Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“Yeah. It did.” And then his arms are around me, pulling me close, and I have everything I need. My knees are weak with relief, but it’s okay.
I’m not going to fall.
He will always keep me from falling.
EPILOGUE
Carter
“We’re neighbors! Officially!” Wren throws her arms around Elliana the second she’s through the front door of the house we moved into last week. “All we had to do is walk down the street from our house! I’m so happy!”
“I can still barely believe it.” Elliana looks a little dazed, but happy. I know it’s still not easy for her to accept friendship, but she’s getting better at it.
“Come on in. I want to show you what we did so far.” Elliana links arms with her. “We still have to finish getting furniture for some of the rooms, but there’s no big hurry.”
“And we can help you out!” Maya reminds her once we reach the kitchen, where she is pouring drinks from a pitcher. “We’ll go shopping. It’s so much fun. I found so many great pieces in town, even at the thrift shops and estate sales.”
“That does sound like fun.” Elliana glances toward me, and we share a smile. The kind of smile people give each other at parties when they have their own world they live in together. That secret, knowing look nobody else is part of. She’s happy. A little overwhelmed, maybe, but happy.
“I’ve got to be honest.” Preston is sitting on one of the kitchen counters, leaning against the fridge while eyeing my girlfriend. “I wouldn’t recognize you if I saw you by yourself on the street.”
He’s trying to be nice, but she still gets a little freaked when people pay attention to her. Sliding her hands down the front of a light, flower-printed sundress, she murmurs, “Oh. Is that a good thing?”
“Yeah, is that a good thing?” I cross my arms, narrowing my eyes at him.
“I’m just saying.” He never did learn when to let things go instead of digging himself deeper. “You’re not wearing your glasses anymore, and your hair is pulled back when it used to hang in your face.”
“Keep it up,” Briggs mutters, snickering.
“Okay, fine. I’ll stop now.” Preston takes a gulp from his beer bottle while the rest of us laugh.
“Thank you, I guess,” Elliana replies, but she’s grinning. Again, we exchange a look. I am so proud of her every day. She has come so far.
“The backyard will be perfect for parties,” Easton announces, coming in from out there.
“I don’t know. I think my big partying days are over,” I tell him. “I’m going to start a new policy. You can’t get in unless you wear your clothes the whole time.”
“I thought this was a housewarming party, not a ‘break Easton’s heart’ party,” he mutters. Kellan gives him a shove from behind. The rest of us all groan and roll our eyes.
“People change when they get serious about somebody,” Preston grumbles. “They get that—”
“Please, tell me,” Tucker almost growls, putting his arm around Maya’s waist. “How do people get once they’re serious about somebody?”
It seems like Preston can learn his lesson, since he chooses to drink from his bottle again instead of answering.
“You’ll get to that place someday.” Tucker pulls a couple of beers from the fridge and hands one to Briggs. “I mean, if you ever find somebody who is willing to put up with you.”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath,” Maya decides.
“Why did I even come here today?” he asks nobody in particular.
“I’m sure it wasn’t for free beer,” I suggest, and we all laugh together.
Can this really be my life? Hosting a party for my friends in my actual house? I don’t have to worry about hiding it from Dad anymore. But I wasn’t kidding—I’m not throwing the kind of parties I used to. I’m past that point. Elliana got me past it.
Elliana, who juggles her hostess duties like a pro. Preston was awkward with how he said it, but he made a good point. She’s almost unrecognizable when I compare her to the girl I first met, who was pretty much scared of her own shadow. She feels more comfortable now in her own skin without her mom breathing down her neck all the time, and her personality can shine through.
Still, I understand how she feels when she closes the door after the last guests leave. When she slumps against it with her eyes closed. “Oh, my god. That was exhausting.”
“But fun?” I ask, because I have to make sure.
Her eyes open, and she smiles at me with her back against the wood. “Very fun. Did I do all right?”
“How can you even wonder that? Of course you did.”
“It’s bad enough I’m still really not used to being around lots of people,” she reminds me, pulling the clip from her dark hair and shaking it out around her shoulders. “But making sure everybody’s happy and that they have everything they need? That’s a whole other level.”