Page 117 of The Longshot

I’ve waited for that someone that when you look into their eyes, you see your whole world and more.

That’s the kind of love I'd been searching for.

That’s the kind of love I found.

“I love you, Gary Wilkinson,” Chelsie murmurs into my mouth. “I love you so much.”

I want to keep saying “I love you” back and forth over and over, because hearing her tell me she loves me in return is the greatest gift I could have ever asked for. It is. It really is.

“I knew it would be you,” she murmurs. “I just knew it.”

I only half pull back. “What? What do you mean by that?”

She smiles. “I knew that one day, I’d find my hope again. My safe space, and I did. I found it. I found it in you.”

I’ll be damned, I suppose there are things better than saying I love you, and just like that, we lose ourselves in each other’s embrace.

All at once, time stands still, and the world stops until finally, I’m the first to pull back, ready to ask her the one question I’ve been dying to know the answer to from the moment we met.

“So, tell me, Chelsie Windsor. Do you regret letting me in the bakery that day?”

She laughs, biting down on her bottom lip before drawing me back in and whispering into my lips.

“Not one bit, Gary Wilkinson. Not one bit.”

EPILOGUE

C H E L S I E

ONE MONTH LATER

“C’mon, Gary!” I urge him to quicken his pace as he balances an assortment of balloons, bouquets, and an oversized teddy bear (one I told him we didn’t need, but he insisted on) out of the car.

“A little help would be nice,” he jokes, almost losing grip of the bear before he quickly recovers and shuffles his way forward.

“I can’t. I’ve got the cake,” I tell him, lifting the box into the air as a reminder. “And Lord knows things like this… need a steady hand.”

He chews on the inside of his cheek at my teasing yet truthful remark as we both reach the front door, and I ring the bell.

“Nervous?” I surmise, watching as he anxiously taps his foot against the concrete below.

“No.” He stops the motion until Warren swings open the front door to his house and flashes us both a tender smile. “Okay, maybe a little.”

“You made it,” Warren’s voice is soft, quiet, as he brushes past Gary's remark.“Thanks for coming, guys. Come in. You two are the first to arrive.”

Gary is the first to oblige as he eagerly steps inside. I’m not surprised we’re the first ones here. I don’t think a single day has passed by since Delaney and Warren announced that their bundle of joy had arrived safely that Gary hasn't gone on about meeting him or her.

In all fairness, he wasn’t the only one—the rest of the team has been dying for today to come.

Everyone insisted on surprising the two of them at their house after they came back from the hospital, but we urged them that that wasn’t a good idea. After all, in the few quiet moments I had with Delaney, she shared with me that for the first month after delivery, all she wanted was to be with Warren—and their little one.

And now, as promised, exactly one month later, the two have finally opened up their doors not only to share their little one with us all but to also announce both the sex and name of the baby.

Throughout the past month, Gary has not only learned patience but he's also learned how to completely melt my heart with the simple reminder of those three magic words.

I. Love. You.

I’ll never get tired of hearing him say it.

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