Valentine (A Standalone Novel) (Bad Boy Romance Book) (26 page)

"Yeah, because mine is." I
smiled and glanced down at his lips before moving my gaze to rest on his warm
brown eyes. They were the first thing that captivated me about him that night
that seemed so long ago, but wasn't.

"I think we make a good pair. We're
the
best
of two worlds." He brushed his thumb
over my lips. "You being a humble rich girl and me being a poor boy with
dreams."

"I like that a lot. Let's live your
dreams, hmm?" I leaned in for another kiss, loving him more than I should
after the short amount of time we'd been together. It wasn't a shallow
affection that would soon fade, but a deep gratefulness that he was willing to
help me see a much different world around me and appreciate the diversity of
who we were in it.

"You are my dream. Now what?" He
smiled and pulled me down for a long make out session. I didn't need to know
what was happening next. I was in the arms of the man of my dreams.

Next
could never come for all I cared.

Epilogue

Eighteen
Months Later

Val

"Oh my God, can you believe
it's
graduation day?" Lucinda danced around in the line
in front of me until a professor with a sour expression barked at her to get
back in line and stay still.

I laughed and glanced back at the guy.
"Someone peed in his Cheerios this morning."

"Right? Jeez." She got in line,
but turned to face me instead of the front. "Let me see the ring
again."

I lifted my hand as butterflies danced in
my stomach. The small diamond on my hand was far less than what I would have
expected to get being raised as one of the great David Scott's daughters, but
it was fitting. It was more than I could have ever desired because of what it
meant.

"I love it," she squealed when
she noticed it. "He did it last night?"

"Yeah. It was so romantic, too."
I smiled as the memory of Tate proposing ran across my vision. "It was on
that same patch of land that I broke down on two years ago when we met."

"No way." She reached out and
took my hand, lifting the ring to her face to study it more.

"Yeah," I laughed. "He took
me out there on the bike, and my car was sitting out there broken down. He told
me that he'd tried to take the car out earlier that day and had to walk all the
way back to town. I felt like shit, but I'd warned him not to drive the lemon.
It's always acted up, you know?"

"Yeah. I'm surprised your dad let you
keep it after leaving Allison's wedding." She lifted her eyebrow and shook
her head.

"Me, too, but anyway, the car was
idle, and he reenacted every part of that first night." I laughed and
glanced back to see Amy farther down in the line and Katelyn beside her.
"When I walked around to look at the engine with him, the engine was
missing, and instead there was a small table with beautiful battery-powered
lights and the ring in the middle. There were rose petals everywhere,
too."

Tears filled my eyes, and I fanned my
face.

Lucinda was doing the same thing. "I
want Sam to do that. Tell Tate to make him do that for me."

I laughed and pulled her into a hug. It
had been a long eighteen months of change, but a good eighteen months. She and
Sam had grown impossibly close, and his father had even accepted her as a vital
member of the family. I figured it wouldn't be long before they decided to get
engaged. Sam should have been in the crowd, but his plane was running late from
Boston, so we weren't sure he would make it in time. I could tell that it was
upsetting Lucinda a little, but we both knew that if there were any way at all
for him to be there, he would.

Tate and I had moved into a small studio
apartment near the campus where he was given an associate professor job while
he worked through his Masters in Psychology. He still helped at Jerry's garage
on the weekends from time to time, but most of his free time was spent in my
arms or preparing for another swim meet.

He and Martin both made the Olympic swim
team a while back, and they'd been practicing for the last year and a half for
the summer Olympics, which were coming up in the next month. I'd never been happier
in all of my life, and it was all owed to him. He taught me how to live for my
future and not my past, how to let the idea of love carry me through some of
the shit we suffered with my parents, and the heartache of helping my sister
through her divorce.

Life had been violent ups and downs, but
at the end of the day, I found my rest and reprieve in his arms.

