Page 158 of Collide
Right. That would be crazy. The knocking intensifies. I lift off the bed to answer the door with Summer behind me.
Dylan peeks through his fingers and exhales when he sees us. “Good, you’re still dressed. Kian just fell overboard.”
“What?” We both exclaim. A nonchalant Dylan leads the way to the commotion in the main room.
“Well, that definitely sobered him up,” says Cassie. She’s sitting next to Kian on the couch.
“That totally killed my buzz,” Kian grumbles. “Can someone get me another drink?”
My worry drains when I hear his voice. The last thing I need is one of these idiots dying on me. “Never thought I’d feel peace from the sound of your voice, buddy."
Kian flips me off as a shiver racks through him. Eli tosses him a robe, and I find the switch for the fireplace.
“I’m pretty sure I saw the afterlife down there,” Kian says to Cassie. Amara and Sampson roll their eyes from their place on the couch.
“You were in there for two minutes before Eli pulled you out,” says Dylan.
“The afterlife doesn’t have a specific timeline.”
Dylan groans. “Say the afterlife one more time, and I’m drowning you myself.”
Kian gasps.
“Okay, that’s enough. No one is drowning anyone. Kian and Eli are going to change, and then we’re all having a nice dinner.” A shivering Kian throws Summer a salute, and everyone finally goes to their rooms.
Three fights and two flying utensils later, we had dinner and settled into board games. Amara was close to biting Sampson’s head off, so we put them on the same team. That didn’t work as expected because now they’re bickering about who won the game. Dylan and Kian sangParty in The USAwith Summer while they drained an unlabeled bottle of alcohol that worried me.
But it makes Summer extra nice, especially when Cassie calls us outside to watch the fireworks, and she wraps us in a blanket before settling in my lap.
“They’re a handful,” she whispers sleepily, resting her head on my chest. She even brought the stuffed cow I won her at the carnival, tucking it between us.
“You’re telling me. I’ve been fathering those children for years.”
“You make a great DILF,” she says with a kiss on my chin.
I laugh. “So, I suppose you can say it now.”
“Say what?”
“Aiden Crawford, you are the one to tear down my ice fortress and show me the ways of a hockey player.”
“Not happening,” she mutters. “But you are pretty damn perfect, you know that?”
I brush my lips over hers. “Only when I’m with you.”
“You’re stuck with me, Crawford.”
“Good because I love you, Preston. Like, a lot.”
“I love you, too. Like, a lot.” Summer burrows deeper into my embrace. Her warm, peachy scent swirls around us, a soothing concoction that has me pulling her closer. When I hold her like this, I realize my entire world fits in my arms.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
EPILOGUE
Nine Years Later
Toronto, Ontario
