did make me pull back. “What?”
Chuckling softly, he pressed his hands to my back, holding me close. “I got a new job, baby. I’m going to be an assistant coach at Birch starting this summer. And I’m going back to grad school.” He paused. “I mean, that’s the plan. But now . . . we can talk. If you want to do something else—live somewhere else—”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “I only want to be with you. The rest of the details we can figure out later. As long as you’ll have me, I’m yours. For all time.”
“Zelda.” Threading his fingers through my hair, he held my head and lowered his mouth to mine again. “I love you. I love you with every ounce of me, and I don’t plan to ever waste another moment without you. I want a future with you. I don’t care what that looks like, as long as you’re in it.”
His lips urged mine to open, and I hummed in appreciation as his tongue made insistent forays against mine. My body was on fire, arched toward him, needing his touch more than anything else.
“Zelda . . .” He dropped tiny kisses on the side of my mouth and along my jaw. “Will you stay with me?”
“Only forever.” I linked my hands behind his neck. “After that, we’ll have to renegotiate.”
He grinned down at me. “The first time we met, I was stupid. I wasted the opportunity.”
I sighed happily. “And the second time we met, I was impossible. I pushed you away.”
He skimmed his questing lips down the side of my neck. “And then we were friends, even though you swore we never would be.”
I smoothed his hair with my hand. “And then we were lovers, even though I said that would never happen in your wildest dreams.”
Eli laughed softly. “Zelda, you are my wildest dream—and the one that came true.”
Twisting in his arms, I straddled him and gazed into his eyes. “Eli, stop talking so pretty and love me hard. Now.”
And he did.
The End
Epilogue 1
“Hey. Look over there.” Eli nudged my arm, and I followed the direction of his gaze to the edge of the reception tent, where just beyond the shadows, I saw the silhouettes of Tate and Gia, their lips fused and their bodies pressed together. His arms were around her, and she stood on her toes to reach him.
Leo and Quinn were finally married. It was hard to believe that today, we’d watched the two of them say their vows and promise forever. It made me positively misty.
I sighed, smiling. “Ah, young love. Another happy match made, despite all the bumps in the road and obstacles on the path.”
Eli picked up my hand from where it rested on the table between us, his fingers stroking mine lightly, teasing and tantalizing until I shivered. “Is that what people say about us?”
Shifting in my chair, I leaned back to rest against the solid comfort of his chest. “Maybe. Although even our closest friends don’t actually know about the real bumps in our road.” I tilted my head up to look into his eyes. “Everyone probably thinks, ‘That nice Tucker boy took on the crazy and promiscuous Zelda. What a saint he is!’”
“If they only knew the whole story,” Eli snorted. His lips touched my temple lightly, and his fingers tightened around my ribs. “Sometimes I never thought we’d get here, to where we are now. And I know that nothing is perfect. But . . . I’m happy.” He said it almost wonderingly, as if it were as much a surprise to him as it was to anyone else.
“I am, too. Happier than I ever thought I could be.” I covered his hands with mine, linking our fingers together over my middle.
“If Gia’s moving in with Tate pretty soon, I think you’ll need a roommate, won’t you?” Eli dipped his lips to brush over my ear lobe.
“Are you submitting your application?” I teased. “There’s a lengthy vetting process, you know. Lots of forms to fill out . . .”
“I was thinking,” he went on, ignoring me. “Maybe we want to find something that works for both of us. Maybe not in the city. We could think about a little house over here on the Jersey side. You work at home half the time, and the drive into Philly wouldn’t be so bad. Lots of people do it.”
I was quiet for a moment, considering all the pros and cons of moving from my beautiful high-rise