Wasted Time (The Steel City #1)

Epilogue

epilogue

I smile through the tears in my eyes, watching my best friend get spun around a dance floor in the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen. It fits her like a glove, like it’s made for her. She is every bit the goddess she always was, but there is something exceptionally stunning about Avery Oliver as a bride.

Sorry. Avery Tyler.

I’m unsure who cried more watching her walk down the aisle, me or Seth. Either way, she is the most radiant bride that I’ve ever laid eyes on, and if anyone deserves the happiest of endings, it’s my best friend. And she found it. It’s clear, watching her today, light on her feet and stars in her eyes. My heart could burst watching her smile light up this ballroom. And boy, does she light up this ballroom.

I lean into the heel of my hand, swiping my tears away with the pads of my fingers. A country song blares through the speakers as my best friend dances for the first time with her husband. Seth whispers every word of the song into Avery’s ear while he slowly guides her around the dance floor.

Husband and wife.

The forever type of love.

Somehow, I know they’ll be the rare ones who make it.

Fingers glide over my thigh, trailing down the silk fabric of my jade-green gown.

Yeah, after all of that, she still went with jade-green.

I sniffle, glancing at the big, handsome best man beside me. As usual, he looks absolutely delicious in his perfectly tailored suit.

Declan smiles, his eyes searching mine. He gives my leg a quick squeeze.

Once, twice, and a third time.

“You big softy,” he murmurs, leaning down to press his lips to my temple.

I shut my eyes, leaning into him. If you would have told me not long ago that I’d be here, I wouldn’t have believed you. My heart couldn’t fathom the idea of letting itself open for love again. My trust had dwindled with every broken promise and change of mind. The relationship that I was in had taken too much from me over the years. So much, in fact, that I wasn’t sure there would ever be another risk worth taking when it came to my heart.

But I learned quickly that these big, messy loves happen so that you learn what you will not settle for. Every moment where he neglected my generosity, where he made me doubt my sanity, where he stripped my security, it all taught me what I couldn’t handle in a relationship. He showed me what I didn’t want, and what I wouldn't accept. I’ve learned to love myself, and I’m proud of that.

I turn in my seat, sliding my fingers against Declan’s jaw. His beard scratches the tips of my fingers, but it brings me so much comfort that it feels soft against my skin. I lean upward, my lips meeting his smile, and press my mouth to his.

Without Gavin, I would have never found Declan.

Without that pain, I would have never realized the depth of Declan’s love. I wouldn’t have been able to trust in him the way I do now.

With Declan, it’s easy. He tells me he loves me, and I believe it. We fight, and I don’t scramble to make it better, scared he’ll walk out the door if I don’t. It’s an equal playing field, which is exactly what love should be, and there is never a score to settle. It’s a partnership, which is a term that only truly made sense once I had it.

I pull away, staying close because I want to. I brush my thumb against his cheek, treasuring the indent of his dimple. His smile widens, hand trailing up my thigh. I dare to meet his eyes, knowing that I’ll melt within the amber.

“That’ll be us one day,” he says quietly, thumb brushing my leg. God, I’ll never tire of him saying things like that. “I promise you, Lucky. You’re going to wear my last name in every way possible.”

I smile, because it isn’t the first time he’s said something like that, and it won’t be the last.

“There’s no rush,” I remind him. As much as I love the idea, we can take our time. I have the utmost faith in us, in who we are and what we have. I know we’ll get there. I’m not putting a time limit on when that has to be.

“I know, but I like the idea of calling you my wife.”

Heat rushes through me. Yeah, I like that idea too.

“Don’t,” I warn, pulling back. I drop my hand, rolling my eyes when he tips his head back and chuckles at my undoing. He’s an expert at sweet talking and he knows the right buttons to push.

Seth dips Avery backward and bends down to kiss her, which makes the room erupt in applause. I pull my attention back to them, dropping my hand into my lap and wrapping my fingers around Declan’s. He runs his thumb across my knuckles, bringing his beer to his lips.

My eyes glide to the corner of the dance floor.

Wyatt is dancing between the chairs with my niece, and my sister takes pictures of them from the next table over. He looks good. Happy, healthy, and as handsome as ever. He grew out his hair and braided it, which suits him completely. His crooked smile still hits a sore spot in my heart every time I see it. I find myself yearning for his presence, for the sound of his breath, for the warmth of his skin. I don’t know when that will stop. I don’t know if it ever will.

I worry often, but I love him more fiercely than I worry.

Having him in Pittsburgh has been the best thing that has happened to me since Dec.

Wyatt really loves it there, and we love having him nearby. He extended his stay by one month at first, and then he just up and quit his job and moved. To Pittsburgh. He got his own place, picked up a new coaching job, and now I get to see him whenever I want.

It’s a dream come true. It’s a dream that I hadn’t allowed myself to have. I can’t explain the joy it brings me to be able to just text him and make plans to see him on the same day.

My eyes glide a couple of tables over, to the man in a ridiculously expensive suit that always seems to be watching Wyatt with the same, enamored smile as the rest of us.

I’d like to claim Wyatt’s decision to move was because of me and Declan, but I think that title belongs to him .

His smile is gentle as he watches Wyatt with Ellie. It’s the look of somebody who doesn’t realize anybody is watching them because they assume everyone else is looking at him too .

Auburn hair styled to perfection. Clean face. Freckles adorning his nose and cheeks.

Hockey royalty .

Declan’s captain.

