Page 124 of Not Made to Last

I match her position. “What do you mean?”

“You take care of us.”

“So do you,” I say and then stay quiet while I gather my thoughts. Belinda says it’s important to have the conversationbeforethe commitment, though she was sure it would be okay. But still—the conversation was important. “Liv, I—” I clear the knot in my throat. “I don’t want you to feel like moving in here means that you can’t just up and leave for your own happiness. That’s why I think it’s important you keep that house.” A deep ache forms in my chest at the thought of her leaving. It would be unbearable, sure, but it’s also possible. Nothing about our relationship is fairytale. No happily ever after is guaranteed. “And as much as I’m working on me and I’m doing better, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be moments of darkness, orweakness, and when that comes, you need to promise me not to take it personally. And you need to promise that if it gets too much, you’ll walk away.”

“Rhys…” She wipes her eyes with the corner of the towel. “I promise not to take it personally, but I can’t promise that I’ll walk away…” She faces me, those muddy brown eyes right on mine. “You know what my favorite lines are fromThe Count of Monte Cristo?”

I smile to one side. “Tell me.”

She giggles, getting to her feet and putting on a performance, using her towel as a cape. “Life is a storm, young friend!” she announces, then tugs on my arm until I’m standing with her. “And when that storm comes, mylove,I will hold your hand…” She grins from ear to ear, then takes my hand in hers, guiding me to face the darkness. “… and we will face it together, and we’ll yell…” She faces me. “Are you ready?”

I inhale a sharp breath, let it out slowly. “I’m ready.”

She squares her shoulders, and I find myself doing the same. Then, because she’s read the book almost as many times I have, she recites The Count word for word.“Do your worst…”she yells into the darkness, and then we face the symbolic storms ahead of us, hand in hand, and together we shout, “for I will do mine!”

EPILOGUE

Olivia

“What the hell are you doing?” Rhys murmurs, and I’m quick to lock my phone, hide it under my pillow.

Face smeared into his bicep, he chuckles. “If I didn’t know exactly what you were doing on that phone, I’d assume you were cheating on me.” He flips to his back. “What time is it?”

“Um…”

“Cheeks…”

“Three.”

“Jesus,” he sighs. “You’ve got to be up for school soon, and don’t think I didn’t see your coach yelling at you at practice earlier.”

I grimace. “You saw that?”

“Yes, and she’s right. You’ve been draggin’ ass the past two weeks.”

I gasp. “I have not.”

He groans. “Alexa, sex lights.”

A low glow fills the room. Just enough to see, but not enough that we’d cower when they turn on.

Rhys sits up, stretching his back, and have I mentioned how much I love his back… the way the muscles ripple when he moves. “Show me,” he says, half turning to me, hand out between us.

“Show you what?” I ask, feigning innocence.

He rolls his eyes. “Your phone, Cheeks.”

If squee was a sound, I just made it. I grab my phone from under my pillow and practically jump on his lap. He doesn’t complain that I’ve woken him in the middle of the night. Isn’t irritated by my excitement even though he’s half asleep. He just sits there, one hand stroking my leg, while the other twirls a strand of my hair, and I show him picture after picture of the things I want to do in the new house.

It’s been the same every night for the past two weeks, ever since he showed it to me. I try to sleep, but all I can think about are all the things I want to do with it, furniture, finishings, all of it. There were some immediate things he and his parents wanted to get done—like updating the security, the hardware, and the basement kitchen and bathroom, as well as redoing the dock to our part ofthe lake. Pinch me, because I’m dreaming, right?

Only I’m not.

And I know it’s not technicallymine, but Rhys is, so it’s mine by association.

Anyway, because of the work in the house, we waited to move in until this weekend.

“So we’re keeping the exposed beams?” he asks.

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