Page 124 of Forbidden King (Magnolia Falls)

That was all I needed to hear. I moved her back enough so I could climb out quickly, and I grabbed a towel, wrapping it around my waist, before helping her out of the tub and drying her off.

She was laughing as I scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom.

I dropped her onto the bed and opened her towel, taking her in.

“How did I get so fucking lucky?” I traced her bottom lip with the pad of my thumb.

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

“Yeah? Any more wishes you can think of?”

She shook her head. “Nope. They already came true.”

And she was right.

There wasn’t a single thing I wanted.

Because everything I wanted, everything I needed—it was right here.

I leaned down and claimed her mouth.

Just like I planned to do every day for the rest of my life.

epilogue

Saylor

We sat on the bleachers,cheering for our favorite little guy, as he took to the plate. The Magnolia Falls Ducks had made it to the championships, and it was a tie game, final inning, and Cutler was the final player up to bat.

Their last shot to win this game.

It was a long shot, because no one was on base, so it would probably end as a tie game. They didn’t do extra innings at this level.

Nash was standing behind home plate, talking to Cutler, who was listening intently.

“Why am I so nervous?” Demi whisper-shouted.

“I am, too,” Romeo said, and I looked around, noting that everyone was chewing their nails or their legs were bouncing.

We were all nervous.

We’d been to every game this season, and we’d watched Cutler fall in love with the sport. So we knew how much this meant to him, which meant that we all wanted him to at least get on base for his last time up to bat.

King was on his feet, pacing in front of us, as he shoved his hands into his pockets. I loved how much he cared for the people that he loved. He felt so deeply, and it was one of the things that I loved most about him.

“You’ve got this, Beefcake!” King shouted, before he came back over to sit beside me.

“He’s got this,” I whispered, and he took my hand and pulled me closer.

He nodded. “He does. And he’s scored two of the four runs they’ve gotten already.”

Ruby chuckled as she sat on the other side of him. “Spoken like a proud uncle.”

Cutler looked over at us, gave us a nod, and scraped his feet against the dirt two times like he did every time he was up to bat.

The first pitch was a little high, and he didn’t swing. The next pitch had him swinging hard, and he missed. I noted the way his eyebrows pinched together, which told me he was concentrating hard on hitting that ball.

We all clapped and told him to brush it off.

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