Page 47 of Perfectly Imperfect Us
Then he turned to the man and stated, “Yes, very much a couple.”
The guy’s camera swung up to his face and the flash went off at least a dozen times before he thanked us and moved away. The four of us circulated around the room, catching up and filling them in on all the details of the day. We ate good food I couldn’t pronounce from the caterers moving about the ballroom and the open bar kept our wineglasses full. It was the perfect end to a perfect—yet hectic—day.
Ryder’s phone kept vibrating in his pocket. I could feel it, having been pressed up against him nonstop all evening. After our reconciliation, I couldn’t stand to be away from him. I wanted to soak him in and make up for the week we lost because of Kyly Stone’s interruption. I hoped one day we’d look back at that week and laugh at how crazy the whole thing had turned out.
“Do you need to get that?” I asked him.
He looked at me, gauging how mad I’d be if he looked at his phone. I laughed and put him out of his misery. “Go ahead and grab it. I bet it’s your agent going crazy fielding all the photography offers you’re getting already.”
Ryder leaned down to kiss me. “I love how you support me.”
“Always will,” I whispered back.
He reached into his pocket to grab his phone, not releasing me even an inch.
“Jeez, you guys. Could you remember us poor schmucks over here who have to look at you two?” Max’s voice interrupted us, his teasing not doing a thing to make us separate.
I rolled my eyes. “I seem to recall having to watch you and Skylar canoodling not long ago.”
Max frowned like he was insulted. “We never canoodled.”
“Did too,” I argued.
“Guys.” Ryder had his phone in front of his face, eyes glued to the screen.
“What?” I asked, hoping the news was good. My poor heart couldn’t take any more surprises.
Ryder handed me the phone. “We’ve been dubbed a fairy-tale couple. Famous guy meets some obscure girl, who has friends in high places, making a splash on the fashion scene. People magazine has an online poll going and we’re already more interesting than Prince Harry and Meghan.”
“What?” I gaped, scanning the article quickly before clicking back to see picture after picture of Ryder and me. His blog pictures, plus pictures from earlier tonight at the reception were already circulating.
“Not surprising. You two make a ridiculously good-looking couple,” Skylar said.
“Oh! This is my favorite!” I enlarged the photo and showed the screen to Ryder.
In the picture, he was in his tailored suit looking down at me like I was his whole world. The smile on my face was that of a girl who knew she was being held by her forever love.
“Damn, these photographers work fast,” Max exclaimed, swiveling his head to find the guy who’d taken our picture when we first walked into the after-party.
“They know true love when they see it. Now we just have to give them the fairy-tale ending.” Ryder pulled me in, dipped me back and then pulled me up for a kiss to end all kisses.
Epilogue
One Year Later
I stood on a small patch of grass, the heat of the summer day already hitting my skin even though it was still early in the morning. Summer was definitely back in Nickel Bay. The construction workers were already climbing all over the house, the roof almost complete.
Ryder and I had the brilliant idea to build our own house instead of buying one. He’d dragged his feet over getting his own place, saying he just hadn’t found one he liked, but I think it had more to do with wanting to remain next door to me. And I had to admit, the easy access to each other while we dated and built our new careers was heaven.
I was busier than I’d ever been. Not long after my modeling debut at Ginnie’s fashion show, I put in my two weeks’ notice at Knot a Chain. Virgie hadn’t taken my departure well, hugging me to her large bosom and proclaiming I was her favorite employee ever. Who knew?
I’d spent every minute since then with only two focuses: dating Ryder and building my beauty brand. Ginnie’s endorsement had kickstarted a huge following on my YouTube channel, paid makeup artist gigs, sponsorships, and a flood of free promotional products for me to try. I was making a good living now just with my beauty brand. My dream had come true with a little luck, knowing the right people, and a boatload of hustle.
“They said we can go in,” Ryder walked over and pulled me into him, kissing me on the nose and then pulling me toward the front door of our future house.
This part never got old. Most of our free time these days was spent touring our house in whatever phase of building it was in. Today we had a front door, tomorrow we’d have a finished roof.
Ryder swooped down and lifted me in a princess carry before I could let out a sound. He pushed open the door with his foot and stepped across the threshold, a smug smile on his handsome face.
