Page 34

EPILOGUE

A tie is covering my eyes…again. My only guidance is Tristan’s voice. I clutch onto his hand for dear life. “What is it with you and ties? Are you trying to channel Christian Grey or something?”

I can practically hear him smirking. “Are you into that sort of thing, Cupcake? Based on past experiences, you seem to like it when I take control.”

“Maybe I am fantasizing about Christian Grey while you are doing those things to me,” I tease. I totally am not fantasizing about anyone. Why would I when I am dating the hottest hockey player on the planet?

Tristan pulls me closer to him and takes the tie off my eyes. He’s smiling down at me with my favorite smile. “You take that back right now.”

I look straight into his eyes. “Nope.” I still love messing with him. I don’t think that is ever going away in our relationship. It keeps things interesting.

I look to my left and notice we are in front of the storefront that I scoped out months ago with Tess.

“What are we doing in front of this empty storefront, Tristan?” Then I gasp dramatically. “Is this where you are actually going to murder me? Was that your plan all along? To seduce me and then once I fall in love with you, you kill me Dexter style? West Village is a little conspicuous, though.” I smile.

Tristan grabs the sides of my face and intently looks at me. “You know, for someone with such a sunny and bubbly disposition, you sure have some dark thoughts. I bet it’s all of those true crime documentaries you watch on Netflix before bed. I am voting to veto those from now on.”

“They are so interesting though.”

“They are ruining moments like these for me. Here I am trying to be romantic and you confuse it with me wanting to murder you. I will never have that thought, Cupcake. So get that out of your head.”

“You could’ve fooled me with the blindfold and your weird behavior all day. What’s going on with you? Can you please enlighten me how an empty storefront is romantic?” I check out Tristan fully for the first time tonight. When I arrived at his house, he immediately insisted that I put the tie over my eyes. He said he had a surprise for me and that I needed to trust him. I was not able to bask in his hotness like I am able to right now.

I never want him to stop wearing his hat backwards. It literally makes me weak at the knees every time I see him. A white short-sleeved hooded shirt is hugging his torso and arms, and the way his pants are fitting him makes me breathless.

“Will you just read the sign rather than undress me with your eyes, Cupcake? I promise you can actually undress me later.”

I wanted to decline that request but just to satisfy him, I pry my hungry eyes away from his body and look up.

“Oh my God.” The sign screwed into the side of the storefront says: Brooke’s Bakes . There is a vinyl sign hanging underneath that says: Coming Soon .

Tristan comes up behind me, wraps his arms around me and says, “It’s for you.”

“Tristan, this is too much…”

“It’s not nearly enough, Brooke.” He turns me around and holds up my chin so that I am forced to look into his eyes. It takes me back to when he called me his girlfriend for the first time. Full of hope and promise and pure happiness. “This is your dream. I get to live my dream every time I step onto that ice. I know what that feeling is like and I want you to have the same feeling. Not that you aren’t an incredible teacher, but I can see the passion you have on your face anytime you’ve ever talked about opening up a bakery. Or rather, cupcakery.”

Tears well up in my eyes and I press my lips together to push down all the emotions I am feeling at this moment.

“You deserve to live out your dream, too, Cupcake. Besides, you can’t back out now. I bought this property. For you.”

“Wait– you bought it? Tristan, that’s insane. What if it fails? What if…”

Before I have the chance to completely spiral with all the what-ifs, Tristan grabs my hand and says, “Come on, let’s go inside.”

He pulls out a set of keys from his jeans pocket and unlocks the door. It’s completely dark when we walk into the empty space. Tristan walks toward the back of the building and plugs in a cord. Twinkle lights turn on overhead and I see a checkered blanket in the middle of the concrete floor. There is a cake stand full of cupcakes and a present wrapped up with a pretty pink bow.

“What is this?” I smile and the tears come back. I walk toward the blanket and point accusingly, “And where did those cupcakes come from? I sure as hell didn’t bake them.”

“Will you just sit down?”

I cross my arms and stick out my hip. “Nope. Not until you tell me where you got these second-rate cupcakes from.”

Tristan laughs, shakes his head and picks one of the cupcakes up. “Just try one.”

“No! I am kind of pissed off right now. How dare you cheat on my cupcakes. You have a lot of ner..”

Tristan smashes the chocolate cupcake into my mouth. “God, you are still the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met. Can I talk now please?”

