Epilogue

Norah

One month later…

"Are you sure this isn't moving too fast?" I ask as I drop the last box into my new office in my new house.

Austin is looking fine as ever in his old faded blue jeans, backward baseball cap, and a loose tank top that cuts low under his arms, showing off all those sexy side muscles. Just one look at him and I realize how stupid I sound.

"Fast is good," he says as he comes up to me with that cocky grin I love so much. "Slow is bad."

I step back and bump into the desk. He pins me there, towering over me.

"You want to move slow?" he asks as he drags his hand up my inner thigh. "Or fast?"

I moan as he cups my pussy.

"Fast," I say with a moan. "Definitely fast."

He starts to rub me and I'm quickly shivering all over.

"We can't," I say as I grab his thick forearm. "Our friends are here."

"Where does this go?" Nolan asks, suddenly popping into the doorway. He's carrying a huge box.

I slide away from my man with my cheeks burning.

"Anywhere but here," I say with a nervous laugh.

Nolan's brow furrows and then he chuckles when he realizes what's going on. "Alright, lovebirds," he says as he keeps moving. "Save it for tonight. The house isn't going anywhere."

I can't believe this is my house.

I'm still in awe. I never thought I'd live in a place like this. It's spectacular.

It's just me, Austin, and the parrot. The owners moved to Miami and left her here without telling us.

We don't mind though. She's super cute, even if she does try to escape every time we open the front door.

The past month has been the best four weeks of my life.

I had my last night at the pub. It was so much fun. All of the original crew came back, except for Bridget who's in Australia, but we set up a laptop with her on video chat. It was like getting the family back together one last time and I was able to have a proper goodbye to the pub that's been such a big part of my life these past five years.

I started my new job with Kyle and his team, and it's been amazing. I hosted my first open house by myself last weekend and I got all these new clients. I'm so busy now, it's crazy. I have two new listings I'm setting up and I have four couples I took on to help them find a new place. I think one is close to closing on a property. The house isn't like this one, but I'll take it. I'm eager to take on anything to get started.

Austin is playing great too. The Hyenas won their last three games and I was there cheering in the front row for each one of them. I love watching him play. He's so focused. So on point. I know he's going to be the next superstar in the league.

Although I love watching him play, my favorite part of going to the games is the drive home from the arena. I love that after sharing him with the world, I get him all to myself for the forty-minute drive home.

He's always so happy to see me. It makes me feel like I'm the most special girl in the world.

Even if he has a bad game or they lose a tough one, he lights right up when he sees me and we always have the best time on the way home.

And then when we get home… Shivers. Always shivers.

Lauren knocks on the doorframe of my new office and peeks in. "Sorry to interrupt," she says shyly, "but your crazy parrot is flying around the kitchen trying to escape."

"Of course, she is," I say with a laugh.

I move away from my man even though all I want to do is kick everyone out, lock the doors, and jump his bones, not stopping until we've had sex in every room of the house.

Lauren hooks her arm around mine and we walk downstairs. "This place is amazing," she whispers.

I peek up at Austin as he walks over to the railing and leans his big arms on it, looking down at me.

Just him looking at me gives me shivers.

"You're going to come hang out, right?" I ask her. I've already missed her so much since she stopped working at the pub. We used to spend hours talking every week.

"With that pool and hot tub?" she says with a laugh. "Yeah. Definitely. I can even move in if you'd like."

"We're already one too many with that damn parrot," I say with a laugh. "But Austin will be gone for the weekend. We can have a sleepover! I want to hear all about your new boyfriend."

We head into the kitchen and her new boyfriend Cedrick is there. He's an engineer at the new company Lauren is working for. Apparently, they hit it off right away. She said he's the smartest man she's ever met. She's always been into nerdy kind of guys.

My TV boyfriend was Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy and hers was Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory.

Cedrick is talking to a confused-looking Sebastian about the physics of a hockey puck. The man couldn't look anymore out of place surrounded by all these large muscular hockey players.

"Norah," Edvard says, pointing to the parrot who's perched on top of one of the beams running across the ceiling. "Your bird is a maniac. I tried to open the back door and she swooped down at my head."

"Yeah, she likes to do that," I say as I look up at her. "Does anyone know anything about parrots?"

"I do," Cedrick says, putting his hand up. "Their Latin name is Psittaciformes and they are conformed by four families. There's the Psittaculidae, which are the Old World parrots, the Psittacidae from the African and New World, obviously, the Cacatuoidea commonly referred to as cockatoos, and the Strigopidae originating in New Zealand. And they are one of the most intelligent birds. They're not just a pretty face."

Cedrick looks around for a laugh, but these jocks just stare at him, dumbstruck.

Lauren giggles.

Wow, they really are made for one another.

"I was thinking more about how to get her down."

"Oh," Cedrick says. "That I don't know."

Austin walks into the kitchen and the parrot swoops down and lands on his shoulder.

Everyone laughs at the surprised look on my man's face.

"Is she going to bite my ear off?" Austin asks, cringing.

I laugh as I go over to him. "No, she just wants to be close to you."

Is it bad that I'm jealous of a damn parrot?

"You look like a pirate," I say with a chuckle.

He tries to shake her off, but she doesn't leave.

"I guess I'll have to get used to this," he says as he walks to the fridge with the bird on his shoulder.

"I can get used to it," I say with a grin. "I've always had a thing for pirates."

The boys all laugh as they start teasing him.

"Captain Arggh-ustin," Svensson says.

"Lover of booty," Nolan adds.

"Swashbuckler of the icy seas," Cedrick says, getting a chuckle from everyone this time.

I wrap my arm around Austin and kiss his big shoulder.

They can tease him all they want. I think it's sexy.

I'm already planning some role-playing. An eyepatch and an open frilly shirt for my hot smoldering pirate.

I'll be his sea wench, or his prisoner, or his dirty little whore.

I'll be anything for this man.

As long as he keeps looking at me with that delicious smile.

I'll do whatever he wants.