I'm pregnant, and two, the guy I hooked up with isn't some random stranger.

He's my brother's best friend. Yeah. The one who's looking at me like he doesn't know whether to run for the hills or kiss me again.

Because just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the universe said, ‘Here hold my beer.'

He's. Not. The. Father.

Lachlan may not be the baby daddy, but he promised he's not going anywhere.

Now, we're both stuck trying to figure out what the hell we're supposed to do about… well, everything.

Including how to tell my brother that we're falling for each other.

Check out I Wanna Be Your Lager here .