I am about to spit out the traitor’s cupcake but realize it tastes familiar. I chew a little more and look up at Tristan, who smugly has his arms crossed. He raises his eyebrows, silently telling me, “I told you just to try one.”

I wipe my lips and lick any remnants of cupcake off my finger.

“I made them for you, Cupcake. It’s your recipe.” I must have not wiped off all of the cupcake from my face because Tristan uses his thumb to get the rest.

I’m utterly speechless. Tristan has never baked anything in his life. Don’t get me wrong, I have learned that he is an amazing cook, but baking is not his forte.

“These are actually pretty good, Hot Shot.”

“Well I practiced my baking on the down-low. Kind of like what you did with learning how to ice skate. The guys won’t stop giving me shit about it in the locker room but hey they aren’t complaining about all the trial cupcakes I’ve brought in for them.” Now his face is turning red. “I wanted them to be perfect. So, what do you think? Did I succeed?”

I bend down and grab another one from the platter. I tisk, “Pretty close to perfect. Here, try them for yourself.” I smash the cupcake in his mouth and laugh.

“Mmm.” His tongue licks the sides of his mouth, almost in a seductive manner. “Well I will admit that they aren’t as good as yours, but at least they don’t taste completely like salt.”

I push against his chest and he doesn’t budge one bit. I swear this man is made of marble. “If it was so disgusting, why did you eat it all?”

“Like I told you the night I confessed my true feelings for you: I wanted to make a good impression. That cupcake was the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, but I would eat an infinite amount of them if that means I can end up right here with you.”

Tristan grazes my lips with his fingertips and kisses me, lightly, delicately, in a way that is so uncharacteristic of Tristan. Something else is on his mind. He’s distracted. Maybe it’s the upcoming season. He is the captain now, after all. It’s a lot of responsibility. I take the reins and grab the hair along the nape of his neck, pull him closer to me and kiss him harder. Whatever he is worried about, I want to assure him that it’s going to be okay. My hands then start to travel down to the hem of his shirt and I begin to lift it.

His hands stop my progress and he breaks the kiss first. “Wait.”

My eyebrows raise out of pure shock. “Is Tristan Lawson hitting the pause button on sexy time? What has gotten into you?”

He picks up the wrapped gift. “I have another surprise for you, Cupcake.”

I take the box from his enormous hands and shake it, trying to figure out what it is.

“That’s not going to help.”

“Doesn’t hurt to try.” I pull on one corner of the bow. “You are just full of surprises tonight, Lawson.”

I rip the wrapping paper off and open the top part of the box. All I see is a kelly green Storm jersey with number 92 stitched on the arms. I kneel down and set the box on the ground and pull out the jersey. It’s literally the same one I already have. How is this a surprise? I decide to fake it to spare his feelings. “Wow! Tristan! This is so nice. I was just thinking that I needed a duplicate of the jersey I already have. You know, in case I spill something on it, or, um, it’s in the wash or something when I need to wear it. Thank you, babe!”

Tristan kneels down in front of me. “It’s not a duplicate, Brooke.”

I huff out a laugh and hold the jersey up in front of me to inspect it further. “Tristan, I hate to break it to you, but this is the exact same jers…” I turn the jersey around so now I am looking at the back. Above the large number 92 I see the name: Mrs. Lawson.

My heart starts beating really fast. I drop the jersey and gaze at the man who is kneeling right in front of me. We are finally at the same level. No games. No trying to one-up the other. No hate. In fact, just the opposite.

“Hey guys!” Tristan yells behind his shoulder. “Come on in!”

“Who are y…?” The doors to the kitchen swing open and I see my brother wheel in a cart full of vases of…pink daisies. Followed by Jen and Jageilski and Oakley and the rest of the Storm with carts of their own that must have dozens of flowers on each one. They are all giving me goofy smiles and I swear some of them have teary eyes as they place pink daisies all around us, then disappear back into the kitchen. Once they are done, Bradley salutes Tristan and makes a heart with his hands for me before he and Jen disappear behind the swinging door. I hear the back door close and lock, and Tristan and I are alone again.

I feel like I am dreaming and I never want to wake up.

“Tristan Lawson, you did not just get me a thousand pink daisies.” Tears are rolling down my face at an uncontrollable rate. I look around at the sea of pink, overwhelmed by the man sitting in front of me.

