Page 175 of Fall I Want
Joy and laughter pour out of me as pumpkin-shaped confetti falls from the ceiling. It glitters and floats around us. Our eyes meet, and when he slowly kisses me, it’s like magic. We danced around the world searching for one another, and I’ll continue to twirl in his arms until our story ends. This is our fairy tale.
When our gazes lock, I smile wide and it fucking hurts.
Zane leans in, his thumb brushing against my cheek. “You’ll always be my Pumpkin Queen.”
“And you’ll always be my Prince Charming.”
Epilogue
Zane
“I’ve never watched the ball drop in real life,” Autumn explains as we grab a glass of champagne. A pianist plays in the middle of the room and the lights are low.
“Not even when you lived in thee City?” I ask, my eyes sliding over my wife.
“I avoided the area. Like a true New Yorker.”
I chuckle. As I take a sip of the bubbly, I see Nicolas move onto the balcony. He stayed to himself all night. It’s weird to coexist and not speak.
“Talk to him,” Autumn says. “You want to. I can see it in your expression.”
I sigh. “I know what it’s like to be alone in that doom spiral. I believed everyone hated me when I hated myself. You saved me.”
Her eyes shine as she wraps her arms around my waist. “You needed a friend.”
“I neededyou.” I steal a kiss. “Five minutes?”
“Billie and Harper are here. Fashionably late. I’ll come find you, okay?”
“Love you,” I whisper.
“Love you.” She smiles. When she approaches Harper, I refill my glass and make my way outside.
He turns and glances at me when the door snaps shut. I stand beside him and the frigid air brushes against my cheeks.
“A lot of people down there.” His eyes glide over the crowd. Across the way is the stage where Anderson Cooper is filming.
“Been snowboarding this season?” I ask.
“Not once,” he says. We used to be thick as thieves and would rule the slopes together. Nicolas was like my brother. Now that our parents are married, we’re not even friends.
Awkwardness streams between us.
“I don’t know what to say right now,” I admit. “But you don’t have to go through this shit alone. No one hates you.”
“You do.”
“I did.” I drink my champagne. “But there isn’t room in my life for that anymore. What you did to me was abhorrent, but we were pawns in a scheme that was bigger than both of us. I don’t have to remind you of that. It spins around in your mind constantly. I know it does because you have a fucking conscience.”
“You’re right,” he says, swigging back the rest of the amber liquid in his glass.
“I’ve forgiven you. It’s what my mom would want me to do.”
He sucks in a deep breath. “I miss her.”
“We all do.” I look at him. “Come to Cozy Hollow and ride the slopes with me.”
“You mean that?” There is hope in his tone.
