Life has been a roller coaster ride ever since Vi and I went out on our very first date. And I have loved her through the ups and downs, through the loops and the harrowing drops. In the end, I wouldn’t have traded a single bump. What I thought would haunt us for the rest of our lives is what has made us stronger than steel. Violet and I have been through the hottest fires of hell, and we survived the flames.

Vi and I stayed in bed Thursday and Friday. There was no hope of either of us getting to class. But Saturday evening, we get cleaned up and don our party clothes before heading straight to the basement of the psychology building where the TSE is throwing its farewell bash.

We go through hair and makeup, get miked up one last time, and meet out in the ballroom, where the lights are just low enough and the music is pumping through the speakers at a comfortable volume. As much as the TSE wants this to look like a rager, there are cameras to be considered and microphones that need to pick up on whatever our vocal cords are trying to spew out.

Vi is a vision in a tight red dress, heels tall enough to contest the slopes on Widow’s Peak. She points over to the buffet filled with the lobster and steak. “True to form, Seth and Petra have come through for us yet again. I’m going to dive in and have a feast.”

“I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment.” I step back while inspecting how stunning Vi looks tonight. “That dress screams take a bite out of me first.” I lean in and take a gentle bite from her shoulder, and she tips her head back and laughs.

“I am rather sweet.” Her body glides along mine, and my boxers tick to life.

“You keep that up and we’re going to have our first on-campus romp in about five minutes.”

“Oh, is that right?” The sound of her laughter rides up over the music. “It sounds like a threat.”

A dark shadow steps in behind me. “Are you going to let him threaten you?”

I turn to find a familiar face I haven’t seen in a while. “Dexter Houston.” I can’t help but frown. “Are things looking up in Vegas?”

His dark brows hitch a notch. “They are now, no thanks to you two. Thank you for that, and thank you both for giving The Social Experiment a chance. I knew pairing exes would prove explosive, but it’s safe to say the two of you blew everything I expected right out of the water.”

Vi gives a dark laugh as she tucks her lips near my ear. “That’s what I do best, blow.”

I glance down at the vixen Vi’s morphed into. “I’ll have you demonstrate shortly.”

“All right. Get a room.” Dexter frowns at the crowd.

“How about you?” I take the opportunity to needle him a bit. “You change your mind on matters of the heart?”

“Are you asking if I believe in love?” He glances to the camera and then to me. Of course. I should have figured there is no way he’s admitting to the free world and his devoted viewers that he’s a fraud. “My heart is full as I look out and see what a little fostering in the right direction has achieved.” He gives both of us a quick pat to the back. “It was the two of you I was rooting for the most.” He sharpens those dark eyes over at me. “And that’s the truth.” He takes off into the crowd, and the music changes pace to something slow that Vi and I instinctually move our conjoined hips to.

“Dexter is a pretty nice guy after all.” Vi lays her head over my chest a moment before looking up. “It’s too bad he’s all alone. Who knows? Maybe one day he’ll be just as happy as the two of us?”

I lean in and land a lingering kiss over her lips. “Something tells me that day is pretty far off. Not everyone is as lucky as we are.”

She wrinkles her nose as she hikes up on her tiptoes. “I think we had a little bit more than luck. I think it was fate.”

“It was fate.”

Violet touches her lips over mine, and we do exactly that for the next two hours until someone shouts it’s a wrap.

---

The night air is frigid as Vi and I traverse our way across the street to the Underground. It’s warm inside, and it smells of beer and burgers on the grill. The place is wall-to-wall bodies, and each one of them congratulates us as we head inside.

Vi and I caught the tail end of the buffet at the TSE wrap party before we were ushered out of the room by the cleaning crew. And there wasn’t a steak or a lobster with our names on it, so we decided to fuel up at this place.

Rowen and Sophie wave us over to the back where there are several standing height tables. And it looks like a standing room only kind of a Saturday night.

Rowen gives me a high five, while Sophie douses Vi with a hug.

“It’s over, man.” He slaps me on the shoulder. “You did it.”

Sophie hops up and down as if her heels were on springs. “Congratulations! Two social experiments over and done with! We’re going to have to party.”

Rowen twitches his brows. “I’m pretty sure they’re going to have a private party of their own.”