“You’re right. I didn’t get you a thousand pink daisies. I got you 3,980 of them. One for each day I have been in love with you.”

I exhale and more tears flow out. My hands are shaking from the exhilaration of this moment. The anticipation that has been built up for so long. The man I have wanted from day one has always wanted me too. He’s loved me since day one.

“I had to one-up that damn Max Medina somehow. If he was the standard, I wanted to exceed it, Cupcake.”

“Tristan,” is the only word I can form. He leans in and leisurely kisses my forehead, lifting my chin while wiping tears away with his thumb.

“Brooke. I know that this has been a long time coming. Us finally being together. Partly because you are as stubborn as all hell and partly because I was an idiot for letting my fear impact my decisions. I’m not going to let fear get in the way of what I want again.”

His jaw clenches and he takes my shaking hands in his steady ones.

“I know that you despise change and hate taking chances when you aren’t sure what the outcome is going to be. I know that opening a restaurant is the biggest risk in business, but I am willing to back you up all the way because I am betting on the fact that your business is going to thrive. You’re the best baker in this city and I don’t care that I’m biased. I also know…”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a large princess cut diamond ring, so beautiful it makes me breathless.

“...That marriage is fucking scary. The odds are definitely against us, and it’s probably the biggest risk of all.”

Tears are rolling down my face uncontrollably as I watch this beautiful man kneeling in front of me, crying while he is laying his heart out on the line. This is a risk for him, too, and I know he is nervous doing this. I reach out and caress the side of his cheek, wiping away the tears falling from his sincere eyes.

“I hope that you will go all-in with me on this risk, baby girl, because I don’t want to do this life without you. I want to share my successes, my failures, the happiest and saddest times of my life with you by my side. I want our kids to have your pretty smile and gorgeous eyes. I want them to have my killer skating skills and shooting ability.” We both start to laugh, but then he continues, “I want them to see the love their daddy has for their mama on a daily basis. They will never doubt the love I have for you. I don’t know what my life is like without you in it. You’re the sweetest risk I’ve ever taken, Cupcake. And I hope that I’m yours. Will you marry me, Brooke Beckett?”

I take Tristan’s hands in mine and lean in and kiss him. Then I press my forehead to his, taking this moment in. One that replaces all the bad moments I’ve had with Tristan. One that replaces any hatred I once thought I had for him. One that I will remember forever.

I angle my body back and look into his eyes, “Yes, baby, of course I will marry you. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you too, Tristan Lawson. I cannot wait to be your wife.”

He slides the ring on my finger.I take his face in my hands “And I’m so glad I took a chance on you, love.”

Tristan’s strong hands start to wander all over my body and I take this opportunity to straddle him. I love feeling his hard body underneath my thighs. His teeth nip at my neck. “I can’t wait to call you my wifey.”

I rock against him slightly at the sound of that word coming out of his mouth. My hands are finally allowed to reach for the hem of Tristan’s shirt and pull it over his head. His hat falls off in the process. I grab the hat and place it back on his head, backwards–my weakness and he knows it. His hot hand slips underneath my shirt and unhooks my bra in one motion. His hand then trails up and down my back, causing my body to shiver.

I touch the tattoo on his rib as I continue to kiss him. I have memorized everything about Tristan’s body at this point. Every tattoo. Every muscle. And I am still in shock that he is completely mine. “You know what this means, right?”

“What’s that?” He slides off my shirt and bra and he lightly licks my collarbone.

“You’re going to have to change my initials on your rib to B.L.” My core heats up as one of his hands plays with the button on my jeans and the other one grabs the back of my head possessively. All feminism goes out the window with this man. I have no problem with him being possessive over me. I am going to be his forever, after all.

He gives me a serious look. “Nah, I’m keeping it the way it is.”

“What? Why?”

“The truth is, I lied when I told you the tattoo was for you. It really is for Bradley. He’s my boy for life. Sorry to break it to you like this.” He smiles that deviously playful smile of his.

I bite my lower lip and pull on his hair that is peeking out underneath his hat. I know he is just messing with me like he always does, so I tease him back. I lean down and nearly kiss him, but instead I whisper against his lips, “I hate you, Hot Shot.”

He licks his lips and smiles at me, “And I love you, Cupcake. Always have. Always will.”