He groaned as he pressed his forehead to mine. “I’m never going to hear the end of this.”
“Once I sign that love contract, you can sure as shit bet on it.”
“Would you stop calling it that?”
I kissed him. We were both laughing, but we went for it as best we could.
And that’s life, I thought to myself as he grinned against me. Doing all you can with everything you have.
Because this? All of this?
It’s worth fighting for.
Always.
Epilogue: So Long, My Old Friends
MY PHONE rang.
I was distracted, scowling at my laptop. I’d been going through this goddamn spreadsheet for what felt like hours, and my eyes were burning.
I picked up the phone without looking at it. “This is Kori Ellis.”
A small voice whispered, “Kori?
I blinked. “Yes?”
“I can seeeee you.” There were giggles in the background. I would recognize that sound anywhere.
I shook my head. I swore to god, these kids were going to be the death of me. “Can you now?” I asked as I sat back in my chair. “Should I be scared?”
“So scared,” the little girl whispered.
“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “Because I think I know who this is.”
“No you don’t!”
“Are you sure? Because I think this might be a niece of mine. A niece who might have stolen the phone from her uncle.”
Lily Thompson gasped. “How did you know?” The phone was muffled. “Noah! He knows. He knows.” Noah Thompson started laughing in the background.
I grinned. “Does Uncle Ty know you stole his cell phone?”
“No,” Lily said, sounding annoyed. “He’s too busy panicking.”
I groaned. “Still? He’s supposed to be babysitting you, not panicking.”
“That’s what I said, but then he said that everybody panics before they get married.”
“They do,” I said gently. “But your uncle is being a drama queen. Like usual.”
“Hi, Uncle Corey!”
I winced as I pulled the phone away, even as Lily admonished him lightly because they were talking to Aunt Kori, couldn’t he tell by the way I sounded? She was too smart for her own good. I loved them dearly.
“Hi, Aunt Kori! Sorry!”
“Hi, Noah,” I said. “And it’s okay. You can’t see me. You don’t need to worry about it.”