The Road That Leads to Us (Us 1)

We stumbled inside and somehow he managed to close the door.

We fell to the couch and then promptly to the floor because we were far from graceful.

Dean laughed when we hit the floor and I rolled over so that we lay side by side.

“We always make a mess of things, don’t we?” His chest rose and fell with his continued laughter.

“I like our mess.”

He smiled over at me. “Me too.”

I turned to look at him. “My parents are cool with me not going back to college and taking time to figure things out as long as I get a job.”

His smile widened. “I knew they would be.”

I glanced around his apartment—and let me tell you it looked vastly different when you were lying on the floor—and shook my head in awe.

“Dean?” I began.

“Yes, Willow?” He chuckled.

“Do you realize that a month ago we stood in this kitchen and you said to me, ‘Why don’t we go on a road trip?’ ”

“It feels like forever ago,” he admitted, reaching over and twining our fingers together.

I felt calm steal over my body at his touch.

Three weeks ago I hadn’t fallen in love with Dean Went

worth.

And I didn’t just fall in love with him. I soared.

“You know what else I realized?” I whispered into the darkened room save for the small white glow from a lamp on the table.

“What’s that?” He asked, rubbing his thumb over my fingers where our hands were joined. His green eyes were soft, looking at me with such love.

“I thought the road was leading to adventure. To finding myself. But I was wrong.” I reached over with my free hand and caressed his stubbled cheek. “The road was leading to us.”

He grasped the side of my face, drawing me forward so he could press his lips ever so slightly against mine.

We both turned to look up at the ceiling then.

Hands clasped.

Hearts full.

“Goodnight, Dean,” I whispered with a smile.

His answer echoed through the room. “G’night, Willow.”

THE END

To see where life takes Dean & Willow, be sure to pick up Liam's story, The Lies That Define Us, in early 2016!

I know, I know. THE END?! What?! No Epilogue? I know there are still a lot of unanswered questions about Dean and Willow. What will Willow do with her life? Will they move in? Get married? Have babies? *gasp* But you see, there will be a lot more books in the series. Most will feature heavy cross over, which means you will be seeing a lot more of this couple and their life journey. It wouldn’t be right for me to lay it all out here in an Epilogue because they haven’t LIVED it yet, if that makes sense. I promise things will fall into place and you will get your answers in the books that follow. What’s the next book? That would be The Lies That Define Us and you’ve probably already guessed that it’s Liam’s book and you’re right. I’m so excited to delve more into his character since everything you read with him went totally the opposite way of what I originally thought. But characters…well, they tend to take over and tell me what I think is wrong, so I’m thrilled to let him guide me on his journey. Something tells me it will be a lot grittier than The Road That Leads To Us, but I’m ready and I hope you guys are too.

I can’t thank my beta readers enough for helping with this one. Haley, I love your enthusiasm about my books and how excited you get about the story. You definitely make me eager to write the next chapter. Stefanie, I welcome your blunt honesty and how you question where I’m taking something and I love that you trust me when I say, “Wait and see.” Raquel, your help with this book has been invaluable. Thank you doesn’t seem to cover what I feel.