Until Autumn

“Two months?” I gasp. “You knew two months ago that this is where we were heading? We’ve only been together for three.”

“What did I tell you, Autumn. Day one is when I knew you’d be mine.”

“You really are insane,” I laugh.

“Hell yeah, I am,” he says with the cheesiest grin. “But what do you say? Are you in? Are you going to be insane with me, or are you going to make me work for it?”

I raise my brow, the idea of making him work for it far too intriguing, but after the day he’s had, he deserves a little peace of mind. I crash into him, fusing my lips to his while being so careful not to go anywhere near his leg. “Fuck it, we can both be insane. I’ve never been so in.”

Thorne kisses me deeply, his arm crushing around me as he holds me close to his body. “Fuck yeah,” he says when he finally pulls back and rests his forehead against mine. “I guess it’s time to give your father a call. I hope he’s not going to be pissed that I asked you before speaking with him about marrying his little girl. Crossing that man was definitely not something I had ever planned to do.”

“My father?” I grumble pulling back before remembering that on that very first night, sitting in the shitty bar across the street from my apartment, I’d told him that Breaker was my father in some ridiculous hope to scare him into being nice. A laugh bubbles out of me as my face twists into a guilty cringe. “So, uhh … I guess seeing as though we’re getting married, there’s probably one little thing that I should clear up.”

Thorne’s eyes narrow as he becomes increasingly suspicious. “And what would that be?” he asks, his hand claiming my lower back.

“Umm … so you know Breaker? My father?” I say, unable to keep the smirk off my face as he slowly nods.

“Yeah …” he says suspiciously.

“Well, I umm … I kind of lied. He’s not my father at all. Not even close. He’s just a friend who lives in my apartment complex and chases away all the dickheads who come knocking at my door.”

His mouth drops open as he slowly shakes his head from side to side. “Who would have thought that Autumn Mathers was such a little liar?” he says in disbelief. “I can’t believe it. I feel like I don’t even know you at all.”

“You’re still going to marry me, though?”

“Well,” he says, his eyes sparkling with laughter. “What kind of man would I be if I left a liar such as yourself to some other poor man? Saving my fellow brothers from a lifetime of constant guessing seems like the right thing to do.”

I roll my eyes before crashing into him again. “Wow, what an amazing, selfless man you must be. How did I ever get so lucky?”

Thorne laughs with a grin stretching wide across his face. “Don’t worry about it babe,” he tells me. “I knew he was just a friend the second the lie came out of your mouth. I’ve been able to read you like a book since the day I met you. Besides, you told me about your parents in Kentucky. It was just a matter of putting the pieces together.”

I shake my head. “Well, well, who would have thought that Thorne Mayson was such a smartass,” I laugh, throwing his earlier comments right back at him, but before he has the chance to respond, I crush my lips to his and kiss him until we’re both seeing stars, knowing that I just made the best decision of my life and that this is only the beginning.

It will only ever get better from here.

What can I say? Bring on the rest of my life.

EPILOGUE

AUTUMN

TWO YEARS LATER

The blindfold falls from my eyes, and a gasp rocks through me as I stare up at the home that the Mayson brothers have just finished building for my husband and me. “What do you think?” Thorne asks, curling his arm around my waist and looking up at the home with me.

“It’s … wow. It’s amazing,” I say, my eyes becoming watery. Construction started six months ago, and I’m ashamed to say that since then, I’ve been far too busy to come out here and check it out. I saw the very first part of the build, and then time started to escape me, but it got to a point where I decided just to wait and let it be a surprise.

“It really is,” Thorne agrees, glancing over the facade even though he’s probably already seen the place a million times before. “It’s exactly what I’d pictured.”

I lean my head against his shoulder. “Can we go in? Did you get the keys?”

Thorne nods, squeezing my waist. “Do you really think I was going to bring you out here to surprise you with the complete house without bringing the keys?”