She smiles and takes my hand, causing my heart to soar.
“Through all of it. Taunting Vincent. Taking over his company. Fighting him in the van. Trying to save him from getting shot at. Finding B. Throwing a bomb in the ocean. Getting my family back home. You motivated me. Because every time I closed my eyes and wondered if I could—if I would—survive, all I would see is you. You're my green flash, Aiden. Our moon wishes may have brought us together, but it’s our hearts that led us home. To each other. I know with everything I am that you’re it. My true love.”
“Really?” I say. “But, um, I thought you needed to see how things were with Brooklyn.”
She shakes her head as she puts her hands back around my neck. “Aiden, when you took my hand and led me to the Ferris wheel, I knew my hand belonged in yours forever. I just didn’t think I’d get a forever. I didn’t think I’d survive my kiln. But I did. And I want forever with you.”
We kiss.
If this were the movie of our life, this would be our happy ending.
Our fairy tale kiss under the moon that used to mock us both—but that may have actually brought us together.
Like, if you believe in that sort of thing.
Even after the kiss, part of me still doesn’t believe I could be so lucky.
“You aren’t wearing your ring.”
She looks down at her hand. “Oh. I took my jewelry off when I showered after the whole bomb thing. Then there were police and reporters and family. It’s been a blur since.”
“Your wish bracelet too?”
“No, that got ripped off when I was fighting with Vincent.”
“What did you wish for?”
“That I’d get my life back.”
“I’m glad you got your life back.”
“Me too, Aiden.”
“So does that mean you’ll finally go out with me?”
“I’d love to be your girlfriend, Aiden, but I’m not sure if I’ll be going back to Eastbrooke. Matt told me earlier that with the script changes they’ve made expanding my and Knox’s roles, we’ll have a full filming schedule this spring. I haven’t really had a chance to think it all through.” She hesitates. “Or what it might mean for us.”
“What it might mean for us? Boots, we survived this. I think we can survive a few days apart. I’ll come to the loft every weekend. You need to follow your dreams.”
“Wherever they take me?”
“Wherever they take us,” I reply, grabbing her and hugging her tighter than I ever have before.
God, I love this girl.
And she wants me.
“I love you,” I breathe into her hair.
“I love you too,” she says.
And then she kisses me. It’s a perfect, time-stood-still, fireworks kind of kiss. The kind of kiss that speaks to my soul.
And always will.
She leads me through the sand to her room, carefully locking the door before she starts undressing me.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11TH
AIDEN
I wake up to her kissing my neck. “Get up, sleepyhead. Time for surfing. You have to come watch.”
I look at the clock. It’s six-thirty. “Sleepyhead?” I say, grabbing her waist and pulling her on top of me. “You didn’t let me sleep last night.”
“I’m pretty sure the Titan proved to me just how much of a god he really is,” she laughs. It’s a beautiful laugh. One I want to hear every day for the rest of my life.
I lie in bed, taking it all in. What it’s like to be in her room. In her house. In her bed.
She comes out of her closet dressed in a teeny bikini. One that makes me want to grab her and not let her out of this room for a few more hours.
She tosses a pair of board shorts at me. “They’re Tommy’s,” she says.
I nod thankfully at her. I’d be okay with borrowing one of Brooklyn’s boards, but I’ll be damned if I’m wearing his shorts.
Face facts.
8am
I’m taking a break from surfing, lying in the sand, and watching the boys play in the waves, when Cooper brings me a phone.
“This was found inside the house down the beach. It was dead, so I charged it last night. We think it’s Brooklyn’s.”
I enter B’s usual passcode, bringing the phone to life.
I hold it up and yell, “Hey, B! They found your phone!”
He rides a wave straight in, sticks his board in the sand, and sits down next to me while Cooper heads back into the house. I know he and Garrett have a meeting this morning.
“It looks like you have a lot of missed calls and texts.”
As he reads through the texts, a lot of emotions cross his face. He shakes his head. “I don’t know what I’m going to say to her.”
“You told me a little about her when we talked on the beach. I know you care about her.”
“She’s pretty. Models swimwear for one of my sponsors. At first, she reminded me of you and we became fast friends. It sorta grew into more than that. We’d hang out together. Talk about life. Things had gotten kinda hot and heavy between us right before Thanksgiving. But then . . . you know . . . I said what I did.”