Ember spills into our small circle and screams and whoops as she falls over Vi. Her blonde hair sits in a tumble on top of her head, and she’s wearing a knit sweater that hangs down to her knees. I recognize that dress because I’ve seen it on Vi a number of times. “You killed it!” she shouts as she gives me a knuckle bump. “I can’t believe it!” She looks to Sophie and Vi. “The two of you participated in the worst idea that mankind has ever had, and you survived!”

“Of course, we survived.” Vi winks over at me before looking back to Ember. “And you’re going to survive, too. As soon as spring break is over, you’ll be up at bat!”

“Three more weeks!” Sophie screams, and the three of them break out in laughter.

Ember fans herself before taking a swig of Sophie’s drink. “I’m just in it for a good time. Don’t go getting any bright ideas that I’m coming out with my heart on a platter, tied up in ribbons ready to gift to Mr. Right. I’m all about Mr. Right Now.” She gives a sly wink. “But, hey? Two out of three ain’t bad.”

“No way.” Sophie shakes her head in protest. “If it happened for Vi and me, it’s happening for you. We’re a team, and we’re sticking together. And as much as you fight it, let me be the first to say the—”

Rowen and I lean in to help finish the thought with the girls. “Odds are in your favor.”

We erupt in laughter, and I wrap my arms around Vi and pull her in.

“In case it’s been too long since I’ve said it last—I love you.”

Her eyes sparkle with tears, and she blinks them away. “Are you always going to be this sweet to me?”

“Only on days that end in Y.”

We share a quiet laugh, and we dance right there, slow and easy to the rhythm of our own making. Our lips find one another, and the boisterous crowd, the loud music, the laughter of our friends, it all melts away. It’s just Vi and me, the way it’s been destined to be since the beginning.

We wrap it up, call it a night, and say a quick goodbye to everyone at the Underground.

As soon as we get outside, I scoop her up in my arms and give a little twirl as a sprinkling of snow begins to fall.

“It’s snowing!” Vi sticks her tongue out to catch the flakes, and I can’t help but kiss it. “This is magic.” She sighs as she lays her head over my chest, that evergreen gaze of hers locking onto mine.

“We’re magic.”

“Aw!” Her warm hand glides over my cheek as she holds me there. “We are magic, aren’t we? I hope we spend the rest of our lives with this feeling right here.”

“We will,” I say, marked with confidence. “It’s up to us to make it so. And I plan on doing exactly that. Keeping the magic alive. That’s one challenge I will happily accept. You won’t believe what I’ve got waiting for you back at my place,” I say as I trot us down the street. My feet can’t carry us fast enough.

Her mouth falls open with surprise. “More roses?”

“Nope. You might have to think outside the box for this one.”

“A bouquet of burritos?” Her body trembles with a laugh.

“You’re getting warm and giving me ideas. Bouquet of burritos?” I mouth that last part. “You’re a genius, Vi.”

“I know I am.” She digs her fingers into the back of my hair. “I ended up with you, didn’t I?”

“Touché.” I speed across the street and up to my apartment in record time. I land her on her feet in front of the expansive window overlooking the city lights below. Vi looks around, her wonder quickly dissipating.

“Not a petal or a burrito in sight. Could this surprise be in the bedroom?”

“Nope.” I get down on one knee and pull out a small velvet box that’s been burning a hole in my pocket all night. “It’s right here, Vi.” I open it between us, exposing a princess cut diamond that made both my mother and hers cry enough tears to fill Sugar Valley Lake this afternoon. I needed to ask her father and her brother’s permission for the occasion, and to my relief, they both gave it.

Vi bucks as tears spill from her at the sight. She covers her mouth with her trembling hand. “I know there are a million places far more romantic than my living room to do this, but there are just some moments I want kept between the two of us, and this is one of them. Vi, would you do me the honor of spending the rest of your life with me? It would make me the happiest man alive to know that one day you will be my wife.”

“Yes!” She jumps while clutching onto my shoulders, and I pull her down to the rug with me. “I would be more than honored to be your wife, Lane.” Vi melts a soulful kiss over my lips that says just that and so much more.

Violet and I make vows with our bodies long into the morning, loving one another with words, with actions, with the promise of the future riding out like eternity before us.

I’m so grateful for so many things. And I’m especially grateful there is a disillusioned fool out there named Dexter Houston. I’m also damn glad the coach saw fit to force me into that twisted social experiment.

Sometimes a couple of seemingly wrong moves can lead to the right one.

Vi and I are living proof of that.

Vi and I are just right.

We are magic through and through.