“Then marry me.” His words caress my heart. He pulls out a small blue box and rests it on his black pant legs. Tears well in my eyes, my skin feels feverish, my heart swells in my chest. “I wrote you some heartfelt shit when I was in rehab, and you know how I feel about you. I have my private jet on standby. We’ll get married in Las Vegas right now.” He opens the box, producing a small ring with a pink diamond in the center.

“No.”

“No?” The lines on his forehead deepen, and he scrunches up his nose.

“No. I want traditions. You need to be down on one knee asking me, and I want a wedding. Not an extravagant one, but a simple one. You know how I am about traditions, Gunner Joshua Underwood.”

It took a lot in me not to say yes, but I always envisioned how our wedding would be, even when we were in college.

A smile stretches across his face. He stands up, moves the coffee table closer to the entertainment center, and gets down on one knee.

“Now will you marry me?”

“Yes, but we’re getting married three months from now.”

“One month from now,” he says.

“No, two months,” I counter.

“Fine.” He slides the ring on my finger before he stands up and pulls me to my feet.

“You always want the last word,” he says.

“Yet you love me.”

“I do.” He wraps his arms around my waist, and his smile feels like a million kisses on my skin.

“Good, you’re already practicing for our wedding day.”

His lips seal against mine, and his kisses burn hotter than any stars in the sky.

Epilogue

Epilogue

Gia

Two months later . . .

“Take off your dress,” Wolf says. I stare at him as if he told me aliens landed on our planet.

“Here? Outside on this balcony?” My voice is high-pitched.

“We’re the only two on this side of the island, and I’m naked too, so you won’t be alone.”

Yes, he is, and fully hard, and I’m going to ride him soon. I study the tattoo of the half of a wolf’s face morphing into my face on his chest. He got it in Vegas where he went for his bachelor party, and while Matt, Logan, and Darien got drunk, he stayed sober. I asked him if it was hard not to take a drink; he told me it was, but having a drop is not worth destroying his life. I’m so proud of him for conquering his demons. He still struggles every day with PTSD. Some days are rough and others are great. And, whenever he has nightmares or flashbacks, we deal with it.

“You’ll start to love your body the way I do and feel comfortable in your own skin, Rainbow.”