Till Summer Do Us Part(133)

“You’re welcome,” I say and then clear my throat. “I, uh, I didn’t necessarily bring you out here just for this.”

She turns toward me now, the boat just floating. “You didn’t?” she asks, looking confused.

“No, I had a selfish reason too.”

“What is it?”

Here goes nothing.

With her hand still in mine, I look her in the eyes and say, “You know, I didn’t realize how monotonous my life was until Mika told me his friend needed a fake husband. Ever since you stepped into my life, you’ve opened my eyes, you’ve helped me face my fears and my insecurities, and you’ve made me really fucking happy, Scottie. And I just…I can’t keep it in anymore, so I brought you here because I wanted to tell you that I’m in love with you.”

Her eyes well up with tears.

“I love you, Pips, more than anything. And I needed you to know that…in the middle of this lake in the middle of Central Park.”

She chuckles and wipes at her eyes. “Had to be here?”

I nod. “Because we’re closing out the bucket list, so it had to be here.”

She scoots in a touch closer and says, “You think I’m the one who helped you?” She shakes her head. “No, Wilder. You’re the one who helped me. You’re the one who opened my eyes, who made me work hard to see the person I really am and not the person I thought I was. You were patient, you communicated, you taught me lessons I didn’t even know that I needed, and I know I’m a confident woman now because of you.” She kisses my knuckles and then says, “I love you. I’m in love with you, and I’m so grateful I have you in my life.”

My smiles stretches across my lips, because hearing those words from her, fuck, it’s the best fucking thing I’ve ever heard. I pull her in, gripping the back of her head. I press our foreheads together and say, “Thank you, Pips.”

“How could I not love you, Wilder? You are everything I didn’t know I deserved.”

“You’re everything I didn’t know I needed,” I reply, making her smile.

She gently moves her mouth over mine, and I follow her lead as we slowly make out on a paddleboat, drifting in the middle of Central Park.

After a few minutes, she pulls away and says, “Maybe we can make a new list, one that we want to cross off together.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” I kiss her forehead. “And here I thought we were going to be a whole ‘till summer do us part’ situation.”

“What does that mean?” she asks on a laugh.

“You know, married for the summer, but after that, we were done.”

She looks me dead in the eyes. “I mean, that probably was going to be the case, but I think I knew the minute I felt those piercings—there was going to be no parting whatsoever.”

I let out a bark of a laugh and nod my head. “I’m oddly proud of myself.”

She kisses me again and whispers, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Pips.”





Epilogue





WILDER

“Pips, do you want a drink?”

Scottie looks up from where she’s painting a portrait of our relationship and shakes her head yes. “The Prickly Pair,” she says with a wink.

“Coming right up.” I head over to where Sanders is leaning against the bar in a three-piece suit, happily looking over all the couples. “You really stepped up the outfit this year for the welcome dinner.”

Sanders smirks. “It’s Velcroed in the back. Wait until you see what I have underneath here.”

I chuckle. “Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing short of amazing.”

“You’ve got that right.” Sanders nods toward Scottie. “That ring looks good on her.”

I glance back at my girl, who is wearing a giant yet classy engagement ring that I gave her last weekend.

It was the perfect evening. I bought out Stockings and had Denise invite her out for drinks. When she arrived, the entire bar was lit up with candles, and I was up onstage, waiting for her on bended knee.

I knew the minute I told her I loved her that I was going to marry her, but I had to give her time to adjust to loving me, so I waited…and waited. I dated her, we moved in together, we started seeing Sanders for maintenance, and then when I thought the time was right, I started planning the proposal.

I roped in Mika and Denise, asked them for their thoughts. We considered coming to Camp Haven and having me propose here, but I thought it would be too much of a spectacle, and that was when Mika offered up Stockings. He no longer works there since he’s working at a private club now, but he still has connections, and we still frequent the bar together every Friday where we all hang out, so it felt like the right thing to do.

And from the look on Scottie’s face when she saw me up on the stage, I knew it was perfect. We spent the rest of the night with friends and family, drinking, dancing, and having the best time ever.

And now we are here, at Camp Haven, where it all started.

“It does look good on her, doesn’t it?” I say before I ask the bartender for two Prickly Pairs. It’s a surprise that we’re able to drink on the first night at camp, but then again, Sanders said we are celebrating our engagement, so we are going to take full advantage of it…as well as the sex palace.