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Tears start to trickle down her cheeks. She dips her head forward and kisses the little girl on the head before turning and running down the sidewalk.
***
EPILOGUE
***
DECLAN: THREE MONTHS LATER…
Our high school is handing Kade’s awards and trophies that have been showcased in their alumni area over to Spence and his family. It feels bittersweet being here after all these years, and ironically enough, Spence and I are standing in the library where we first met when we were just fourteen years old.
“Superintendent Matthews should be meeting us soon. He said he’s running about ten minutes behind.” Spence smiles and takes me in his arms as we wait. There’s an entire wall of glass cases lined with touchdown-winning game balls, plaques, and photos of some of the star athletes who once walked these halls.
I look around the library, which has since grown in size. They knocked out a couple of old janitor’s closets and added seating areas. The place looks like a million bucks compared to what was here when we were in high school. The stacks seem to have been updated, there’s laptops instead of gigantic old desktop computers, and the walls and furniture are trendy as opposed to ugly brown woodgrain.
“Right here,” Spence says, walking a few feet from where we’re standing. He turns around and puts his hands in his pockets, and I shake my head, confused. “This is where I first saw you. You were standing right here.” He looks at me and then motions for me to come over with one finger. “It might not have been the best way to first meet someone but—”
“I wouldn’t change any of it for the world,” I interrupt him. “Not a thing. What if I hadn’t been in that dark area of my life? You know?” I smile up at him as he pulls me into his body. “Would the gorgeous Spence Reid have even noticed me?”
Spence sweeps my hair away from my face and cups my chin in his fingers. “There’s no way I wouldn’t have. Fate would have brought us together one way or another.” He nuzzles my nose before stepping away from me and pulling something out of his pocket. Handing it to me, I realize it’s a slip of paper. I unfold the small pastel pink note, and I’m immediately smitten with my man all over again.
You’re right. There are some feelings that aren’t temporary.
I close my eyes and shake my head, smiling at his thoughtfulness.
“I thought it only appropriate to give you one last Post-It in this school,” Spence says, but his voice is farther away. I open my eyes and see him kneeling on one knee, and both hands fly to my mouth so fast that I drop the note. “I love you more than anything, Declan Rothschild.” He opens a black velvet box, and inside is the most beautiful white-gold diamond ring I have ever seen in my entire life. I don’t register much, aside from the color and the fact that it’s got more diamonds than I can currently count through the tears welling up in my eyes.
“Marry me, Dec. Let’s do this forever. We’ve already wasted so much time. I don’t want one more second to go by without you knowing that you’re mine until the end of time.” His deep voice sends shockwaves through me as his green eyes grow brighter than I’ve ever seen. “What do you say?” he asks, and I realize I haven’t even vocalized my very obvious answer.
“Even when I’m old and wrinkly and don’t have perky tits?” I ask. Leave it to me to bring some weird humor to this beautiful moment.
“Even when you’re old, wrinkly, and have tits down to your knees.” He laughs and I shove him.
“There’s no one else I’d rather do this life with, Spence Reid. Yes, I’ll marry you,” I tell him as he slides the ring on my finger. I don’t even take a second to admire it before I’m pulling him into my arms.
Suddenly, cheers erupt from a dark corner of the room, and I turn to see the guys, Isla, and Spence’s family. They’re all running over to us, and I’m swept up in a flurry of hugs.
I can’t help but think of Kade in this moment.
Spence is clearly thinking about his brother too, because he clears his throat.
“You all know that we originally came here to collect Kade’s trophies. It just so happens that Dec and I first met in this library when we were fourteen.” Spence looks over at the glass cases. “I’d like to think if Kade were here, we would find a way to celebrate together, somehow. I don’t know if we would, but I would like to think so.” He pulls me to his side while looking at our friends and family. “He originally came back here and stopped Declan’s wedding to he-who-must-not-be-named”—he winks to let me know he’s just joking—“to give me yet another chance to go after my girl, and honestly, I think that while he loved Declan, he knew in the end she and I would end up together. He was a damn good brother, even when he was being a prick.” Spence chuckles, and we all laugh. Kade was a special kind of person.
“I think your brother definitely loved Declan, but I think his love for you outweighed it,” Mrs. Reid says, and I nod because I think so too. I think that, in the end, Kade would have backed off. Part of me always thought he was just going after me to get under Spence’s skin, to get his ass in gear.
“I feel like he’s somehow here today.” Spence smiles at me. “And I think if he is watching us, he’s probably saying, It’s about damn time, little brother.”
Spence turns to me and cups my head in his hands, placing a delicate kiss on my lips as everyone around us whistles and claps.
Miller pops a bottle of champagne just as his daughter starts screaming in the little carrier he has her in. She’s saddled to his stomach in a backpack-looking thing that seems very uncomfortable. But maybe Miller has it on wrong. I laugh and rush over to take the baby as he pours us champagne. I hold her close to my chest and try to console her, swaying and humming, until finally, she calms. I look around at my group and it’s clear that none of us really know what to do with a baby—but we’re figuring it out as we go.
Spence holds up his glass and hands me one that I take very carefully around the sweet little girl I’m cradling in my arms. “To forever feelings,” he says, smiling down at me.
“To forever feelings.”
THE END.
