children’s hospital, and you’re invited,” I say to Grayson, over our usual weekly coffee. Our relationship has been growing. We started seeing each other sporadically, but after getting to know him more, I realized that he’s a genuinely fascinating guy. So we began to make weekly coffee dates where he’d tell me something about himself and I’d tell him about something from my life. Something he missed out on. And now I’m at the point where I feel comfortable enough to allow him to be more involved in my life than just over a cappuccino.
“I’ll be there,” he says, studying me. “You starting to run the place, huh?”
“I’m not running anything,” I reply, rolling my eyes. “But as Temper’s girlfriend, I don’t want to be sitting there and doing nothing. I have a role and things I can be doing to help the club. I want to give back to the community, and maybe change some people’s minds about us.”
It’s hard being the newest to the group and standing next to their leader and being his old lady, but I’m trying my best. I think the fund-raiser will be a success, and slowly I can start doing more and more things for the club and taking on that role.
“If anyone can do that, it’s you,” he says, smiling, amber eyes on me.
I never asked him what hand he played with Georgia’s death, and he’s never brought it up. But I have to wonder if...no, I won’t let myself go there.
All I know is that without her around, I feel safer, and less on edge, and even Skylar seems like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.
Three Months After That
“How was your first day?” Temper asks me, standing by his bike, looking sexy as hell in light jeans and a dark top. Everyone on campus is looking at us, not that I care, but this man always knows how to make an entrance.
“It was great, even better now that you’re here,” I say, kiss him and climb on the back of his bike.
Words can’t express how happy I am to be back on track with following my dreams. I’ve taken on fewer shifts at the Grapevine so I can concentrate on my studies, spend time with Temper and the MC, and also get to know my father.
I’ve decided I want to be the best lawyer in the city. I can picture it now. Me in a white suit, Temper at my side, dressed in black leather, opposites, somehow balancing each other out. The Knights breaking the law and me protecting them. I laugh to myself at the thought.
Instead of riding straight home, Temper takes me to a restaurant near the beach and tells me he has a surprise for me.
Always with the surprises.
After we finish our meal, we take a walk down to the sand. “You want to go skinny dipping or something, don’t you?”
“Something like that.” He laughs, taking my hand.
I stop walking when I see what’s in front of me. On the beach, just before the sand meets the water, is the whole MC, standing in a row.
Grayson is there, too.
And Ivy.
And even my mom.
“What’s going on?” I ask Temper, who leads me down to them, down a path on the sand marked by a trail of sunflowers.
When he gets down on one knee, my hand flies to my mouth, shock and happiness hitting me.
“Abigail Redmond, I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you. You are my soul mate, my true love, and you make me a better person just by being around you. You are the light to my dark, you bring laughter and happiness to my soul and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, of course I will,” I say, tears dropping from my eyes.
He slides a beautiful pear-shaped diamond on my finger, while everyone cheers and claps for us.
“It’s stunning,” I say, kissing him, and wipe my tears. “I love you so much.”
He cups my face with his hands and rests his forehead against mine. “Just me and you, against the world, forever.”
And the rest of the MC, of course.
Forever.
* * *