Epilogue

Cohen

One Month Later…

I could see her staring at the clock on the wall, and I swear I could hear the tick, tick, tick of it over my own voice as I went through the design assignments from the class held the night before. I couldn’t wait for it to strike nine o’clock. Not because my class was tedious, or because I didn’t want to be there teaching, but because I had a surprise for Vienna, and I’d told her as such. That’s all she knew, though.

A surprise for her after class. She’d said it kind of took her back to our high school days, waiting with bated breath for the bell to announce the end of class so she could see me—except that I was the teacher now.

And when I thought of it that way, it sounded kind of kinky.

“Someone’s got a good eye for photography,” one of the other students piped up, crashing through my thoughts.

At the front of the room, the assignment projected back at me from the screen was…oh shit.

An image Vienna had obviously captured of a close-up section of my muscular back filled the screen, the hint of my tribal tattoo peeking out from the left edge of the photograph. It was a stark contrast to the light color of my skin and the darkened contours of my shoulder muscles, becoming the focal point of the entire image despite it only taking up a small part of the image itself. The rest of it was a blurred mass of beiges and whites—which, in all truthfulness, was the tangled bedsheets in Vienna’s bedroom.

She’d used the photograph to come up with a mock-up of a book cover, since the assignment had been to use an image of their own in a professional capacity. She’d always been the one who loved words over images, but she had managed to capture the shot with just as much consideration for lighting and white balance as I’d once explained to her, unbeknownst to me…until now.

I could feel my throat move, and knew my eyes must have widened slightly. I also knew damn well she was watching, waiting for my reaction.

No one except the two of us would ever know it was me in that photograph—there just wasn’t enough of my body in the image to identify—but I sure hadn’t expected it. I risked a glance in Vienna’s direction, only to see her covering her mouth with her hand, hiding her smirk.

I’d never been more thankful that I’d made a point of keeping the assignments anonymous, so unless the students talked about it amongst themselves, no one confirmed or denied that the work displayed in front of them was, indeed, theirs. It just made the feedback and critiques that much more objective.

“I think I would have to agree with you,” I said, straightening my tie. “A book cover, how clever.”

I bit the inside of my lip, chuckling inwardly as I tried desperately—and very much unsuccessfully—to take the attention away from the image. One of the other female students let out a low whistle. Oh yeah, Vienna was going to pay for this, and I’d enjoy every moment of her punishment.

I continued, keeping my gaze averted away from her. “I do agree, it’s well done. Your thoughts? Would you buy it, and would it catch your attention on a shelf?”

The bell rang loudly a few minutes later. Thankfully, I’d managed to move on to the next assignment displayed for peer feedback.

“You are in so much trouble for that, Ms. Anderson,” I groaned after the last student left the room. A hint of a grin played at the corner of my mouth, though, so she was very much aware that if she was in trouble, it was exactly the kind of trouble she wanted to be in.

“It was just a photo,” she laughed. “No one knew that hunky, muscular man was you.” Her arms wrapped around my waist, causing me to turn so I could press myself against her. “But let me make it up to you. I wouldn’t want to risk not getting an ‘A’ in this class, Mr. Bradley.”

I groaned softly again, reminding myself I only had two weeks left of Vienna being my student. I’d have to start using this sexy teacher/student dynamic to my advantage. I pressed my finger to her lips when she tried to kiss me. “Hmm, extra credit may be in order.” I leaned in closer, smirking as I whispered, “But not here.”

We both knew we couldn’t be too obvious about our relationship, and that there was undoubtedly some rule about dating the professor who decided whether you passed or failed, but there were times we just couldn’t help ourselves. Besides, the college was close enough to Garrison for us to know that, even though no one had mentioned it, it was extremely likely that the other students and faculty had an inkling of what was going on.

My attraction to Vienna had far from diminished since high school. If anything, it was stronger than ever.

I had a lot of time to make up for, and I had every intention of doing just that.

Pretending to pout, she pulled her backpack up onto her shoulder. “Well, fine. Maybe we should just move on to the surprise you mentioned this morning, then.”

I arched an eyebrow. It was my turn to be amused. “Someone’s eager, I see.”

“If it means I get you alone, I’m very eager.”

I made a playful tsk, tsk noise as I finished packing up the laptop from my desk. “You used to be such a good girl,” I quipped. “What happened?”

“I met a boy…who eventually corrupted me.”

“A boy?” I held my hand to my chest, feigning hurt.

“A boy,” She smiled, leaning in close, and lowering her voice. “Who became a man.”

“That’s a little more like it.” I shouldn’t have asked, but the question had taunted me since the first day she’d shown back up. “Is that boy the reason you came back, Vi? To Garrison?”

Vienna hesitated, but offered me a small nod. “When I told you I couldn’t handle the drama in New York, and that that’s why I left my job…Garrett was the drama I was referring to. We didn’t work out as a couple. We were…bland, I guess. Nothing like the passion and intensity I’d known with you. So, I came back to Garrison, wanting to at least be closer to the memory of that kind of love, even if I couldn’t have the real thing.”

