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“I won’t be far away,” I say, as much to make myself feel better as them. “I’m going to be based in Miami. I foresee a lot more beers and beach parties in our future.”
“Hey dudes and dudettes, what did we miss?” Hudson is standing over us, with Jax and Axel close behind him.
“Isaac’s leaving us,” Carter replies, patting the sand next to him. All three sink down next to us and start firing questions at me. I do my best to answer them all with the little information I have. Aurelia and I still have a lot to work out and I don’t have all the details yet. All I know is, as painful as it’s going to be leaving my life here behind, my future is definitely with Aurelia. Nothing has felt quite so right before.
“That reminds me,” Luca says, when I’ve finally explained everything I can, and received kind congratulations from the guys. “Aurelia promised she would sing for us, for the team. A private, exclusive performance. I think she owes us now that she’s taking you away.”
“I’m sure she’ll be happy to,” I grin. I’ve been watching her for the last thirty minutes as she talked to Tawny, Esme, Maisie and Seleste. Her eyes kept flicking towards me and I know she’s been itching to come over. I call her name and they all make their way towards us. I hold out a hand and pull her between my thighs. It’s the first time we’ve ever been openly ‘together’ in front of anyone, and I feel so proud I could burst. The soft breeze is blowing her baby blonde hair about her face and I tuck it behind her ear as she looks nervously around at the guys.
“I’m really sorry,” she squeaks, and they all crack up.
“Yeah, Aurelia. You’re taking away our boy,” Luca says, wagging his finger. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
“You want me to sing?”
“Wow, I thought you’d be harder to persuade than that,” he says.
“No way. I would love to sing for you guys.”
“The whole team?” I ask, checking she’s comfortable.
“Yeah, of course. Now?”
We all stare at each other. “Uh, yeah,” Connor says, speaking for everyone. “Carter, go switch off the music. Luca, Hud and Jax, go round everyone up. Axel, use that big booming voice of yours to get everyone’s attention. Isaac… you just sit there and look pretty,” Connor winks.
“Asshole,” I mutter.
Axel’s voice is indeed booming and as soon as the music is cut, there is not one person on the staff who didn’t hear his announcement to shut the fuck up and gather round.
“You sure you’re ok about this?” I whisper to Aurelia.
She squeezes my hand. “Absolutely.”
As soon as there’s silence and everyone is still, Connor makes his announcement.
“You all know we say goodbye to Aurelia tonight, after what I’m sure you’ll agree was the best, ass-kicking residency this state has ever seen. Well, we’re not letting her go empty-handed. She’s taking our good friend, our brother, Isaac, with her.”
There are a few murmurs in the crowd and I catch a few pointed glances from the likes of Elija and Arnaud. “But she’s leaving us with something too,” Connor adds. “Over to you, Aurelia.”
I don’t think my heart could swell any bigger as I watch Aurelia get to her feet and look out over the Starling Key staff.
“I just want to say thank you,” she begins. “You’ve all made me feel so welcome here and supported every step of the way. You’ve given me the best birthday celebration I’ve ever had, and you’ve also given me an incredibly special person in this one here.” She peers down at me and I wink, hopefully conveying everything I feel in that one small movement. “I’d like to dedicate this song to every one of you. You are each as unique, and as strong, and as beautiful as the island you look after every day.”
And with that, she launches into the most heartbreakingly beautiful rendition of Dolly Parton’sI will always love you. And my God, she would give Whitney Houston a run for her money. Everyone listens in utter silence and rapture as she holds the notes, her lone voice in the still air carrying such power and grace it is mesmerizing. When she finishes, there’s a moment of stunned silence before a slow clap spreads across the crowd.
I look out across our team, our large flawed family, and see not one dry eye amongst them. I wipe at my own and tug Aurelia back down to me. She immediately presses her lips to mine and I cry into them. That was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for us, and I can’t believe how lucky I am to be the one who gets to spend a lifetime trying to repay her for making us feel this seen and appreciated.
“You’ve done it now, Aurelia,” I whisper into her ear. “You’re one of us.”
She turns to me and puts both hands to my face. “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be.”
