Page 63 of Sweet Punk
A great wave of relief crashes over me and tears threaten. I blink several times, my eyelashes fluttering hard as I try to hold them back.
“Are you okay?” he whispers, searching my expression for an answer. I swear, he can see straight inside my mind with those inquisitive green eyes.
My lip trembles. “I feel so connected to you, and we’ve been through so much. But I wasn’t sure if I’d ever hear you say the words.”
He pulls me close and kisses my forehead. “I know. For a long time I believed I was completely damaged by my family. But you’re in my head and in my heart, and I don’t ever want to let you go. That’s why I couldn’t keep the words from you any longer. I’ve loved you for a while now. You’re fuckin’ stuck with me.”
“Stuck with my sweet punk is right where I want to be.” Lying here with our bodies wrapped together, hearing that Kellan loves me—I’ve never felt more secure in who I am and what I want. “I love you, Kel. Nothing in our past matters anymore. Because we have each other now.”
“Exactly. This? Us? It’s everything we’ll ever need.”
EPILOGUE
KELLAN
The new year is a time for new beginnings. I’ve never paid a whole lot of attention to it before, but with all the shit that’s happened lately, it’s safe to say our entire crew is looking forward to the new year, the spring semester at Shadow River, and getting a fresh start.Together.We’ve discovered through a variety of crappy situations that we’re stronger that way. We’ve got each other’s backs, support each other in a way most of our families never have. And now that we’ve come through it—walked through the fire, as it were—we’re ready to move on with our lives.
We’re due back at the university on January 3 to begin classes, but Ryleigh invited all of us to her home for New Year’s Eve. Her parents are out of town, and we plan to crash here in River Rock for a couple of days before heading back to school.
It didn’t take long before we pulled out the booze and got the party started. I’ll be perfectly honest—we’re getting a little rowdy, blowing off a whole lot of steam. I look around our circle of friends, smiling as they begin another boisterous round of toasting—totally an excuse for consuming as much alcohol as we can.
“How about, here’s to finding love right across the hall?” Lux grins, pressing a kiss to Hawk’s waiting lips.
Ryleigh shakes her head. “Considering Matty and I grew up next door to each other, you wouldn’t think I’d think anything of it, but it’s funny that all of you have ended up together. Three couples in two suites. You’re all so perfect for each other, though.”
Lux laughs. “I never would have dreamed it would turn out this way, but I’m so glad it did.” There’s a murmur of agreement throughout the group as we clink glasses and drink.
“I’m just pissed I wasted time hating you when the opposite is so much nicer.” Hawk nuzzles Lux’s nose, making her laugh. It makes my heart happy to see them like this. Gage lost his twin, and Lux almost lost her life. They deserve all the best after what they went through with Landon.
Ryleigh sips at her drink. “Well, I’m glad you’ve let Matty and me barge in on your little group.”
I roll my eyes at her. “You and I have been art buddies a long time. And your man and Hawk are magic together on the football field. You aren’t barging in anywhere. If anything, we’ve dragged you two along with us, kicking and screaming.”
Matty chuckles with a playful wink. “You can say that again.” He pokes Ryleigh in the side. “Where’s your sister tonight?”
“Nope. Not talking about Farrah. She’s a pain in my ass.”
Hawk laughs. “I only met her one time, but I think I speak for all of us when I say cheers to fuckin’ Farrah not being here to join us tonight!”
I’ve never met the girl, but by all accounts, she sounds like a piece of work. And I’ve got a jerk of a brother myself, who I’m no longer on speaking terms with, so I lift my glass and clink it to the others. Jamie and I will never see eye to eye. It’s time I accepted that and moved on.
“Speaking of family members, I bet there are a bunch of us happy to be heading back to school and not surrounded by the crazy.” Maddox nods and holds up his glass.
Maddox and his dad are on very precarious footing. While it’s nice that his father has gotten his head out of his ass where his soon-to-be ex-wife is concerned, that doesn’t necessarily make up for the fact that he and Lindsey were indirectly responsible for his mother’s death. That’s never going away. And I respect Madman for holding his ground. I’m glad for his sake that Raven came along when she did. It took some work, but her love has helped him through the worst of his anger, and now they’re well on their way to happiness.
My girl is among the first to tap her glass to Mad’s. We don’t know exactly what’s happening with Milo, but the police caught up with him not long after he tried to kill me and burn down the art department six weeks ago. He’s currently in prison awaiting trial and undergoing a battery of psychological examinations. He won’t ever hurt my girl again.
I also raise my glass because, true to his word, my father cut me off. But the good news is that my mother had the foresight to set up trusts for both me and Jamie. Dad can’t touch them, and I’ve had access to it since I turned twenty. It’ll cover my college costs, and I should be able to set myself up nicely after graduation. I don’t know what the future holds for me with my art, but all I want to do is be able to create and, hopefully, make people feel something through it.
Raven holds up the hard seltzer she’s been nursing all night. I’ve noticed she’s still nervous to drink very much after her overdose, and I commend her for watching out for herself. “Here’s to being done dealing with skeevy, asshole faculty members.”
Spencer’s on his way to prison, too. That stupid fucker didn’t take the plea deal his lawyer tried to arrange for him. With the video evidence, there was no way he wasn’t going to be put away for a very long time. I’m just glad for Raven’s sake that there’s not a chance she’ll have to deal with him ever again.
Maddox snorts, “And no more foot fetish freaks, either. Even if Riddick did redeem himself with the scholarship.” He catches Raven at the nape of her neck and drags her into a kiss steamy enough to make the rest of us groan aloud. That’s Mad for you, though, he’s always full throttle with everything he does, whether it’s hate or love or even one of his stupid stunts. The man goes after what he wants.
I glance to my side where Star sips on a fruity cocktail. I think she’s my biggest fan. Thank goodness the paintings I’d done for the art show had come out of the fire unscathed because Star may have taken Milo’s head off if he’d ruined them for her. She swears she has plans to hang the paintings in our apartment someday. Because, yeah. This is the real deal. Someday I’m going to marry this girl. She’s healed me in a way I didn’t know was possible, and I’ve done the same for her. I’ll be forever grateful and intend to show her how much I appreciate the love she shows me every day of our lives.Fuck. Getting sappy. Or drunk. Probably drunk. Drunk and sappy.
I hold up my glass as my gaze travels over these fucking amazing people who I consider to be more family than friends. Funny how shitty family situations can be the catalyst for closer-than-close friendships. “Here’s to letting go of the past.”
“And here’s to our very bright futures.” Star grins and brushes her lips over mine.
The entire crew raises their glasses, smiling.Yep.We’re in this together. Every shared class, every art show, every party, every study session, every cello concert, every late night, every football game, every accomplishment. Everything.
Together.