Eli’s Epilogue

This is it. The real true test of my relationship with Colby. The combination of our family and friends. Mom is beside herself with joy at the idea of finally having more people in our small family of just two. Although I'm not sure Whiskey is included in her ideal-family combination.

Whiskey obviously doesn't get the hint. She adores my mom, follows her all over the yard. I watch in amusement as Whiskey follows my mom while she checks out the trees, the garden, even the perimeter of the house.

"It seems safe," Mom points out as she shoos Whiskey away with her elegant fingers.

"It's very safe here, Mama. I promise."

She wiggles her nose at me in distaste, her eyebrows scrunched. "It's just very far out in the middle of nowhere. Won't it be a long drive to school?"

"About forty minutes. I think it's worth it."

"Well, if you're happy," Mom relents. Her long blonde hair, with a few hints of gray thrown in, cascades over her shoulder. My mother is the definition of elegance and sweetness. I know she's going to fit in perfectly here.

Colby comes out onto the porch with a shy grin. He raises his arm and waves at us like a total dope. And my heart dips and dives all over again just because of that.

Mom laughs. "You're such a sucker for him."

"I am," I admit without glancing away from Colby.

"Howdy," Colby calls out from the porch. "What are y'all up to?"

"I'm checking the perimeter for ways that perpetrators can gain access."

Colby looks stumped. "Okay."

"She watches a lot of Dateline and listens to a lot of murder podcasts."

Mom sniffs delicately. "One can never be too prepared."

Colby actually looks a little worried. "I have an alarm system. Whiskey barks when the wind blows. Did you notice anything? I can have the alarm company out here tomorrow."

I laugh and run up the steps to him. He tosses a distracted arm around my shoulder and stares my mom down, waiting for her answer. Mom relaxes a little at his words. Absently, and without knowing, she even pats Whiskey on the head. Which makes Whiskey's entire bottom half shake like she might take off from the ground.

"It is fine, Colby. I think Eli is safe here with you."

Colby smiles and glances down at me. "Good," Colby says before pressing a kiss to my nose.

"Breakfast for dinner?"

Mom nods her approval. She walks right up the stairs, past us, and into the house with Whiskey on her heels.

"That dog is in love with her," I say fondly.

"Hmmm, yeah."

Colby tips back a little on his feet. He checks to make sure Mom is out of view, and pushes me against the railing of the porch. The next minute his lips are on mine, devouring me, tasting me like he didn't just kiss me this morning. Mom came in last night and she's been staying with me in the mother-in-law suite above the garage. So, we've been missing each other an extra amount lately. Especially after a few weeks of bliss between the time at the beach house and the farm.

His thumbs tilt my jaw so he can deepen the kiss at the angle he wants. I let him without putting up an ounce of fight. Sagging against the railing, he pushes his body against mine, all heat and possession.

"I love you," I mumble against his mouth.

"Mmmm, I love you too. Gonna sneak into my room tonight?"

"No sneaking!" Mom yells from inside the house.

Colby basically jumps out of his skin and immediately puts enough room for Jesus between us. The southern gentleman in him runs deep. Even the idea of doing anything slightly naughty with my mom present could send him into a conniption. Something about that makes me love him even more though.

"Mom!" I whine, feeling like a teenager all over again.

"Not while I'm here!"

Colby huffs out a breath. "She'll be gone after the party tomorrow, right?"

I nod and blink slowly at him. "Uh-huh."

He nods a few times, rubbing his hand over his jaw. "Good."

I laugh at him, then kiss him softly, before turning to head inside. I pause with one hand on the doorframe to look back over my shoulder at him. "I feel like giving chase a little bit."

Colby's pained groans follow me into the house.

The next dayis just south of chaos. Twenty of Colby's closest family members, my mother, and my best friends fill Colby's backyard. Whiskey is moderately calmer and better behaved with Colby's cousin's service dog in attendance. Although her tail still beats a rapid tattoo against the ground as she sits waiting for the other dog"s attention. Poor girl.

I carry a plate of food out onto the porch, carefully placing it with the other food on the table. Out of the corner of my eye I spot Colby and Beau chatting quietly as they ready the grill for the food. A smile tugs at my lips at the sight of them too. After my few weeks here, I've learned just how close they are. Basically brothers and it shows in how they live across the street from one another.

