Page 218 of Speechless
“Whichever you want,” Aiden said. “Or one of each.”
“Yes. That. I want to look at both of them.”
Aiden and Bastian helped me put them on each hand, locking them to my wrists reverently. The tinyclickswere my favorite sound in the world. They meant I was safe and never alone.
“We did get you one more thing,” Logan said. “Mostly for fun, and yes, it was my idea.”
The second box they placed in front of me was a different shape, but still dark blue velvet. “What on earth?—”
My laugh burst out so quickly that I slapped my hand over my mouth, and people still looked toward our table. Inside the box sat a beautiful metal collar, studded with the same purple stones, complete with a little silver ring in the front. And inside that one was a much smaller collar made of a softer material, still sparkling with stones, and a little tag that saidCinder.
Logan smiled into his water. “In case you want to match.”
“You’re all impossible. And I love you.”
“Not as much as we love you,” Brooks said.
“Debatable.”
He mouthed the wordbratat me, with a pointed look. All I did was shrug. If he wanted to do something about it, he could when we got home.
“What are you going to order?” Aiden asked. “One of everything is an acceptable answer.”
He took the jewelry boxes from me and placed them back where they’d come from for safekeeping. “I don’t know yet.” I stared at the menu again. “But I know exactly what I’m getting for dessert. Violet ice cream.”
Aiden leaned in and brushed a kiss over his bite. “Don’t worry, violet, I’m pretty sure we’ll be getting six.”
EPILOGUE I
_____________
TRINITY
TWO WEEKS LATER
Isat between my friends on top of a picnic table, observing the area in front of Cream Dream. It was pretty much our three packs and a few other people. They were mingling, which was good because they were going to see a lot of each other.
Ocean leaned in and whispered. “My husbands are going to have fun tormenting Aiden for the rest of our lives, you know that?”
I snorted and took a bite of my cock waffle. “Trust me, he has the ability to torment them right back. And they’ll never know about it. But yeah, I think they’ll be in some sort of battle forever.”
Cade and Bastian were locked in conversation. The last time I checked, it was about something kinky. Theo, Logan, and Vaughn were fast friends, being obsessed with all things water, and the rest had broken into other conversations.
Isolde laid her head on my shoulder. “You started all of this, you know.”
“And how did I do that?”
Ocean finished the last bite of her waffle and playfully shoved me. “Do you not remember the whole ‘risking your career by breaking your non-disclosure agreement’ so you could hook Isolde up with the guys?”
“Well, yeah.” I took a bite and still kept trying to talk. “But that didn’t have anything to do with your pack, Ocean. Or mine, really.”
“Still. For all of us, we all had moments where we needed each other, and it started with you. You saw what I wasn’t saying, and you pushed me in a way that changed my life. So thank you.”
I teared up, and I didn’t want to cry right now. Crying was still too common, especially in the meetings I’d had with my new therapist. “Sorry, I think I got something in my eye.”
They both laughed, and I joined in.
“What’s so funny?” Aiden asked, approaching with Everett, Ocean’s husband.
