Epilogue

Cam

"Do you know who did it?" Troy asks as the two of us bust out our last run for the week.

"No, I have no idea who took Brandon out. I mean if we"re doing a process of elimination, it was someone with access to him, but if we don"t have proof, then I refuse to blame, ya know? It not only puts a bullseye on my back, but it could do the same to Cassie and I"m not willing to put her in that situation. I do think we need to keep watch though ... agree?"

Troy makes a noise in the back of his throat. "Most definitely. Whoever it is, is on the take, and that"s never good for any of us."

"You got that right." We run along for about a minute. "So are you going to help me move my shit tomorrow?"

He scoffs. "Can"t believe you"re actually moving in with a woman." He wipes away a fake tear. "You"ve come such a long way. I"m proud of you."

I know he"s framing it as if he"s joking, but I also know the two of us have been through a bunch of shit together, and it"s very possible he is proud of me, fuck I"m proud of myself. "I know. I have come a long way, and I"m slightly proud of myself too. I just hope I end up giving Cass what she needs, and what she wants. Did I tell you we went to Brandon"s funeral?"

"Noooo ... how"d that go?"

"Not as awkward as I thought it would be, but she wanted to pay her respects. She"s a better person than I am. They haven"t treated her well, but you wouldn"t know it the way she walked up to them and talked to them like they hadn"t missed a beat. They didn"t deserve it, especially Jenna, but that"s for Cass to decide, not me."

Troy sighs deeply. "She"s better than me too, I think I"d have told them to fuck off."

I burst out laughing. "Thought about it myself, but life is short."

Lifting my head up, I glance toward where our cars are, and that"s when I see her. Cassie is standing there, wearing one of my hoodies, talking with Butler, and petting Atticus. They finished training right before we started this lap.

"You better go get your girl, or the dude with the dog will move on in."

"The fuck he will." I kick it up into high gear and get over there as soon as I can without breaking a sweat.

"Hey!" She grins up at me. "Lunch with Ashley and Lizzie ended early, thought I"d come over and see if I could drag you to the antique store. Maybe find something that we can use at the house?"

Butler covers a laugh with a cough, before putting a hand up. "Y"all have fun with that. Atticus and I are leaving. That sounds like a great time though."

We watch them leave, and her smile falters slightly. "Does it really sound that bad?"

"No." I reach out and tug her into my arms. "Whatever we do together is my favorite thing. He"s younger than us, he doesn"t realize how cool it is to spend time with the person you love."

That smile spreads further across her face again. "I don"t think I"m ever going to get sick of hearing you say you love me, Camden."

"Good." I bend my head down, fusing our lips together. "Get used to hearing it every day for about the next fifty or so years. Maybe at the antique store we"ll find a ring to put on that finger when the time is right."

She doesn"t say anything, and surprisingly it doesn"t scare me like it used to. Growing up feels fucking good, and I refuse to ever go back.

"Don"t make promises you can"t keep." She teases.

"Cass, don"t you know? You"re my past, present, and future."

And I"m excited for it all. No matter what it brings, we"ll face it together. The way we"ve always meant to.