I laughed and kissed her again. “Now that? I’d agree to it even if you hadn’t just fucked my brains out.”

Lucy giggled, the chiming sound echoing off the tiles around us.

EPILOGUE

LUCY

I smoothed my hands down my dress one more time, wondering if I had made a mistake in choosing it. Everything that I’d been positive about a couple days ago, now I was suddenly second-guessing. I was nervous, that was what it really came down to.

There was no reason to be so nervous. Dylan might have turned my life upside down, but I knew what I wanted, and I knew that there would be no mistakes made today. I had never felt more certain of anything else in my life.

“You look gorgeous,” Kelsey said, shaking her head as she studied me. She reached out, moving a lock of hair into the perfect spot, then raised her camera. I smiled at her and she laughed. “Oh, you’re nervous, are you? Remember how much you teased me on my wedding day for being so tense?”

I laughed in spite of myself. “I think I understand now,” I said honestly. “Have you seen Dylan yet?”

“He’s here, and he’s more handsome than ever,” Jen said as she joined us. “You’re a lucky woman, Lucy.”

I grinned, blushing at the words. I turned to look at myself in the mirror one last time. The white dress was simple and tea-length, with lace along my chest and shoulders. My ballerina flats were nothing special either, but they were comfortable, and comfort was the name of the game.

Dylan and I had decided to get married in the backyard by the lake. The ceremony would be small and intimate, with just my closest friends, Bobby, and Dylan’s relatives from Belford. The reception would be a casual backyard barbecue. I wondered if anyone else knew, or had noticed, that this was where things had started for us. Not that I was about to tell anyone about defiling that closet.

To be honest, I wasn’t worried about Dylan not showing up. I wasn’t even nervous about Bobby not showing up. I definitely wasn’t worried that I was making a mistake. I knew in my heart that Dylan was the one that I wanted, for the rest of my life. I had known it since even before leaving Boston with him.

It had been about seven months since we had moved up to the lake house, and about eight months since he and I had first met. It might seem too fast to some people, but we were both sure. I didn’t want to spend another day of my life as anything other than Dylan’s wife.

It was strange, really. I had become so used to the idea that I might never get married, and that Bobby might be the only family that I would ever have, but things had quickly changed to, well, this.

I walked out onto the lawn as the wedding march started playing. The wedding was casual, but we had maintained all the traditions. Dylan was standing by the altar in a dark blue suit, his back ramrod straight, and I paused, nearly stumbling, still surprised at how handsome he looked.

No, I had no regrets. I drank in the sight of him, then drank in the sight of the rest of it almost as an afterthought. Who cared what the flowers, the seats, the altar, or even the background looked like? I was here to pledge to spend the rest of my life loving this man, and I couldn’t have been more certain that I had made the right decision.

Dylan smiled down at me, then leaned in to kiss me. The officiant, one of Dylan’s cousins, coughed lightly. “I don’t think you’re supposed to do that just yet,” he pointed out.

Dylan looked fiercely at me. “I don’t even care,” he said.

I laughed and leaned up to kiss him as well—keeping things chaste, since Bobby was standing right there. He had come a long way, but he didn’t need to see me shove my tongue down Dylan’s throat before we’d even said our wedding vows.

The ceremony proceeded as we had rehearsed, both of us promising to love one another until the end of our days, in sickness and in health. It wasn’t just meaningless words between us. I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes and melted as Dylan reached up to gently wipe them away with the calloused pad of his thumb, smiling at me.

Afterwards, we all stood around on the lawn chatting and laughing while Dylan and Bobby manned the grill together. “You would never know that those two were once sworn enemies, would you?” Jen asked, looking amused.

I giggled. “They weren’t quite sworn enemies,” I protested. But I knew exactly what she was implying.

Things had got off to a rocky start. If Bobby had had his way, I might never have dated Dylan, let alone walked down the aisle to him.

But in the time since we had spent at the lake house, Bobby had come up to visit a few times. It had been hard at first for the boys to break the ice, but they’d eventually realized that they had more in common than me and boxing. Now, whenever he came for a visit, I had to remind them both that I wanted to spend some time with my brother, too. Dylan couldn’t just go off fishing and drinking with my brother the whole time he was there.

Speaking of my brother, Dylan had asked him to be his best man. Bobby had protested, pointing out that one of Dylan’s cousins was probably a better choice. But Dylan had held firm. Once dinner was finally over, Bobby stood up to say a toast. Casual as the day might have been, it was still our wedding day.

“You know, when I first

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