Epilogue

Her phone rang, and she frowned when she saw Troy's name flash across the screen. "Why are you calling me?" she answered.

He chuckled, the sound rich and warm and making her wish they were in the same room together and not miles apart. "Nice to hear your voice, too," he said teasingly.

"I thought we were going to FaceTime each other." She sounded sort of bratty, but she really liked seeing his face every day, and she was missing him extra hard. This long-distance relationship thing was difficult, yet they made it work. Besides, he was only a couple of hours away.

"I'd rather call you." Something rustled, and she heard the faint tick of a turn signal in the background. "What are you up to?"

"I was watching a movie." She shut her laptop and set it aside on her bed. "Gabriel has his friends over. They've been shooting hoops in the driveway all afternoon."

"Was it a good movie?"

"Not really." She could tell he was in his car by all the background noise she could hear. "Are you driving?"

"Maybe?"

"You shouldn't be talking on the phone while driving," she said. "It's against the law."

Troy laughed. "Thanks for the reminder, good girl." His voice softened. "And don't worry about me. I'm almost where I need to be."

"Where are you going?"

"Hold on." He must have put the phone down on the passenger seat because everything sounded muffled. She waited patiently, wondering what he was doing, why he wouldn't tell her what he was up to. "Okay, sorry about that."

"You're being very mysterious." She leaned back against her pillows and stared up at the ceiling. The sounds of her brother and his friends outside drifted in through the window. She wondered if Gabriel would let her borrow the car to go see Troy tomorrow. They hadn't really seen much of each other lately because of all the holidays.

"I've missed you," he said, clearly changing the subject.

"I've missed you, too," she lowered her voice, always worried that Mom or Dad was lurking outside her bedroom door. "I wish it was next weekend already so we could see each other."

"What would you do to me if we were together? In the same room? Right now?"

Gabriella felt her cheeks heat up. The fact that he could make her blush while they talked on the phone revealed a lot, especially about what she wanted to do to him if she ever got him alone. "Hug you."

"Ah, come on. You can be more creative than that," he teased.

"Kiss you."

"With tongue or without?"

"Troy." Her cheeks were blazing hot.

"Let me tell you what I'd do if we were in the same room together." He hesitated for moment, just long enough for her to hold her breath in anticipation. "I'd pull you in for a bone-crushing hug, then I'd push you away from me because I'd want to get a good look at those swampy eyes and that beautiful face of yours."

Everything inside her melted. He was a closet romantic, she swore on it. "What next?" she whispered.

"Then I'd cup your face and kiss you. For a long time. With plenty of tongue."

Gabriella laughed as she lay down, staring at the French doors of her room.

"Do me a favor?"

Gabriella's lips pulled into a smile. "Anything?"

"Come outside."

Oh. God.

Her heart started to race and she ran down the stairs for the front door.

"Tell Troy I said hi!" her mother shouted as Gabriella threw the front door open and raced out onto the porch.

There he was, leaning against his old white pick-up truck—his phone still clutched to his ear and a giant smile curving his perfectly kissable lips.

"You're here," she said breathlessly into the phone to him. Him. He stood directly in front of her, wearing a black t-shirt, his eyes taking her in, raking over her from head to toe.

Ending the call between them, she walked down the front steps and raced across the grass jumping into his arms. They held each other close with her cheek pressed against his chest. His heart thumped wildly beneath her ear, and she took in a deep breath of his citrusy scent. She couldn't believe he was here.

"I'm here." He took advantage of her closeness and kissed her, his mouth warm and soft, connecting with hers again and again. She parted her lips and his tongue slid against hers in the deepest, most bone-melting kiss she'd ever experienced in her life.

Just then a basketball whirled in their direction, missing them by an inch.

"Gabriel!" she shouted, pulling away from Troy and turning to glare at him.

Troy laughed, "And here I thought I won him over."

"Hardly," Gabriella rolled her eyes as turned back to him. "But I told him I'd tell mom about his porno mags if he couldn't be nice."

"You fight dirty," Troy chuckled.

"Why are you here?"

Troy smiled, "I convinced my dad to let me come up here for weekend."

Her lips fell open. "How?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet? I'll do just about anything to be with you," he finally said.

"I'm so glad you're here," she murmured before kissing him again. His hands dropped to her hips, pulling her in, his persuasive mouth coaxing hers.

A very familiar someone cleared her throat and she leaped away from Troy. Gabriella's gaze immediately went to her mother who was now in the driveway.

"Hi Mrs. Montez." He slipped his arm around Gabriella's shoulders and tugged her close into his side. "Thank you again for letting me stay here as Gabriel's roommate."

"You're welcome," she smiled politely. "I hope your trip wasn't too bad."

"Not at all," Troy nodded. "Totally worth it."

"Good to hear it." Her expression shifted into serious mom mode. "You two behave yourselves, okay? Remember what I told you, Troy." She sent him a meaningful look before she turned around towards the driveway. "Dinner's ready in ten, Gabriel. Make sure you help Troy get settled and feel welcomed."

Gabriella turned to Troy. "What did she tell you?"

He smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "The usual stuff: respect the rules, no sneaking around, no closed doors, something about your dad having an iron golf club collection?"

"Iron golf clubs?" she repeated amusedly.

"The men in your family are extremely violent," Troy said with a raised brow.

"You're so brave."

"Oh yeah," he kissed the tip of her nose. Her cheek. Her lips. "But what they don't know won't hurt them, right?"

"Are you saying that you want to sneak off?" Her brows shot up. "You heard my mother. Dinner is almost ready."

"We'll work on the rule-breaking thing after dinner," he said with a wicked grin as his mouth hovered above hers.

Gabriella laughed softly, "Such a bad boy."

"I know," Troy murmured against her lips. "You're such a sucker."

Their laughter bubbled over slowly dissolving into another sweet, hot kiss.

The End.

Hey Lovers,

Sorry about this, but I'm taking another hiatus. You can always keep up with me on social media as Punkpoet69 or on my website. My wedding is officially three months away! It's going to be here in the blink of an eye, I know it.

I apologize that the wedding planning has taken up a lot of my free time this year. You guys are hearing less and less from me and I feel so disconnected from all of you. I do have a new story idea and I am working on it when I can. As soon as I can, I'll come back to you!

Love,

Anais