Page 98 of Wreck Me

“Damn, calm yourself down, pipsqueak. What’s gotten into you?”

“Just ready for my freedom! I love you all, Carter, but I feel like I’m suffocating some days, and I just want to experience life without you Neanderthals hovering over me like a pack of rabid wolves.”

“Hey,” I say, putting my hands in the air defensively. “Ididn’t give you any shit about the friends or boyfriend then, I’m trying, Kins.”

“I guess.” She shrugs.

“It’ll be better once you move into your own apartment. Next week, right?”

“Yeah, Reid said he wanted to do a little work on something in there and then it was all mine.”

“I’ve got a ton of furniture I was going to donate if you want to look at any of it for your place,” Finn offers, and Kinsey beams at him.

“I would love that! Thank you.”

“It’ll work out, Kins. We’ve got you. We’re in your corner,” I vow to her.

“I hope so. ’Cause I’m ready to start living for me, and you four are going to need to let me.”

A sharp pang hits my heart, but I nod through it. She’s right. We can’t keep protecting her from everything, and we have to let her live her life how she wants to and hope that we’ve all prepared her enough. She’s got this, and we’ll love her, wherever her path leads her.

We spend the next few hours sipping on drinks and chatting with my sister, whose best friend couldn’t make it, before walking up Main Street and back to our house.

Our house.

I thread my fingers through Finn’s and yank him close to me so that our shoulders bump.

“What was that for?”

“I’ve imagined this so many times this summer. Wondered what it would feel like to walk up this street with you by my side.”

“Yeah? How’s it compare to the real thing?”

“This is a million times better than my dreams, baby.”

“Good, ’cause you’ve got me forever.”

“Forever.”

epilogue

CARTER

Finn matchesmy pace step for step as we jog through the trail on the coast of Emberleigh. It’s been almost a year to the day since Finn and I met at Temptations, wrecking everything I thought I wanted for myself and out of life. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and as cliché as it is, I can’t imagine my life without him.

The last year has been the best of my life. My family loves him, and we all joke that Finn’s taken my mom’s favorite son position from Dallas. He lives for Sunday dinners over there, and no matter how hard I try to convince him to skip some weeks with me, he will drag me there against my will—even if I am only protesting because I like to rile him up.

Finn has worked tirelessly to build his travel blog, and just like I knew it would, it took off. His first article? Aspen Ridge and the Aspen Ridge Distillery. It boosted business, especially the event side. It was exactly what my family was hoping for, and we’re so grateful to Finn. People know his name, and his writing speaks for itself. It proved to him that it was never about the Northwest Explorer or his dad, or hell, even the Nashname; it was about him. He writes with passion and love, and it bleeds through in his words. Watching him shine has been one of the highlights of my life and I feel like one lucky sonofabitch that I get to be by his side as he continues to grow.

After Finn planned his first weekend-long trip to Alaska last fall, I knew I couldn’t be away from him. Lucky for me, most of my job can be handled remotely, and while it’s taken some growing pains on my family’s part to let me breathe a little, traveling with Finn while he does what he loves, watching him shine when he meets new people, and being able to continue to work with my family for the distillery has been the perfect situation for us. I didn’t realize how much I wanted to get out and explore until our Maine trip, and I’ve loved everything about all the places we’ve seen so far. We’re building our life together and it’s goddamn perfect with him by my side.

We came back to Emberleigh on my request, to revisit the place where I fell in love with him. We rented a tiny little studio on the beach, and it’s perfect for the weekend.

Jogging over the same path we did last year, when I was still so lost and confused but couldn’t fight the pull to him, is so surreal. It feels like a lifetime ago that he blackmailed me into going to Maine with him and I let myself imagine just for a moment what it would be like to occupy my small house just the two of us, to walk through downtown Aspen Ridge together holding hands, to run every morning together, to build a life that we both want. Now, we’re living it. Finn opened my eyes to an entirely new world, and I’ve waited long enough to ask him to start the next chapter with me. Because I can’t wait any longer.

“You up for some surfing today?” he asks me, breaking me from my thoughts. Sweat glistens on his perfect body, the sun hitting him just right. He’s gotten more muscular this year, having taken up weightlifting with my brother Liam, and whilehe’s always looked good to me, I’m enjoying his current physique. He looks over at me as we run side by side, and his face reflects so much damn love that I nearly melt on the spot. Fuck it.

“Baby, I can’t wait any longer, I’m sorry. I had such an incredible night planned, but you know me, once I make a decision, I’m all in.”

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