Page 83 of The Road Trip Romance

“God, I missed this,” he states.

“Missed what?” I ask as he carries me upstairs.

“Us,” he replies, and I smile. Us. I like that.

EPILOGUE

Tate

One year later…

She walks onto the set and looks over at me behind the camera. The look she’s giving me nearly makes me blush. She’s proud of me and I can feel it. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt someone be this proud of me in my life.

When she reaches me, she smiles, and it lights up her whole face. I cup her jaw in my hands.

“So, we’re, like, doing this for real, huh?” she asks, grinning from ear to ear.

“We’re doing this,” I confirm.

She looks around us. “I’m nervous,” she whispers.

“Not as nervous as I am,” I laugh, my voice low.

She giggles and wraps her arms around my waist. “We can be nervous together,” she says as she leans up and plants a soft kiss on my lips.

“Alright, you two, let’s make a romantic comedy,” Rex says from behind us as he claps his hands together.

We pull away from each other and turn to face my friends. Rex takes his seat next to Penn and Jordan. They are all producers on this film. Our studio’s very first film baby.

Anissa and Lex are also here today to support their bestie. It’s nice having everyone here.

I walk Sophia over to her chair. I had a special one made up just for her. I hope she’s going to love her surprise.

I look down at the woman I love. She’s perfect. We ended up building a new house near Mark’s so the kids can stay at their schools until they graduate. Summer vacations are out here in LA. It does mean I travel a bit more than normal, but now that Sophia’s book has become a hot commodity, she’s decided to leave her grants job and write full-time, which means, when the kids are off or at Mark’s, she can be with me no matter where I am. And when I’m not filming or directing, I can be with her. We’re figuring it out, and at the end of the day, being with her is all that matters.

“Hey, I decided to have some visitors on set today,” I say as I glance over at my friends who have been in on this surprise since day one. Rex nonchalantly pulls out his phone.

“Oh?” she asks. “Readers?”

I shake my head. “No. Not today. I wanted it to be a little more…personal.”

She smiles and I can see the confusion on her face. I turn and motion to my assistant who opens a side door.

Mark and his wife come in with Cal and Lizzie. Lizzie runs over and jumps into my arms while Cal saunters over trying to play it cool. He greets me with the secret handshake…well, not so secret…that we created over the holidays last year.

Both kids then turn to their mom. “This is so cool, Mom,” Cal says as he takes in the set.

Lizzie leans forward. “Tate says we can be extras in a scene later!” she whispers but it’s more like a quiet scream. Several crew members laugh as they continue prepping things.

“He did, did he?” Sophia raises an eyebrow at me.

I shrug. “I thought it’d be fun to have you and the kids in the background of the restaurant scene,” I say sheepishly. “Mark agreed,” I add quickly and Mark laughs.

“Thanks for throwing me under the bus,” Mark says.

“Anytime,” I reply. Mark and I get along well, which is great. At first, I thought it might be a little awkward, but it never has been.

I look around at all the important people in our lives. Even Sophia’s parents, sister, and brother are hiding in the back of the room. I knew if she saw them here, she would know what I want to do. It’s something I started planning as soon as I left her house after our road trip. It’s taken a whole year to get us here, but the greatest of grand gestures take time. Forming our studio took time and getting this film together and funded took time. But all that time has brought Sophia and me even closer together. She’s my everything, my forever home.

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