I took a deep breath. “What about your competition?”
He kissed the center of my forehead, brushing strands of my dark hair away from it. “What about it?”
“You didn’t have to miss it for me and I—”
Pressing three fingers over my mouth, he released a sigh. “You talk way too much, Wills. I’m where I need to be, okay? And for what it’s worth, the answer to the question you asked a few months ago is 34. I’ve won 34 competitions.”
I drew back and ran my tongue over my teeth. “Bit of an overachiever, aren’t you?”
He laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, guiding me toward the exit. “I love you, Willow.”
“I love you, too.”
He paused, stopping a few inches from the automatic door. “Before I forget”—he opened his duffle bag and pulled a necklace of smooshed flowers from the top. “I owed you a lei.”
I choked on a sob, dipping my head so that he could drop it around my neck. “You do realize that this is exactly the way they’d do it in the movies, right?”
His arms circled me again and I sighed into his t-shirt, breathing in the scent of sunblock and coconut shampoo. “Guess I don’t hate the film industry as much as I let on.”
Epilogue
Two Years Later
Cooper and I weren’t perfect. It took us nearly six months to figure out where we wanted to live, and even then, it wasn’t the perfect solution career wise—we would alternate between living in Hawaii and California.
Somehow, it worked for us.
The first time he asked me to marry him was right after the release of Tidal, a year after we met. The second time was at Paige and Eric’s wedding six months later. When I told him that I was still thinking, he’d given me that dimpled smile that I fell all over myself for and told me he’d wait a few more months.
When those three months past, I realized he probably wouldn’t ask again.
“You look cold,” he said, as we walked through Central Park. He had insisted we go to New York City for our second dating-anniversary, and even though I had mid-terms in two weeks, I’d agreed.
I wrapped my coat around myself a little tighter and grinned. “This is definitely not Honolulu.”
He led me to a small picnic table and we sat across from each other, clasping hands. “I’ve got a surprise for you, but I want you to close your eyes,” he said. I nodded, biting the inside of my cheek as I heard him shuffle around.
After a couple minutes, I felt him behind me, breathing in my ear. “Open them, Wills.”
When I did, nothing had changed, and I glanced over his shoulder, cocking an eyebrow. “Okay, I must be a dumbass. What is it?”
Touching the back of my head, he turned it until my gaze landed on a couple and a little kid by a statue of three bears. “So, I may have resorted to extreme bribery to get this, but there’s someone over there you’d probably want to meet.”
I felt my body go numb and my voice didn’t sound like my own when I demanded, “Wait—what?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, laughing. “Put it this way, somewhere there’s a lady who works for an adoption agency who—”
“No, I know what you mean, but . . . Are you f**king serious?”
His hands slipped under my arms, lifting me up and compelling me forward. My heart slammed between my ribcage with each step, and when we reached the couple, Cooper nudged me forward. “Wills, these are the McKay’s and that”—he pointed to the little boy swinging upside down from one of the bears—“is Parker.”
Parker.
My kid’s name was Parker.
Cooper had found him.
“This is that friend of mommy’s that we told you about,” Mr. McKay told him, tugging on the sleeve of his coat, and Parker stopped playing to give me a green-eyed once over.
And then I was crying. Because of what Cooper had done. Because Parker had run over to me, his small hands stretching the hem of my shirt. He smelled like chocolate and the non-toxic dough stuff little kids liked to eat. I was crying because Parker was here, period.
“Hey,” he said.
Pressing the tips of my fingers to my eyes, I knelt down so our eyes could meet. “Hey,” I said. It was so hard to keep my voice steady as he grinned at me, revealing two missing teeth.
“You’re the girl from Kaylee’s movies.”
Before I could look over at them for an explanation, Mrs. McKay spoke up, clearing her throat, “Kaylee is our fourteen year old—she’s a . . . fan of your movies. And Parker loves his big sister.”
I nodded, my gaze never leaving his. “Yes, I’m that girl,” I said.
Parker tilted his head to one side. “You’re crying.”
“Yes,” I said. “Because it’s . . . a good day. The best day, actually.”
He dug inside of his coat pocket for something and when he pulled his hand out, he held the ring box Cooper had tried to give me twice before. Parker gave Cooper a big grin. “Told you I wouldn’t lose it.”
I took it from him, my fingertips skimming his gloved ones and I held my breath.
Cooper cleared his throat behind me. “It doesn’t have to be tomorrow or even a year from now, Wills. Just say that—”
I glanced over my shoulder, meeting his blue eyes and nodded quickly. Unquestionably.
“Yes,” I said.
I had never been more certain of anything in my life.