“Your father isn’t a threat unless you allow him to be. He can’t touch us, okay? Your parents no longer get to make the decisions in your life. You make decisions for yourself now. When your mother told me you had left, I had never been prouder in my entire life.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Are you kidding? You chose you for once. That’s what I’ve been telling you to do from the very beginning.”
I smiled, bringing my mouth even closer to his.
“Well… now…” I brushed my lips over his gently. “Now I’m choosing you.”
He smiled along my mouth.
“It’s about time, babe.”
Epilogue
Fallon
Several Months Later
“Are you ready for tomorrow?” Emmett whispered into my ear after sneaking around me to steal my beer.
“Maybe I shouldn’t go.”
Emmett shook his head after finishing the rest of my barely touched bottle. “I think you should. They’re making an effort.”
I groaned and put my head in my hands. Tomorrow was Katie’s baby shower, and although I was beyond excited when I’d heard the news that my sister-in-law finally became pregnant with a healthy baby, I wasn’t sure I was prepared to sit through a baby shower when things were so awkward between me and my family. I couldn’t even imagine how Mallory would act toward me.
“Everyone will stare at me in disapproval. Or they may not even stare at me at all, too afraid that they’ll be shunned later.”
Emmett chuckled. “You’re being dramatic. If it’s terrible, then just leave, but I think it’s good they’re making an effort, don’t you?”
No.
Okay. Fine. Maybe it’s a good thing.
“Can we change the subject?” I asked, swinging my body around on the barstool to face him.
He thought for a moment, the bar lights outlining his best features. “Sure. Have you thought more about my proposal?”
Relax… not that kind of proposal.
“Yes… and I have to, Emmett. I’ve stayed with you long enough.”
Emmett leaned back and dropped his head down low. “Babe, this is like taking a step backwards. Boyfriends and girlfriends don’t move in together to just move back out.”
“He’s right, ya know,” Dawson said, standing up beside him.
I rolled my eyes, peering up at Dawson’s tall frame. “Oh shut it, Dawson. You’re only saying that because Ivy won’t move in with you until you propose.”
A grin formed on his face. “I know. Now get ready, because the show is about to start.”
I furrowed my brow. “What show?”
Dawson was already walking away when I’d asked the question. Emmett reached out and pulled me off my barstool to be closer to him. I stood in between his legs, mere inches from his face. “Don’t move out. Please.”
My heart softened. Emmett had the puppy-dog look nailed to perfection. It got me every single time.
I sighed.