“Piper,” I say. “I want to marry you. We can stay engaged for as long as you want. You’re young. We’re both busy. Your career is just starting and so many amazing things are happening for you. There are a lot of decisions to be made about what to do and where to live. But I just want you to know that I want to be the one who’s there with you through all of it. I made my decision the night I met you. When we were snowed in. Even if we happen to be in different cities, I’m yours. I’m your HEA. Will you?—”
“Yes! Oh my God! Yes, I’ll marry you!” She jumps up and down.
“Oh, good.” I stand up to kiss her and slide the ring that Rory helped me pick out onto her finger.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she whispers.
“I had an idea to do this at the park on Riverside Drive. You know, from the end ofYou’ve Got Mail. But the guys all very wisely told me I’d want to be inside where it’s dark and quiet today, so…”
“Awww, I love that you call them ‘the guys.’”
“Yeah. It was actually Rory’s idea to do the billboard and propose to you when you turned around.”
“I have taught that little Padawan well.”
“I think you’ve taught us all pretty well, to be honest…” I unbutton my jeans and turn away from her. “Thiswas my idea…”
She gasps as I lower my pants. She gasps even louder than she usually does when I lower my pants for her, I mean. “Holden…”
I had her name tattooed on my right butt cheek at some point last night. Inside a heart. Just her first name. It’s pretty small. But it feels mighty.
“Holden Archer.” She traces around it gently with her fingertips. “Of all the amazing things you’ve done for me, this is the best so far.”
“I think I’m gonna need your help applying an ointment a few times a day for a while.”
“Boy, am I the right girl for the job.”
“I figured I’d be in good hands.”
I turn around and step out of my pants, back her up against the wall, and lift her up so she can wrap her legs around my waist. I know how much my girl likes a passionate wall kiss. Because she let me read her10 Ways I Can’t Wait to Screwlist.
“My name is on your butt,” she says into my mouth.
“Forever and ever.”
“Amen.”
EPILOGUE ONE - Rory
Three New Years Later
January 1st
Dear Diary,
Piper is finally my sister-in-law!!!
I can’t believe how lucky I am to be related to my idol.
Oh, and I’m happy for my brother too LOL. His best friend and favorite person is finally legally bound to him. I am totally fine with being his second-favorite person ever since he met Piper, particularly since he regularly acknowledges that I helped him reach her.
They got married yesterday. Three New Year’s Eves after they first met face-to-face and got snowed in together on the other coast. They waited until Holden was done with his Riders duties.How We Got Herethe series will be dropping its first season during Valentine’s week this year! And Piper is a best-selling self-published YA romance author who just got a dealto turn some of her books into a series, but she doesn’t have to start adapting them into a script until the spring. They finally had a window of opportunity to tie the knot, even though they’ve been as much of a couple as anyone I’ve ever known for what seems like forever.
The wedding/New Year’s celebration and unofficial would-be male butt-model convention is at a resort hotel in a huge Victorian castle on a mountaintop in the Hudson Valley. Piper and Holden got luxury tour buses to shuttle guests in from NYC. It’s only about a ninety-minute drive. Some guests flew in by private jet to a nearby airfield, ahem. It’s not a huge guest list because they wanted to keep it intimate and because it’s a holiday and involved some traveling. They’re having a reception in Los Angeles later in the month, after their honeymoon. That’s gonna be a real star-studded event, oh boy.
But that’s where I am now, at the resort. I got my own room! It’s snowing, but we aren’t snowed in. It’s just the perfect amount of snow to make it picturesque and magical. There’s a forest and a lake and super cute small towns nearby. A truly romantic winter wonderland, and I couldn’t imagine a better location for Piper’s wedding. It’s really secluded and atmospheric—I am almost inspired to write gothic noncanonical HP fanfic…
But first—I must write about the wedding. Because I was a bridesmaid! Piper had so many bridesmaids, it was like the end of27 Dresses. It was me and her former roommates from LA, Lainey and Tracy, Imogen from Ireland, whom she’s been pen pals with for years because she’s Nolan Cassidy’s niece, and four other friends of Piper’s from New York. Her oldest friend, Shoshanna, was her maid of honor, even though Piper’s mom was campaigning to be matron of honor LOL. Poor Bex. Always the mom, never the bridesmaid.