Reveal (Wicked Ways #2)(106)

And a part of me thinks there is way more stuffed into those nine words than I’ll ever know.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner.” The guilt that laces his voice despite my telling him this isn’t on him eats at me.

“I’m glad you didn’t get there later,” I counter.

“Look at you, turning all glass-half-full on me.”

“What can I say? I’m a work in progress.”

“We are a work in progress.”

And with those words, Ryker turns me some so his lips can find mine in a kiss as tender as it is packed with love.

The perfect way to end the shittiest of shitty days.

In his arms.

By my side.

Defending me.

Protecting me.

Loving me.

Giving me the unexpected I never knew I needed.





EPILOGUE

Vaughn

One Year Later

“What is all this?” I ask as I walk out to the patio. The warm breeze is coming off the ocean, the night clear, the fire bright.

“S’mores,” Lucy says with a grin, lips smeared in gooey marshmallows.

“Mmm. Your favorite!” I press a kiss to the top of her head as I look over to Ryker across the fire.

His smile is warm, his eyes alive, his body completely and utterly relaxed.

“Why do you have that look, Lockhart?” I ask.

“Because I’m proud of you,” he says.

“Proud of me?”

“Yep.” He nods. “Your first semester toward your teaching credential is done, and you’re at the top of your class.” My cheeks flush from his praise. “I’d say that is more than enough reason to celebrate.”

“We’re celebrating, are we?” I tease.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Lucy all but jumps up and down in her seat.

“I have a surprise for you,” Ryker says.

“You do?”

He nods and crooks his finger before pointing to the flat squares lining the retaining wall that faces the ocean.

“What are . . .” But my voice fades when I see the paper lanterns, the lighter, and the Sharpie sitting there. I look back at him, my grin widening.

He rises and presses a kiss to my shoulder. “You ready to give me your wish and your worry, Sanders?” he asks.

Tears well in my eyes, because I can’t believe that he remembered. That he took the time to do this.

I nod, and we get Lucy with us over to the wall with chocolate smeared on her cheek and excitement bubbling up inside.

“You ready, Lucy Loo?” Ryker asks as he holds the lighter to fill up her first lantern. When it inflates, Lucy’s wish can be seen written across the thin paper. To become a unicorn.

“Just like Tangled!” she squeals, her go-to princess movie as of late, when it takes flight into the darkened night. We watch it until it goes so high, a bright light in the black sky, until the flame extinguishes, throwing her wish into the atmosphere.

“You sure you don’t have a worry?” Ryker asks Lucy, and she shakes her head emphatically.

“Nope.”

“Okay then. Your turn, Vaughn.”

I take my time, carefully writing on the delicate material, and then he lights my lanterns one at a time. My worry—If this is all a dream, I don’t want to wake up—floats into the sky. Soon after my wish follows—More days like today.

When the light extinguishes, I look over at Ryker, and his eyes are on me. I’ve never felt this content in my life. Never felt this secure. Never felt this loved.

And I owe it all to him.

I smile and mouth the words I love you.

“I love you too,” he whispers.

“Your turn, Lockhart.”

“Mine?”

“Yep,” I say.

“I’m going with the Lucy camp of having no worry to put up there,” he explains as he begins to position the lantern.

“I can’t see your wish,” I say as I step closer, the writing on the opposite side of the lantern as it begins to inflate.

“Relax. It’s getting there. I’ll turn it around in a second.”

I pull Lucy against my side as we watch the flame light up the night and its glow fill the inside of the balloon.

“You ready?” he asks, and we both nod. “Here goes.”

Ryker lets the paper lantern begin to lift from his hand and turns it just before it takes flight so the writing is visible.

And then my heart stops when I see the words: Will you marry me, Vaughn and Lucy?

I stand frozen as I read them, as I try to believe that he really means them, but when I can tear my eyes from the words and over to the wonderful man who wrote them, I can’t speak.

Tears are glistening in his eyes. His smile is wide. His invitation is written all over his expression.

I step toward him and press my lips against his for an answer. It’s brief and tender, but it says everything I could ever want to say to him in that simple touch.

“Yes,” I murmur against his lips.

He leans back. “Yes?”

“Yes.”

And the look on his face will forever be burned in my mind.

Love swells within me.

I never wanted this. A man. A love. The promise of a future and happiness.