I hadn’t seen it coming. Dec hadn’t either. We accidentally walked in on them, showing up at Wyatt’s a couple of hours early to watch the football game. Wyatt had Saltzy pressed against the kitchen cupboards, their lips pressed to each other, Wyatt’s hands cupping his face.

When the door slammed shut behind us, they jumped so far away from each other that I knew instantly this wasn’t something new, but it was something they were hiding.

Saltzy panicked. I mean, he lost his shit. He was muttering to himself, refusing to look any of us, including Wyatt, in the eye. He swore, and he rambled, and he wasn’t making sense, but none of us interjected. And then he stormed out.

Just like that.

But once you find Wyatt, there’s no way in hell that you give him up. Saltzy was back within the hour, knocking on the door with a heavy fist. When Wyatt opened that door, Callum flew inside of the apartment, barrelling into his chest.

He didn’t care that Declan and I were still in the room.

All that mattered to Callum was knowing that he hadn’t lost Wyatt.

Wyatt deflated in his arms, a long breath leaving him as Saltzy’s hands reached for his hair, burying his fingers into it as he repeated the same words over and over while he melted into Wyatt’s chest.

“I’m so sorry.”

Not everybody knows about them yet. That’s the way they want it right now. It’s none of my business who knows what about him, or about them. They were just very clear to Declan and I that they’d prefer we kept this to ourselves until they choose for it to be otherwise. We have to respect that, even though I worry it hurts my friend, but Wyatt seems at peace with it .

And he’s here. He’s at Avery’s wedding as Wyatt’s date. That’s something.

It makes me happy that they’re comfortable with Declan and me, which is why I can say with confidence that Saltzy is completely and utterly in love with Wyatt Caulfield. They come over for dinner. They stay the night sometimes. We have drinks and we play games, and sometimes in those quiet moments on my porch when it’s just Wyatt and I, Wyatt pours his heart out to me and makes me fall a bit in love with Callum too.

Callum watches Wyatt the way Seth watches Avery. He’s enamored. In awe. He’s head over heels for my friend, who deserves a love like that. He deserves his own happily ever after.

I don’t think Saltzy saw him coming.

EJ is next to Callum, talking to a table full of girls beside him. His hair’s a bit longer, eyes a bit more tired. He accepted a new job at the mine, and his hours are grueling. He’s gone for a month and home for a month now, and he’s been dating a hell of a lot more than he had been prior. The girl with the long black hair, I think one of Avery’s coworkers, tucks her hair behind her ear as she speaks to him. The pointed toe of her heel grazes his calf.

He didn’t bring a date, but he hasn’t been at the head table with the rest of us since dinner ended.

Get it, EJ.

He deserves love too, and wherever he finds it, I’m happy for him.

Tiffany sits a few chairs down from me, she and Lauren watching the first dance with gentle smiles of their own. Tiff rubs her hand over her baby bump as she gazes at the newlyweds. It’s a boy. Sam, the guy she met at The Swan Dive the same day of the infamous fight, is proposing on their baby moon in two weeks.

Lauren helped him pick out the ring.

It’s moments like these, the happy ones, that make you stop and take a step back. I view my life as a different person now. When I once looked at weddings as a brewing storm, knowing Gavin would barely give me any attention, wondering if I’d ever marry him. It’s different now.

I don’t need all the answers. I’m happy existing where I am. I’m happy wondering what comes next.

I live in Pittsburgh. I never really went home after our trial period. Declan won the cup, and we won each other. I still wake up every day and want to be near him, want to share my life with him. I open my eyes and reach for him, and he reaches back for me.

The condo is gone. It was lovely and it suited him, but we grew out of it. We just bought a home on the outskirts of the city. There’s a balcony. If there hadn’t been, Dec would have built me one. There’s everything I ever dreamed of wrapped up in that house, and it’s a place that we both never want to leave. It’s a home. Our home.

We are not set on kids, and that’s alright. We’re allowed to change our minds if we want to. Dogs, though… well, we're getting one in two weeks. Dec just doesn’t know it yet. I saw a gorgeous Chow-Chow and Shepherd Cross at the local shelter and fell in love. I brought him to meet her, to walk her on a volunteer basis, and he finds every excuse to go visit her now. I filled out the papers four days ago. She’s coming home.

We’re going to be a family of three.

“Hey, baby?” I ask, leaning back against Declan’s shoulder.

He winds his arm around me. “Yeah?”

“Thanks for opening the door that day.”

His fingers brush my collarbone. He lets out a breath of a laugh, leaning in to nuzzle his nose against my hair. He knows the day I am referring to. The day when everything changed. The Friendsgiving. The Swan Dive . The hotel.

“Thanks for knocking,” he says, pressing a kiss to my hair.

I shut my eyes, turning my head so that he can press another kiss to it.

“I think I knew I’d end up falling in love with you that night,” I tell him.

He squeezes, resting his cheek against my head. “I think I realized I was in love with you that night.”

I smile, turning to face him. He immediately presses his lips to mine. Just a soft, simple press of our mouths. So much love in such a little movement.

And I know this is love.

For once, I do not doubt.

For once, I do not fear.

For once, I do not have to wonder.

I love him, and he loves me. I see it every day in the things he says and the small things he does. Grabbing my thigh when we drive, ordering my hazelnut latte to the door when he’s out at practice and I’m working, attempting to make homemade cinnamon buns and failing, every single time.

I feel it.

Real love feels like this—like safety.

I think I’ve been safe for a while now, I just had to waste some time until I was ready to see it.