Page 25 of Hot Summer Nights

“Yes, you could have.”

I feel tears sting the backs of my eyes and I squeeze his hand.

“I love you, Record,” he says and I suck in a sharp breath, staring at him with wide eyes.

“What?” I choke out.

“I love you. I know that we haven’t been dating long, but I know how I feel about you.”

“How?” I blurt out and he grins.

“You were cursed with such a big heart. I couldn’t help but fall in love with you, Rec.”

I can’t hold the tears back then, he reaches up, helping me brush them away.

“I love you too,” I admit, and he grins.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. How could I ever not love my sexy mechanic?”

He laughs at that, pulling me into his arms and I go gladly.

This right here, this is my home. I feel safe and loved when I’m in his arms and I know that he’s right, we haven’t known each other long, but I know how I feel with him. He’s it for me.

It’s crazy to think that if I hadn’t have broken down here, I may have never met.

Thank God for curses.

NINE

Gavin

Five Years Later…

“Where’s Record and Callie?”Lyla asks as soon as she opens the door and I roll my eyes.

“They’re coming right behind me,” I assure her.

She nods, smiling down at where my daughter, Ivy, is fast asleep in her car seat.

“Did she just fall asleep?” she asks.

I nod. “Yeah, on the way over here.”

She waves me inside and I follow her through the house and onto the back deck. It’s the last day of summer and everyone decided to get together for a barbeque. We’re over at Lyla and Hudson’s place since he was doing most of the cooking, but I can’t complain. They live right on the water and their house is huge, so there’s more than enough room for all of us.

“Hey, man,” Flynn says as I set Ivy’s car seat down in the shade on the deck.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

He’s got a kid half asleep on his shoulder and I smile as she starts to drool on his shirt.

“Pretty good. You’re the last to arrive. Where’s your better half and Callie?” he asks, and I grin.

I married Record four years ago. I knew that she was the one for me after our day together breaking the curse, but Record had a lot of memories and other things to work through. The first summer she was here and living with Callie was pretty rough for her. She’s been in therapy ever since her parents left town, and that’s actually where she is right now.

Sometimes she and Callie do group therapy, both of them trying to work through the trauma of their childhood. They’ve both come a long way. Callie went to cosmetology school and works at the salon over in Lilac Harbor. She lives there with her husband. She actually just got married last year and had Record as her maid of honor.

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