Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Caroline

9 months later

“I’m not ready for you to leave again,” I mumble against Hudson’s chest, burrowing further into the warmth of his body. It’s starting to get chilly in Chicago at night, so he’s got the fire pit set up in front of us and a projector screen in the back yard so we can watch a movie under the glow of the stars.

It’s romantic, and simple, and everything I’ve come to love about this man.

“I know, Bubblegum, but I’ll only be gone for a few days, and it’ll give you time to get settled in.” I feel his lips press against my hair and his arms tighten around me.

After nearly nine months of renting my apartment near campus, I’ve finally moved out and officially moved in with Hudson.

We took things slow, at first. We didn’t let anyone set the pace for us. We were a new couple, exploring what it meant to be together, and we didn’t want to rush anything. Plus, after everything happened with the media, my dad felt more comfortable with me in a gated apartment complex with around the clock security so I stayed there until now.

It definitely takes getting used to… being with a man who’s constantly in the public eye, but honestly? We keep our relationship as private as we can, and we’re happy.

“I know, I just hate sleeping alone. You know how cold my feet get.”

I’m teasing him, and I feel his chest rumble with laughter beneath me, causing me to pull back and gaze up at him. The wide smile on his face only makes him that much more devastatingly handsome. Sometimes I feel like I have to pinch myself that this man is all mine.

What is life?

I came to Chicago to go to school, and to repair my relationship with Dad, and somehow I fell in love with the most perfect man on the planet.

Maybe it was luck… but I think it was fate. I was always meant to be Hudson Rome’s, and he was meant to be mine. The universe just had a funny way of making that happen.

“That’s all I am to you, Bubblegum, a personal heater. You love to stick those cold feet under my thighs at night, and it scares the shit out of me.”

I grin, “Well, I think you have many more talents than just being my personal furnace. Like that thing you do with your tongue in my p-”

“Hey Hudson? Caroline?” Wren says, causing me to scramble into an upright position, fixing my cardigan like I’ve just been caught in bed with my boyfriend by my mother.

“Oh! Yes, hi, uh… yeah…” I stutter.

Hudson just laughs, his entire body shaking, “What’s up, kid?”

“Is it cool if I take a quick shower?”

“Wren, you don’t have to ask to take a shower. You stink, take a shower.”

Wren shifts from one foot to another, gaze casted downward then drags his eyes back to Hudson, a small smile tugging at his lips, “Thanks, Hudson. Go back to your kissing.”

Ugh.

Once he disappears back inside the house, I flop back down onto the lounger next to Hudson with an exasperated sigh. He reaches for my hand and laces our fingers together.

“Still getting used to him being here,” I say. “I feel like I just got caught with my pants down.”

“I mean… once he goes to bed I will definitely have your pants down, but for now you’re safe.” He laughs, “We just have to be a little more careful about PDA when he’s around, that’s all.”

I nod.

It’s not only me who moved in with Hudson. Wren has officially moved in too. And to be honest? This is exactly where he should be. Here with us. It’s only been a couple of weeks, so we’re still getting used to having a teenager in the house with us. But, we’re figuring it out.

I still don’t even know everything that transpired with Wren’s family. I just know that Wren’s stepfather was no longer fit to be his parent and being the kind hearted, big teddy bear that Hudson is… he showed up for Wren. Just like he always does for those that he loves.

And now Wren is one step closer to being officially a Rome.

When he appeared on Hudson’s doorstep in the middle of the night late this summer, he wordlessly opened the door and brought Wren inside and spent two hours in the living room talking with him. Making sure that he was safe. My goalie, always the protector.

The rest is history.

“How’s your dad taking you moving in? He texted me twice today to make sure you were okay.” Hudson asks.

A smile touches my lips as I think of how my relationship with my Dad has progressed in the last year. We’re doing much better. I’ve forgiven him, and he’s forgiven himself which is something we both needed to happen. And… he’s trying to stop hovering. He’s making an effort, and it means everything to have him becoming one of my best friends.

“Go figures. The two of you text more than we do these days.”

Hudson smirks, popping his shoulder, “What can I say? We’ve got something incredible in common, so there’s always something to talk about.”

He and my father are on good terms. I’d venture to even say maybe they’ve built a friendship? At first… it was rocky. It was not easy as we tried to navigate all of these unchartered waters together. But, they both put in the time to get to know each other in a new light and never gave up while trying to let go of the past, because they knew how important it was to me that they get along.

So they made the effort and have built trust. And now? It feels like we’re all part of a family, and it makes me happier than I’ve ever been.

Loving Hudson makes me happier than I ever dreamed I could be.

“When you get home, I was thinking that we could take Wren to pick out new paint for his room? I really want him to have a space where he feels at home, that’s his. This is a new place for him, and I just want him to be comfortable,” I tell Hudson, whose arms tighten around me.

He gazes down at me, his finger tipping my chin up, “I love you, Bubblegum. I love your kind, selfless heart, and I can’t fucking wait to marry you and make you my wife.”

I giggle, “Well, you’d have to ask me to marry you in order to actually marry me, Romeo.”

“I know.” He smirks. “And as soon as you graduate, and I whisk you away to wherever your pretty little heart desires? Then I’ll ask you to marry me, and it’ll be the proposal of a lifetime.”

That was something we agreed on when we started talking about me moving in. That I’d finish school, get my degree, and be on the path to my career dreams before we considered marriage.

“I’m going to be the hottest wife,” I quip, raising my eyebrows and tossing him a sultry grin. “I can’t wait to marry you one day, Hudson Rome. You make me fall more in love with you every single day.”

His gaze softens, and he leans forward to capture my lips in a sweet, tender kiss that has my pink painted toes curling against his sweatpant clad legs. “Then you know exactly the way I feel about you, Bubblegum. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me. My purpose. You and Wren? You’re my family, and I’ll never stop loving and protecting you.”

My heart tugs.

This man.

This perfect man who stole my heart from the very first night and never gave it back.

The one who makes me feel beautiful, even on my worst days. The one who is patient and gentle when I need him to be. And the man who doesn’t hold back or treat me like I’m breakable when I need more.

It turns out that more with Hudson Rome is everything I never knew I needed, and when I stopped running and allowed him to love me?

I found a once in a lifetime kind of love that will never fade. All because I finally listened to my heart.

“You’re shivering baby, let’s go inside. I think you need a long…. hot…. bath,” he murmurs into my hair, pulling my earlobe between his teeth causing me to shiver for a very different reason.

“Mmm…. say less, Romeo. Say less.”

He used to be the Playboy Playmaker, but now?

He’s my Romeo.

What’s next in your Maren Era?

Coming soon: