Page 120 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

She’s standing in the middle of the dark room, a ray of sunlight pouring in through a tear in the paper over the windows, illuminating her from behind. She’s so lovely; I’ll never get over it.

‘When you asked me to be your business partner, I thought what better way to say yes than putting in a contribution. So, if you’ll still have me, I’d love to run this place with you.’

All I can do is nod, the emotions guys usually try to hide from new girlfriends coming at me full speed.

‘You didn’t lose your fifty grand; it’s waiting for you in my account, and we’ll use it to fix this dump up.And—’

I burst out an overly emotional laugh. ‘There’smore?’

‘Just one more thing.’ She pulls her phone from her pocket, tapping the screen before handing it to me. ‘I bought that.’

The photo is a neon sign; the words ‘The Flower Boy’ stare back at me.

‘The letter L is a single stem rose for your dad.’

As the tears begin to flow, I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight, my chin resting on her head. ‘I can’t believe you did this. I don’t know how to thank you, Hols.’

‘I can think of many bedroom favors,’ she says with a laugh.

‘Ew. No, you promised.’ River’s voice makes me break into a laugh.

‘You invited your brother?’ I ask, releasing Hollyn.

‘Actually…’ She grimaces, turning towards the back-office area where River, Jake, Brynn, John, Penny, Mercy, and my mom appear. ‘Everyone wanted to be here for this.’

She offers me the key to the shop. ‘Welcome home, flower boy.’

EPILOGUE

DAX

Ten Months Later…

‘Oh,’ Roger says as I walk to the door. He never gets less creepy. ‘What’s the occasion?’

‘Wedding,’ I say, knocking on my front door.

‘Yours or someone else’s?’

‘My mom’s.’

‘Mazel tov!’ he says, throwing his hands in the air like he and my mom go way back.

For the first time in a long time, I’ve been invited to a wedding as more than just a florist. My mom met the second love of her life a few months ago, and they decided not to waste any time, so they’re getting married tonight.

Obviously, Hollyn got her own invitation, but she agreed to go as my plus one too. It’s kind of a given, considering we’ve spent practically every moment together since the day I picked her up at the airport a year ago. Looking back, that was easily the best day of my life.

Today will be the second. I need everything to be perfect. So, like the weirdo I sometimes am, I snuck out of the apartment without Hollyn knowing twenty minutes ago and changed in the back of my delivery truck. Being over six-four and trying to change in a truck isn’t the easiest. But I did it, and I’m now standing at my front door, flowers in one hand.

‘Dax? We should have left ten minutes ago.Dax?’ I hear her say as she walks through the apartment, finally opening the door, a surprised grin on her face. She glances behind me as if she’s expecting someone else.

‘What are you doing?’ Her eyes move from mine down my shirt, the phraseOnce and Floralwritten across the front. She smiles, before inspecting the navy-blue floral print suit jacket I secretly bought a couple of weeks ago.

‘Hols, you look beautiful.’

That’s an understatement. She’s beyond beautiful. She’s wearing a navy strapless fitted dress which falls just below her knees, her hair pulled over one shoulder. I don’t think she’s ever been prettier than right now.

‘You act surprised, but I tried it on for you last night. You literally took it off me.’

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