From the moment she popped out of the womb, Farrah had overthought things. Every decision, from what to eat for breakfast to who she should give her heart to, came with a thousand branches of possibilities, spiraling and curling and tangling until they muddled her true desires.
But for once, Farrah didn’t think. She didn’t have to. The answer came swiftly as if it had been a part of her all along.
“Yes,” she choked out. “Yes, yes, yes! I’ll marry you!”
Blake sagged with relief. He slipped the ring on her finger, and then his lips were on hers. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and Farrah sank into a bliss so complete she must’ve died and gone to heaven.
“Future Mrs. Ryan,” he murmured. A thrill zipped through her at the moniker. “I love you so fucking much.”
“And I, you.” So much so her body and soul ached with it. Sensuous heat entered Farrah’s voice. “Now, why don’t you take me to that beautiful bedroom of yours and show me just how much you love me?”
She’d spent a lot of time designing that bedroom, and she intended to make full use of it.
Blake’s eyes lit up with a devilish glint, and he flashed her a smirk so devastating her knees buckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
Farrah squealed again as Blake picked her up and carried her, bridal style, inside the apartment, where he showed her, over and over, how much he loved her, until the darkness of the night melted into the golden warmth of sunrise.
Epilogue
“I can’t believe you pulled this off.” Farrah shook her head in awe. “Unbelievable.”
“There’s almost nothing money can’t buy,” Kris drawled. “Consider this my honeymoon present to you, even though you got engaged after me and married before me, you bitch.”
“Your fault for prolonging your engagement so you could throw the wedding of the century.” Courtney nudged Kris. “Your words, not mine.”
Farrah laughed. The “almost” caveat surprised her—what in the world had Kris Carrera ever wanted that she couldn’t buy?—but she was too happy to dwell on it.
She was officially Farrah Lin Ryan.
Married to a man who drove her crazy and sent her over the moon with joy at the same time.
A huge grin overtook her face when she looked across Gino’s and locked eyes with Blake, who was getting another round of drinks with the guys. He winked at her, and her breath quickened.
They’d been having nonstop sex the past few weeks (because what else are you supposed to do on your honeymoon?) but he still had the ability to turn her inside out with one look.
Farrah and Blake got married a month ago, on a beautiful rooftop garden in New York City. Her mom wanted them to tie the knot in California; his mom wanted to do it in Austin, but they’d stayed in the city that reunited them and that they now called home.
The wedding had been a small, intimate affair, planned to perfection by her maid of honor. As expected from an Olivia Tang-coordinated event, the ceremony went off without a hitch. Even the weather cooperated with clear skies and sunny weather, so they didn’t have to draw on one of Olivia’s five backup plans.
Everyone they loved had attended: their families, closest friends, colleagues (including Justin, whom Blake had threatened to yank off the guest list after Justin cheated at poker during guys’ night), and members of their Shanghai group whom Farrah hadn’t seen in years.
She’d invited Leo, Luke, and Nardo on a whim, despite not being close with them anymore, and had been pleasantly surprised when they RSVP’d yes. She was even more surprised they’d agreed to come on this trip.
Blake and Farrah had been getting ready to return home from their honeymoon in the Maldives and Sri Lanka when Kris messaged saying she had a present for them and they “may as well stay in Asia because they were going to Shanghai, bitches.” She’d emailed them two first-class tickets to China; when they arrived, a driver whisked them to Kris’s penthouse near the Bund, where they found their old group of study abroad friends waiting for them.
Kris. Courtney. Olivia. Sammy. Leo. Nardo. Luke. They were all there.
It was a long-overdue reunion, Kris said, and fitting since Blake and Farrah’s story started in FEA. They were a family, and even if you went years without seeing some members, family was family.
Farrah would’ve teased her friend for her shocking sentimentality had nostalgia not overwhelmed her.
Surrounded by her old friends, in the city that started it all, made everything that happened in Shanghai real and not just a fantasy so beautiful she’d willed it into memory.
The guys returned with beers, fries, and two mojito fishbowl cocktails the size of small aquariums.
Blake slid into the seat next to Farrah and draped an arm over her shoulder; she snuggled into his side and grinned as her friends fought over the fries.
“I bought the fries. I get first dibs.” Luke dove into the basket and shoved a handful in his mouth.