Page 21 of 3rd and 4 (Season of Change #3)

My jaw and cheeks hurt. I’ve been grinning like the Joker for most of the day.

I watched my friend Prib marry the girl of his dreams earlier.

And now Ty is proposing to Edee in the beautiful Bellagio Botanical Gardens in Las Vegas.

It does my soul good for my bestie from another testy to get everything he’s ever wished for.

Daya elbows me in the gut and nods pointedly at the camera in my hand.

Shit, I stopped taking photos of the happy couple.

I move around the space and take hundreds of photos for Edee to sift through later. My eyes sting a little as Ty holds Edee tight in his arms and sways her back and forth whispering in her ear. Could be sweet nothings, could be absolute filth. You never know with Ty.

“Ice cream!” Lyndell shouts happily, breaking the romantic moment. Ty and Edee break apart, laughing.

“We just had dessert at the restaurant,” Ty tells him exasperatedly.

“That was regular dessert. This is celebration dessert.”

“That was also celebration dessert,” Edee says. “We were celebrating Phia and Crue’s marriage.”

“Yes.” Lyn says slowly, as if he’s speaking to a child. “And now we have ice cream to celebrate me getting married.”

“I’m getting married.” Ty corrects him.

Lyn places his hands on his hips and scowls at his brother. “After me. I asked her first.”

Edee steps under Ty’s arm and wraps herself around him. She arches her neck, and Ty meets her for a kiss. With a heavy sigh, he looks at Lyndell. “If you let me marry her first, we can get ice cream now.”

Lyn thinks about it, his finger tapping against his lips. “Ice cream now, and every day for a month.”

“What?” Ty exclaims, and all of us start laughing. “That’s highway robbery! That’s extortion!”

“I guess it depends on how much you love Edee.” Ty frowns, his eyes narrowing in frustration, but instead of directing his ire at Lyn, he slowly swivels until I’m in his crosshairs. Shit.

“I blame you!” He points an angry finger at me.

I hold up my hands, the camera forgotten as it hangs from my neck.

“That’s fair. Doesn’t change anything, though.

You either love her enough to get ice cream for Lyndell every day for 30 days…

or she should find someone else who will treat her right.

” Ty’s lips twitch, so I decide to press my luck.

“And Lyndell can move in with me.” I smile at Lyn; he grins right back. “I always have ice cream.”

“Son of a bitch.” Ty growls, but Edee plasters herself to the front of his body and brings his head down to whisper something in his ear. He grins from ear to ear. She’s promised sexy times. He holds out his hand for Lyn. “Deal.” He glances at me. “He’s mine. Get your own brother.”

I laugh, then look down at Daya when she sidles up to me.

My friends are hitched and engaged, I guess I’m next.

The thought of marrying Daya, giving her my last name, my ring on her finger, my baby in her belly— Her eyes flare wide, and she stabs her finger into my chest. “I’m 18!

Slow your roll!” I drag her closer and kiss her softly.

I caress her lips with my tongue before pushing between them to stroke her own.

She tastes faintly like the crème br?lée we had for dessert, mostly she tastes like mine. My endless joy. My soulmate. My future.

I pull back, her eyes fluttering open, her eyes hazy. “What was I saying?”

“How much you love me.”

She nods. “More than there are stars.”

I’m graduating in a few months. Daya and I are spending a couple weeks in Florida with her family.

We’re gonna help her brother pack and then the three of us are driving up north to my hometown, so Brad can live closer to Elyria.

We’ll be staying with my parents for a couple weeks.

Then Daya will come back to campus in July for summer cheer camp, while I start working for Uncle Hal, and taking my time finding us a home to call our own.

I’ll be a few hours away from her during the school year, but we’ll visit as often as we can.

I’m not worried…a few years of distance will feel like no time at all during a lifetime of love.