Chapter Fifty

Blake

T he Aftermath

A lot of the people on my team are going to Disney since we won. Not me. Willa and I flew back on her private jet and had our own little party. Now, I'm waking up without an alarm, and realizing how fucking hungry and tired I am. There's a party going on tonight on Broadway, and I'll make an appearance, but everything I want is right here in my arms.

"Are you happy?" Willa asks as she plays with the hair on my chest.

"The happiest I've ever been," I whisper to her. "When I decided to try and give you the bracelet with my number on it, I never imagined it'd end up like this. I hoped maybe we'd have a good time—I didn't expect it to be life-changing. I never expect anything like that because I feel as if once we start to expect it, that's when things change. That's when we start to get complacent and disappointed. All I wanted was whatever we'd have." I clear my throat and dip my head down to kiss her on the forehead. "What did you think?"

She laughs, her voice deep with the remnants of sleep. "I thought I'd go out on one date to appease both my curiosity and everyone who worked to get you in front of me."

"Oh, so you felt like I was a chore." I laugh.

"No." She giggles back. "I thought you were hot, but I didn't think you were forever."

Funny how life changes like that. How we think things will be one way, and then life laughs and gives us whatever it wants to. "I didn't think I was forever, either. I'd kind of given up on love Even though I watched CeCe and Bret have that happily ever after, I wasn't sure it was for me. But I'd convinced myself that it didn't really matter. Thanks for proving me wrong."

"You're welcome. You proved me wrong too, Blake Whitfield, and I have never felt so good about being so very incorrect."

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We head downtown to have lunch with both our families at the place where Willa and I had our first dinner date. There are fans inside and they clap and take pictures as we walk through to where they've provided us with a closed off room.

"Willa, can I get a picture?" It's a little girl, standing off to the side, and she's wearing a Willa shirt.

My fiancée looks over at me, her eyes meeting mine. "Go ahead," I reply. "They can all wait."

When she lets go of my hand, she walks over to the little girl and kneels down. I can't hear what she says to her, but the way the girl laughs, I can tell it makes her day. All I can think about right now is what it'll be like when we have our own kids and how she'll be a great mother.

"Can Blake take a picture with us too?" the girl asks, glancing over at me.

"Of course I can." I walk over and kneel on the other side of her. She holds up her hand with one side of a heart, and it kicks me right in the chest. It's the cutest shit I've ever seen. I hold up the other half of the heart and give a huge smile.

When we're done, we stand and head toward the room where our family is waiting for us.

Willa holds my hand. "Promise me we'll always stop to do stuff like that. It's the important things that we'll never be able to get back."

Hooking my arm around her neck, I lean in, whispering in her ear, "I promise. We'll always make time for the little things. The little things lead to the big, and the big are what I'm looking forward to with you."