“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” I kiss her forehead. “And here I thought we were going to be a whole ‘till summer do us part’ situation.”

“What does that mean?” she asks on a laugh.

“You know, married for the summer, but after that, we were done.”

She looks me dead in the eyes. “I mean, that probably was going to be the case, but I think I knew the minute I felt those piercings—there was going to be no parting whatsoever.”

I let out a bark of a laugh and nod my head. “I’m oddly proud of myself.”

She kisses me again and whispers, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Pips.”

Epilogue

WILDER

“Pips, do you want a drink?”

Scottie looks up from where she’s painting a portrait of our relationship and shakes her head yes. “The Prickly Pair,” she says with a wink.

“Coming right up.” I head over to where Sanders is leaning against the bar in a three-piece suit, happily looking over all the couples. “You really stepped up the outfit this year for the welcome dinner.”

Sanders smirks. “It’s Velcroed in the back. Wait until you see what I have underneath here.”

I chuckle. “Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing short of amazing.”

“You’ve got that right.” Sanders nods toward Scottie. “That ring looks good on her.”

I glance back at my girl, who is wearing a giant yet classy engagement ring that I gave her last weekend.

It was the perfect evening. I bought out Stockings and had Denise invite her out for drinks. When she arrived, the entire bar was lit up with candles, and I was up onstage, waiting for her on bended knee.

I knew the minute I told her I loved her that I was going to marry her, but I had to give her time to adjust to loving me, so I waited…and waited. I dated her, we moved in together, we started seeing Sanders for maintenance, and then when I thought the time was right, I started planning the proposal.

I roped in Mika and Denise, asked them for their thoughts. We considered coming to Camp Haven and having me propose here, but I thought it would be too much of a spectacle, and that was when Mika offered up Stockings. He no longer works there since he’s working at a private club now, but he still has connections, and we still frequent the bar together every Friday where we all hang out, so it felt like the right thing to do.

And from the look on Scottie’s face when she saw me up on the stage, I knew it was perfect. We spent the rest of the night with friends and family, drinking, dancing, and having the best time ever.

And now we are here, at Camp Haven, where it all started.