Page 153 of Stealing Sunshine

“Keep it. I think it’s always belonged to you, anyway.”

EPILOGUE

BRYCE

THREE MONTHS LATER

“Are you nervous?”Daisy asks, twisting in my arms, her pretty blue eyes locking with mine.

I pepper kisses along her hairline. “No.”

“Good. Everyone is so proud of you.”

“Including you?” I fish for her approval.

She reads right through me. “Oh, honey, I’m the proudest of all. Don’t slot me in with everyone else.”

“So sassy today,” I coo, tapping the underside of her chin before guiding it back and swooping in for a kiss.

Her eyes twinkle when she pulls away. “You’re rubbing off on me.”

“Better me than anyone else.”

“So possessive today,” she pokes, echoing my tone.

“Fucking right I am.”

Her giggle is music to my ears as I look around the studio and take in the familiar faces filling it.

Into The Shade has always been a safe space for me. But now, it’s more than that. Starting today, it’s my new home away from home. I’ll be working here until I can save enough to open a shop of my own in Cherry Peak. The station beside Shade’s ismine, and the small sign above it glowing in yellow will one day be ten times bigger in size and hung outside of my tattoo shop.

Love Codes.

A reminder that I’m no longer afraid to chase my dreams.

Every one of our friends is here today to celebrate. Brody and Anna, Johnny and Rory, and Poppy and Garrison. Darren and Delaney are here too—not together, of course, which is something Poppy spent a solid hour complaining about this morning. She’s taken it upon herself to try and play matchmaker, and I haven’t had it in me to tell her it’s a lost cause.

Originally, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of this day, but Daisy had everyone hyped before I got the chance to tell them it wasn’t necessary. Poppy’s even been staying at the guest house on Steele Ranch with Garrison all week under the pretense of helping finish all of the preparations.

There’s been a lot of these moments over the last three months. Poppy’s been here more recently in the past few months than in the year prior, and I’ve spent enough time in Calgary not to need my maps app to get to her house and Beautifully Bold anymore.

“You’ll have a sore hand by the time we go home tonight,” Daisy murmurs, staring past our friends and to those who’ve come for the flash tattoo sale Shade suggested we hold.

Flash tattoos aren’t my favourite, nor are they Shade’s, but fucking hell, the guy has done so much to help me with this new job that I couldn’t turn down another one of his attempts to bring more traffic into the shop.

I bring my mouth to Daisy’s cheek and linger there. “If my hand’s out of commission, I guess you’ll just have to ride my face, then.”

Heat presses to my mouth as her cheeks blaze. She rolls her eyes at me.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“No, Sunshine. I’m happy.”

Her features soften immediately. “I love you.”

“Awe, I love you too, little devil,” Shade purrs, appearing out of nowhere to plant a fat, wet kiss on her forehead.

I shove him off and away from my girlfriend. “Go kiss someone else, asshole.”

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