Resist Me

Epilogue

Lincoln

4 years later

“Sorry West ruined your wedding,” I said when Kai came over to hand me a champagne flute.

He laughed, of course. “It wasn’t ruined at all.”

“He and Willow ran down the aisle in t-rex costumes in the middle of your vows.”

“And it was perfect. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did the same thing at yours.”

I took a long drink from my glass, determined not to show the way that made my heart flutter. Kai always knew, though. He was infuriatingly perceptive. Not as much as Brooks, but that was a whole different thing. As if he knew I was thinking about him, he raised his glass from across the room before he returned his attention to his boyfriend who was slightly drunk thanks to Kai’s troublemaking husband.

Sen was standing a few tables away with Travis and a couple of other people from the Braves. They’d become really close since they reconnected and we’d all spent time at his place in Georgia. Even if his team wasn’t in the World Sereis, he usually got us tickets and would come watch it with us. I really liked the guy. Sometimes, he seemed overwhelmed by West, but we’d been around him enough that he’d learned to roll with the punches.

Travis looked toward the back of the room and I wasn’t surprised when he headed in that direction. Like the rest of us, he was a little bit codependent.

After draining the champagne, I clapped Kai on the shoulder. “Ready for your dance?”

The grin on his face was radiant. “Have been since Sen kissed me in that locker room.”

“Guess when you know, you know.”

“Absolutely. Get up and play that super special song you wrote for us. Hopefully it doesn’t suck.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, you dick.”

Luckily, this was something I could do without issue. Playing something I’d written didn’t make me nervous. It was simple, something that flowed out of me easily. I’d practiced it enough that I was able to play it without much thought, so I took some moments to watch Sen and Kai dance. They still looked at each other the way they had from the start. When they were eighty, it’d probably be exactly like this.

Willow and Rick were swaying together off to the side. They looked so happy together. They’d married a year and a half after they started dating, much to West’s displeasure but hey, it worked for them. After Rick graduated, the two of them bought the ice skating rink Kai used to work at. We all went skating together once a week. Sen fell on his ass often, but I was pretty sure he only got on the ice because it made Kai happy.

Kai only graduated a couple of months ago, but he was working hard to expand his dad’s business from Maine to Seattle. The teenagers he worked with loved the rink and, unsurprisingly, he was an incredible mentor to them. West was like their chaotic uncle. He regularly challenged them to races, which he usually won since he was a crazy good skater.

Once I closed out the song, I started another one. I watched West walk up to Kai and hug him. Thankfully, he’d taken off the t-rex costume. I didn’t even know he’d planned that out. He probably knew that if I found out about it, I’d get rid of the thing so that he couldn’t do something so horrifying.

When he looked up at me, his bright blue eyes made my stomach flip. I wasn’t sure if he recognized the song but when I started singing, his lips parted. Marry Me by Train was easy to play on piano and I knew that he liked to listen to me sing, so it seemed like a good option.

When I reached the chorus, his eyes widened. Kai and Sen were smiling like excited children. Neither of them had even hesitated to agree when I asked them if I could do this. I reached the end of the song, then cleared my throat.

“Hey, Densmore. Can you get your ass up here?”

Everyone turned to him and his cheeks pinked. Begrudgingly, he came up on stage. Once I stood, he muttered a curse.

“That sounded horrible,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “Densmore.”

“Porter’s worse.”

“Want to choose a new one with me?” I dropped to one knee, which made the people in the reception hall cheer.

“God damnit, Linc. I hate you.”

I narrowed my eyes as I pulled out a black ring that I knew would look stark against his skin. He growled and tipped his head back. I’d expected him to be dramatic, but now I was a little worried.

He looked at Kai and held up a middle finger. “You knew, didn’t you? You planned this shit.”

Kai shrugged. “I thought it’d be funny.”

“Funny?” I repeated with a frown.

West knelt in front of me and pulled a ring out of his pocket. “You stole my thunder.”

I laughed, putting a hand over my mouth. “You always want to one-up me. This time, I win.”

“No. This was my idea.”

“Let’s compromise and say it was both of our ideas.”

He shook his head. I was a little shocked when I heard Sen shout from the dancefloor. “Just say yes and kiss each other already! It’s like the football field all over again.”

Finally, West broke into a grin. “Fine. I guess I can stomach marrying you.”

“Good to know,” I said before I kissed him firmly .

“I love you,” he whispered against my lips.

The first time he’d said it, I almost cried. Surprisingly, he’d thrown the word out before I did. It still messed up my stomach. He hadn’t changed one bit in the last four years, aside from healing some of his inner turmoil. He kept me on my toes, that was for sure.

The other day, I got home from classes to find him lying completely naked on the island in our house. Let’s just say he was the best meal I’d ever have in that kitchen. We had a freaking duel at least once a month using some fancy lightsabers he bought online. He also bought a goat, which he’d house trained and treated like a dog.

He was insane and god damn, if I didn’t love him for it. He’d be starting his first year in the NFL in just two months and while I’d hate that he would be gone, I was so proud of him. I had a couple more years in my program, then I’d be traveling with him as often as I could. It was a weird little life we’d have together, but it was ours and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, even the wild things. T-rex costumes, endless pranks, being unable to get work done half the time because he was a needy bastard. I wanted every bit of it. Forever.

“I love you, West,” I replied. “And I’m still sorta mad about it, to be honest.”

“Ditto.”

We both leaned forward again, meeting each other in the middle. It was a fitting way to start the rest of our lives together .