Page 129 of Bless My Body

Celine pulls back first when she sees her parents there. “Mom, Dad!” I reluctantly let her out of

my arms so her parents can congratulate her.

“How did y’all find each other?” Celine asks when she finally realizes I’ve never met her

parents, but somehow we were sitting next to each other.

“Well, I remember you showing me all those pictures of Ezra,” her mom says. I look to Celine and

see a little splash of color pop up like she’s embarrassed that I know she showed them my picture.

“And I saw him walking in, so I called his name and introduced ourselves.”

I nod. “And your mom looks exactly like you, so I figured she was somehow related to you.”

Celine talks to a few more people before we head out to Jim’s Bar. It’s the local hangout for

college kids, so we are having one last night there before we all go our separate ways.

I have to get to Jim’s before Ozzy and Stella because my man is proposing tonight, and I’m in

charge of making sure everything is set up before Stella arrives. Celine has been dying keeping this a

secret from Stella. She’s the worst at keeping secrets, especially ones involving her friends.

The staff at Jim’s did most of the decorating for us. They’ve got graduation banners in the

building, and then out back, they’ve started stringing up the lights for Ozzy’s proposal. He’s doing it

by the fighting ring, which doesn’t surprise any of us.

Celine puts the final touches on everything just in time for their arrival. After that, we sit back and

watch the magic happen between our best friends.

Celine watches the proposal with happy tears flooding her eyes, but I can’t stop watching her.

I’ve already got my happily ever after, and she’s sitting right here in my arms.

Epilogue

Celine

5 years later

“Ezra, are you almost ready? They’re going to be here any minute!” I yell from the kitchen to our

bedroom, where Ezra is getting dressed. He just got home from working a long shift at the hospital,

but tonight is a big night.

It’s our first dinner party in our new Atlanta condo. We moved in a few weeks ago but haven’t had

the chance to get everyone together yet. This is the only Saturday I don’t have an event to work.

“Yeah, babe. I’m coming.” I look around the condo, admiring my work. I’ve learned a lot about

parties since I started working with Gwen after college. She said I was a quick study and hired me