Her confession weighed heavily on me, and damn it, I wanted to cover her mouth with mine right there and remind her that we were the real thing, and that we were so much more than a memory. Instead, I side-stepped away from her, only caressing her jaw gently as I passed, and turned off the lights in the room. “Come on, I’ll show you the surprise.”

She fell into step beside me, and as soon as we were out the doors and across the parking lot, I reached for her hand. “It’s this way.”

Vienna let me lead her to the parking lot behind the building. It wasn’t where I normally parked, and we’d both taken separate vehicles to class that night—not wanting to be too obvious—so her car was parked on the other side of the school, too.

“Why are we way back here—” She stopped in her tracks, unable to finish her sentence or make her feet move. She just stood there, her mouth gaping. God, she was adorable.

“Surprise,” I teased, nudging her gently.

“I didn’t know you still had it,” she said, her voice soft and nostalgic.

My beloved Mustang—my prized possession back in high school, save for Vienna—was parked under the security light, gleaming cherry red as it reflected the light’s harsh beam.

“C’mon, I loved that car. I couldn’t bring myself to give it up.” My arm tugged her closer to me as we made our way over to it, and I tugged the passenger side door open. “I thought maybe we could take it for a ride.”

“Yeah?” She bit down on her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I have homework tonight. And my teacher’s kind of a slave driver.”

I pulled her backpack gently from her shoulder, tucking it behind the seat. “Is he? Hmm. You’ll just have to tell him your assignment’s going to be a little late.”

Silently, I pulled a bottle from under the seat, then stood tall for her to see what it was.

Sparkling apple cider.

“I know,” I shrugged. “It’s not champagne, or some fancy wine, but I haven’t really been much for alcohol since…” I cleared my throat. Keep it together, Bradley. “I’m just not, I guess. I thought maybe we could celebrate.”

Her brows furrowed, but she was smiling already. “And what are we celebrating, exactly?”

“Us,” I replied without hesitation. “We’re us again. Exactly how it should be. How it should have been for the past ten years.”

Vienna swallowed hard. “I think we’ve always been us, Co. We just didn’t realize it.”

A faint smile tugged at the corners of my mouth, and I nodded. “Maybe you’re right, but I’d still like the chance to have our prom night the way we were supposed to.”

It was then that the realization shadowed her features; the Mustang was parked where it’d been all those years ago. A small gasp fell from her lips, and I placed my hands on her hips, backing her up against the side of the car.

“I know prom night changed everything for us, Vi. And not for the better.” My eyes were intense and alert, staring into her, rather than at her. But I knew she wouldn’t look away when I looked at her like that. And I needed her to see me, hear me, and feel me. “But, for some reason—and I’ll thank my lucky fucking stars every day for the rest of my life for it—I was given a chance to have you with me again. I swear to you, Vienna, I won’t screw it up this time.”

“You didn’t screw it up,” she whispered, as though fighting to get the words out. “You trusted someone, and that person betrayed that trust. There’s no blame or shame in that.”

“Maybe not,” I said, pressing my forehead down onto hers. “But I lost you because of it, and I don’t ever want to go through that again.”

“You won’t, Cohen,” she promised. “You have me. Today, tomorrow, and forever.”

I sighed, her words fortifying me. “I’ll spend the rest of my days making up for what that night did to you, Vi. For the pain you had to go through. But, for tonight, let’s do it properly, shall we?”

I could see the tears glistening on her bottom eyelids, threatening to overflow. But she chuckled, reaching up to wipe them away. “What’d you have in mind?”

“Well,” I began, with a tender kiss to her forehead. “I met you at the Mustang. It’s not close to midnight, but I’m working with what I’ve got here.” I chuckled, wiping away a stray tear her sleeve missed. “We could drive to Callaghan’s Point, crawl into the backseat, and sip cider from the bottle—”

“Are you thinking you’re going to get lucky in the backseat of your Mustang, Cohen?” She chuckled in an admonishing tone.

“Oh, abso-fucking-lutely,” I grinned. “If that assignment of yours is going to be late, there’d better be a damn good reason for it.”

She laughed, nuzzling into the side of my neck as I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into me. “Ah, so this is extra credit.”

“It’s a damn good start.”

“It sounds like a perfect evening to me,” Vienna said softly, her breath hot against my neck.

“But that’s not even the best part.”

“No?” She brought her head up to look questioningly at me again. “What’s missing?”

I kissed her. A wholehearted, passionate, heartfelt kiss, so there would be no doubt that I meant every word I said. “The promises I’ll whisper to you while I hold you,” I breathed. “Because I’m going to marry you, Vienna Janine Anderson. Someday, if you’ll let me, you’re going to be my wife.”

Vienna sighed, melting into me again. “Oh, Cohen, I’ll let you. If that’s what you want.”

“I can’t imagine anything I’ll ever want more.”

“That makes two of us,” she choked out, hugging me to her tightly.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever let her go, and I knew I never wanted to. “But, for now, I do have one more thing I want.”

Vienna didn’t release her hold on me, just breathed, “Anything. You know that.”

I untangled her arms from around me, guiding her into the passenger seat of the car. “Get in, babe. Let’s go make some memories of our own.”

She smiled up at me, squeezing my hand tightly. “I can’t imagine anything I’ll ever want more.”

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