My name was called just after Lucinda's,
and I was awarded my degree in Business and Kinesiology. I was headed to start
training with the Minnesota Lynx after spending the summer free to do what I
wanted. I would play in the WNBA as long as my legs would hold me up. Tate was
good with it, but he was crazy supportive of anything I wanted to do. Almost
too much. After that, I'd be looking for a coaching position as UMN so that I
could be near my future husband and our friends.

His mother was doing great, and I couldn't
help but notice the pride in her eyes as I walked down the stage at graduation.
She was standing next to Tate as they cheered louder than anyone else for me.
My sister was beside them looking better than I had ever seen her look. She was
dating Kade, funnily enough, and though it was awkward at first, we all grew
close within a short period and he became like family, too.

I moved back to my seat and cheered for my
friends as they walked across the stage. Anticipation of getting back to Tate
drove through the center of me, and I closed my eyes and pushed back tears.
Gratefulness was the only feeling I could separate out of the torrent of
emotions pumping through me. I almost wished my parents were there, but it was
a good thing they weren't. They'd have nothing good to say, anyway. They were
stuck in their ways, and quite upset at both Allison and I, but it was their
loss.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the
graduating class of 2017."

The crowd went wild as we all stood and
threw our hats in the air. The yells and shouts of excitement filled the air
around us, and I turned as someone tapped me on the shoulder. Tate.

"Hi, baby." His smile was
radiant as he reached out and pulled me into his arms, only to squeeze me
tightly and lift me off my feet. He spun me around once as I leaned down and
pressed my lips to his.

"I'm so damn proud of you,
Valentine." He kissed me again and breathed in deeply, sending chill bumps
along my exposed skin.

"I couldn't have done it without
you." I smiled up at him and lifted my eyebrow. "We should get out of
here and celebrate the way we do best."

"Beer and s’mores?"

"Sex and strawberries." I popped
his chest. "That so old school – beer and s’mores."

He laughed and picked me up as I yelped.
"Whatever it is, as long as I'm doing it with you, I'm in."

His mother moved up in front of us as he
sat me down.

"Oh, Val, I'm so proud of you."
She pulled me into a long hug. "I wish your parents were here today, but
know that I've already adopted you as mine, so one of us is here!"

I laughed and moved back to wrap my arm
around Tate's waist. "You guys are my family, now. I couldn't be more
blessed."

"So what's next? You two want to come
out to the house for lunch?"

"Um, yeah, sure." Tate glanced
down at me as Sam bounded up next to us.

"Yeah! Congrats Miss WNBA. What the
hell? No one has my number? I had no idea you guys got engaged, either. Wow.
This day is just full of surprises."

His excitement caused my heart to race
with anticipation of all we had to look forward to. I didn't have much time to
think about it as the rest of our friends crowded around us tightly.

I turned to Tate and gave him the look.

"Getting claustrophobic?" He
lifted his eyebrow.

"Yep. Get me out of here." I
slipped my hand into his and ducked through the crowd behind him. We'd gotten
good at getting out of places and finding somewhere to hide out. The hiding out
usually turned into making out, which led to hot sex in a lot of unconventional
places, but I wasn't the girl I used to be. I was a biker chick now. I had to
be tough, ballsy, and ready to drop my panties in most places.

I smirked at the thought as he picked up
our walk to a jog. His bike was just up ahead, and the thought of driving
through the country for hours wrapped around the back of him sounded like
bliss.

"Where we going?" He handed me
my helmet and gave me a wicked grin.

"Anywhere, as long as
I'm
with you." I got onto the bike as he offered me his
hand.

"That's my girl. Hold on. It might
get a little bumpy."

"I'd expect nothing else from a guy
like you." I slipped my hands around his waist and cupped his package
tightly.

"So naughty, Val." He started
the biked and pulled it onto a long stretch of road just outside of the
college. I closed my eyes and snuggled against him, losing myself in the
promise of today. Tomorrow would come soon enough, but I didn't want to waste a
minute of my time with him.

Besides, forever wasn't nearly long
enough.

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book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are
products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not
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