Beau stops by all the time. Colby will stop by Beau's place on his way home to me from his firm downtown. It's very nice. Beau has warmed to me the past few weeks and I've come to appreciate the man.

"You think the best quarterback of all time is … Jimmy Garoppolo?" Jackson asks incredulously. His voice is just a little overloud, which I know means he's rattled.

Benji's laugh echoes across the yard, so I follow it to stand with my friends under the glorious shade of an oak tree. A few of Colby's younger cousins are happily standing around chatting with my friends.

"He's hot," Harper, Colby's cousin, says with a mild shrug.

"You can't rank quarterbacks solely on their hotness," Jackson accuses.

Harper's eyes narrow. "Says who?"

Jackson looks so puzzled that I can't help but laugh as well. Benji makes a bomb-exploding motion with his hands and I have to hold in a joyful squeal. I'd missed my friends so much. Moving to Florida was the best option for me to try this thing with Colby out, see if we can make something permanent from it, but I miss them more than I ever could've imagined. If only I can get them all to move to Florida with me.

I wish Trevor could've made it. He never answered me, but I'd hoped he'd come. I haven't seen him for months either. His absence in my life has been so loud.

Jackson's horrified groan brings me sharply back to the present.

"You rank all football players on hotness?"

Harper's grin is absolutely devilish. "I rank all athletes on hotness."

"I think you've 404 errored Jackson," Benji notes around a mouthful of chips.

"Sounds like an accomplishment," Harper says with another shrug.

I survey the crowd again, before letting my gaze fall on Colby. Our eyes meet because he is already watching me. For a moment he looks sheepish, but my smile and wave have his face transforming into something else, something warmer, something just for me.

Movement at the edge of my vision has my gaze moving behind him, towards the edge of the house. I'd know that long blond hair and gentle smile anywhere. Just as I'm about to make my way over to Trevor to greet him, Beau shoves the grill tongs into Colby's chest, and jumps the porch railing to seemingly attack Trevor.

What the hell? Just as I'm about to make a run to stop it, Jackson's hand on my arm stills me. He shakes his head and nods for me to look back in their direction. Beau tramples Trevor to the ground, a hand tenderly cupping the back of his head, and they're whispering something that none of us can hear. Not sure I'd even want to hear really. The moment feels so special, so private, that I feel like an invader. Even more so when Beau intimately kisses Trevor for all of us to see.

Wait.

"Is that …" I trail off.

"The one that got away," Jackson says softly, an edge of tenderness in his voice.

"Oh wow."

Beau pulls away from Trevor with a grin that can rival the most Hollywood-grade smiles. They don't even bother coming to the party, instead disappearing beyond the house. I'm dreadfully nosy, so the disappointment is real that I'll have to wait for the full story.

"I guess Beau's boyfriend came back?" Harper wonders as he looks at the now empty patch of grass.

"Boyfriend?" I repeat blankly.

Harper nods as he turns his gaze back to us. "They dated last year? He was here for Andy's wedding and then for the funeral. Haven't seen him since though. I think he was still in college."

So many things are now adding up. Beau's the john Trevor fell in love with? This is a mystery that I will be solving. In time. When Trevor is ready to give me all the details.

The party goes on despite the reunion we all witnessed. Food and friendship and family. There's not much more anyone can ask for at the end of the day. By the time everyone is gone, even my mother, the whole property is dark. Only the sound of the cicadas echoes around us, a sound that I never knew I could love so much.

Colby grabs my face in his palms and tugs my mouth to his own. I moan against his mouth, then sag against him in utter relief. He easily holds my weight like always.

This man is my entire future. I know it in the marrow of my bones, in every beat my heart skips just by being in the same orbit as him.

"Still wanna be chased?" Colby mumbles against my mouth.

"Kinda want something else," I admit.

He pulls away to push my hair from my forehead. "Tell me what you want and I'll give it to you. Anything. Don't you know that by now?"

I smile up at him, fingers gripping his shirt tightly. "I know."

Colby only lifts one eyebrow in question.

"Make love to me?"

Colby doesn't reply with words. His response is to sweep me off my feet and carry me to his bedroom as I laugh at his antics. Before Colby, I didn't know what making love was. I didn't know that someone can take their own pleasure in my pleasure. But I do now.

"My Eli," Colby murmurs as he curls around my sweaty body.

"My Colby," I whisper back to him.