Page 146 of Paper Hearts

Walker and Kamila got divorced, no surprise there. He caught her cheating on him.

Myles gets a girlfriend. He met her at the park with Eddie and has the awkward conversation of he’s not really a single dad, but she likes to tease him about it.

And there you have it, the last eight months.

What hasn’t changed?

My love for the guy I’m packing memories up with. I’ll admit, I’m attached. He’s working in Jacksonville for two weeks and it’s killing me having him away so much.

“Arya and Roman said they’d be in town later this afternoon,” I tell Ender, packing my picture frames from the mantel into a box on the coffee table. “They want to see Eddie’s first game. I think my dad is coming too.”

He nods, yawning. He drove from Jacksonville late last night to make it home for Eddie’s first T-ball game. “I’m thinking your dad is going to punch me tonight.” Ender brings an armful of clothes from my closet and tosses them into box. He sucks at packing. Probably because he had like four boxes of crap and was done with his apartment.

“I wouldn’t put it past him.” I sigh at the box, knowing I’m going to have to fix it later. “You did intend on test driving all his daughters.”

Ender shakes his head, a low chuckle escaping. “That sounds horrible when you say it like that. And I didnottest drive them. Okay, one of them.” He winks at me. “But that doesn’t count because she’s mine now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep. The mortgage in both our names proves it. You can’t get rid of me now.”

I laugh. “So does the joint bank account.”

“Regardless, according to your dad, I’m probably the world’s worst boyfriend.”

“That’s not true. You took the garbage out last Thursday,” I remind him, taping up the box I’m working on and reaching for the empty one at his feet. “I’m sure bad boyfriends don’t do that.”

“Oh, good point.” He smiles, his confidence building. Lifting the box I closed, he places it on the floor next to the front door and then comes back over to me, grabbing my ass. “And you and I both know I’m more than a boyfriend.”

“You’re right.” I kiss him on the lips, winking. “You’re my baby daddy too.”

He laughs and then hears Eddie calling him.

“Daddy!” she yells, throwing a baseball at the window. “Come play catch with me!”

Thankfully it doesn’t break the window but Ender scowls at her. “Darlin’, what’d I say about throwing the ball at the house?”

Eddie smiles at him, now missing her two bottom teeth. “Not to.”

“Then why do you keep doing it?”

She shrugs and tosses the ball up. “Because I want to.”

Five-year-olds certainly don’t lie.

“You little stinker.” Ender catches it midair before it hits her mitt, and he tackles her in the grass. I watch them in the grass together, talking and remember I have a lot to do before we leave for the fields.

While they play in the backyard, I move from room to room, packing my belongings into boxes, ready for the next phase of my life. With Ender. That’s when I find a copy of my book stuffed away into a box with my college papers. I smile. It’s the copy Granny had at Arya’s wedding and inside it is a picture of Ender and me at the lake that last summer. We’re sitting together in a hammock, his lips near my ear, and I can still remember what he said to me right before Arya took the picture.Your smile looks better when I’m between your legs.

He’s always been dirty. I don’t know what to say.

Lying back on the couch, I hold the book close to my chest and look up at the picture of Ender and me in Jackson Hole. His arm is wrapped around my shoulders, his lips pressed to my temple, eyes closed. It’s a memory I never want to forget.

Are Ender and I living happily ever after? I’m not sure. It looks pretty close to that. The romance novels where the guy sweeps the girl off her feet, changing just for her, they’re not true. Like I said, people don’t change. You see them differently. You grow with them.

He still struggles to express himself and there’s been times he panics when it comes to Eddie. Being a dad is new to him and he has a shitty example to follow. It’s a good thing Ender’s always been good at breaking the rules. He’s learning how to love and pushing aside his anger. Hell, he’s never even raised his voice with Eddie or me.

I remember an argument he had with Theo in the driveway once. Ender said to him, “Are you lookin’ for an apology? Why should I apologize? You made me this way.”

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