AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But what I saw before me now was a woman who could take on anything, regardless of the outcome.
“Jake?”
“Mmm, sorry, I was just lost in thought…”
“Care to elaborate? You’ve got some catching up to do in the ’ole word count, ya know. Pretty sure I’m around three thousand to your forty-six.”
If Lucy had been willing to put herself out there the way she had done tonight, then I decided I could also.
“Haven’t you ever heard of quality over quantity?” I pointed out. “Besides,” I explained, settling my hands against the small of her back once more, “there’s only four more I need.”
Her mouth formed an adorable ‘O’ and suddenly she felt silent.
Having pledged our futures to one another, there was no point in delaying my feelings any longer.
“I love you, Lucy.”
Then, I kissed her. Unlike an epic movie ending, augmented with sweeping views and a romantic score, we were simply two people, committed to the moment. To each other. To the future. This was real life, after all.
But like any good ending, I got the girl.
And that’s all that mattered.
THE END
Epilogue
Lucy
3 months later
“I still feellike you hoodwinked me,” I protested, attempting to keep the whine out of my voice.
Jake cracked a smile, something I was able to see out of my peripheral vision. “Let’s agree to disagree?” he offered, knowing that it would be senseless to argue with me on the matter.
“This would’ve been a whole lot easier in my car—not your huge-ass truck. I mean, seriously…you need a special license to drive this behemoth.” I gripped the steering wheel of the aforementioned vehicle, making a show out of looking out each window and adjusting the rearview mirror for the sixteenth time.
“Luce, a half-ton GMC does not require a CDL to drive, and it’s not even one of the biggest they make,” he reasoned like only a man could. “Besides, you did excellent with the three-point turnaround. I’m impressed,” he praised, but I know he only said it so we could get to the next obstacle course.
I looked out at the empty parking lot before us, no longer feeling silly for practicing some skills I could certainly brush up on.
Like Jake mentioned, I did do pretty well executing the tricky turnaround maneuver—the traffic cops in San Diego wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if they saw me now!
But as much I didn’t want to practice that, Ireallydidn’t want to give parallel parking a chance.
I’m not sure if it was our time on the bumper cars or the one time I offered to drive while we were out (Jake had insisted on driving ever since), but spending a late Saturday afternoon learning how to park and turn around was something he deemed necessary.
I supposed it was justified, but I didn’t have to like it.
Pandora was playing at a perfectly audible level, but once Jake gave me the nod that it was go time and dance-thirty needed to stop, I sighed.
“Fine,” I moaned. “Let me turn the music down so I can see.”
“If you need to turn the volume down to see, then you shouldn’t be driving,” he laughed. “Ok, are you ready, or do you plan on ‘hoodwinking’ me with distractions?”
Dammit,I needed to work on my transparency. Smart man, that Jake…
“I’m ready, Captain,” I asserted, but refrained from saluting him. My hands were at ten and two and I awaited my instructions. “What do I do?”
