“What’s that?”
“I think I need to make one really great memory here before starting over.”
“You wanna throw a party, or something?
She shook her head. “I want to lock the doors, and you call me ‘your girl’ with your clothes off.”
I burst out laughing.
She pouted. It was the most adorable thing I’d seen in a long time. “I was serious.”
“Then let me give my girl everything she wants.” I wasted no time, pulling off my shirt.
Given the hungry look in her eyes, I had a sneaky suspicion that this just might help erase the bad and make way for the new.
EPILOGUE
GISELLE
“Thanks for coming in,” I said, handing the bag of clothes across the counter to a mother and her daughter.
“Masie Abbott has like three pairs of these,” the girl gushed as they made their way out the door.
Apparently, tweens weren’t just into trendy makeup. They were into trendy clothes and accessories—especially when one of the world’s most-followed influencers wore them. To say my new shop had been busy would be an understatement.
I took advantage of the lull in customers and slipped off my heels. I’d been working long days, though Shay had been a huge help when she wasn’t off at one of her internships.
A howl pulled my attention to the open-door connecting Jesse’s shop with mine. Laughter ensued, and I gathered it was my brother entertaining the guys, as usual.
The bell on the front door chimed, and my eyes quickly shifted to it—an instinctual reaction that I’d unfortunately never be able to shake, even with the guys next door and working cameras in all corners of the store.
Thayer strolled through the door all confident and handsome, his Olympic gold medal hanging from his neck.
I laughed. “You’re getting as bad as Kason.”
“That’s never gonna happen,” he said before stepping up to me and pressing his lips to mine.
Even after a year, I’d never get used to his constant affection. But I loved every sappy second of it. “What’s with the medal?”
“I let the kids at the hospital wear it and take some pictures.”
I tipped my head to the side, loving him even more than I thought possible. He was going to make such a great dad one day. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going? I would’ve gone with you.”
“I didn’t want to wake you. You looked so peaceful,” he said.
I lifted my hand to his cheek, and my fingertips grazed over the stubble on his jawline. He leaned into my touch, like he always did. “You’re amazing. You know that, right?”
“Go on,” he urged.
“And a better snowboarder than my brother,” I said, raising my voice so Kason could hear me in Jesse’s shop.
“Fuck off, Giselle!” Kason yelled from the other side of the wall. “He beat me once.”
“Twice, dude!” Thayer called back.
“Asshole,” Kason said, though it wasn’t as loud.
Thayer and I laughed.