They say life happens when you least expect it. I had no idea what that meant until last week. Correction—until a little over six weeks ago. I had been alive until that point, but not living. Chelle was my only true breath of air, keeping me on life support. She was the only living being in color—the only part of my world that sparked joy in me. But when Ember blew in on that possessed bicycle, the rest of the universe came to life. It turns out, I was missing out on something I didn’t even believe in—something Ember herself didn’t believe in, romantic love.

After they took the bullet from me, I fought like a dog to leave that night, and they finally let me. A sizable donation to their children’s wing will get you far in places like that. Trish came by the next morning with Chelle, and we sat in the living room watching all of Chelle’s favorite movies. Ember showed up with a box of donuts, coffee for Trish and me, hot cocoa for Chelle, and we watched TV like one big family. It wasn’t odd or strange or even off-putting to have my ex there. It felt amazingly normal as if my life were headed in that trajectory all along. Just before dinner, Trish took Chelle home, so Ember and I did something else that felt amazingly normal, each other. Yes, she was careful. And yes, I might have howled in pain a few times but, in the end, it was worth it. She hasn’t left my side since, and I wouldn’t know what to do if she did. I need her. And deep down, I hope she needs me, too.

Scarlett has enough charges against her to keep her locked up for a while, but I’m betting it will be a short stint at a minimum-security satellite camp. Rumor has it, she already has a reality special and a book deal in the works. It looks like I’m proving to be great for her career yet a second time around.

In light of my recent Ruger-related setback, the TSE team and I decided we’d do a giant mixer as the final date for all couples included. That way we get it done under one roof and call it a night. And we do. Tonight’s “mega-mixer” as it’s being touted, is held in the basement of the psychology department, exactly where the party began six long weeks ago.

I’ve donned my best suit, my hair is slicked back, stubble rough and unruly trimmed per Ember’s suggestion. I hop on stage to the sound of a congratulatory applause as members of the experiment new and old look my way, grinning, whooping it up as if I just brought home the win from our crosstown rivals. The Scarlett Nightmare, as I’m referring to it, has been a story in and of itself this last week, sending national and international news outlets to Leland by the droves.

I take the mic from Seth and give a quick nod to the crowd. My brother lifts a hand my way from the corner of the room, and on this night, there’s no comfort in the fact he’s here. I’ve always appreciated him around during my successes, but not when I’m fairly certain I might get booed off the stage.

Rowen and Lane each raise a glass to me. Bastards. I’m only half-kidding as I offer an amicable smile in exchange. Ember shines like a sapphire in a bright blue dress nestled between her friends, Sophie and Violet. We haven’t discussed what would happen to us—what would happen to my position here at Leland, but I guess you might say I have a bit of a surprise for Ember tonight, for everyone it would seem.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Leland’s esteemed student body”—the crowd erupts in wild cheers—“I would love to welcome you tonight to week six, the final romantic juncture of The Social Experiment for Group C. And a warm welcome to The Social Experiment alumni as well.” Another howl of approval echoes through the place. “Welcome. Tonight will be anything but what you expect it to be.” A few wild whoops burst through the crowd. “I’m going to start with something that I’ve never done”—I glance to the camera in front of me before looking back to Ember—“a confession.” A wave of gasps circles the room. The sudden silence is deafening. “When I started The Social Experiment with my brother, it was nothing more than a joke.” The crowd stills uncomfortably. “It was nothing more than a way to poke fun at an institution that I didn’t even believe in myself—love. You see, when I was young, I lost someone very special to me, my sister.” Meghan bounces through my mind with that precious smile I see in Chelle now, and I pause to offer a painful smile right back. “After that, I grew up some, and when I was old enough to have a relationship, I grew afraid. How could I love so deep again—only to risk breaking my heart? I couldn’t have it. I wouldn’t. Enter an entire era of usury on my part. Once I thought I was about to get the boot, I made sure they had plenty of reason to do it or I’d make it easy and get up and leave myself. The plan was to get out while I still had control.” All eyes are wide with concern, uncertain where in the hell this is going. Seth waves at me from behind the camera and gives me the slit throat sign begging me to knock it off. “That brings me to my next point.” I take an enormous breath as I look to Ember, tears streaming down her face, her lips swollen, and all I want to do is jump down and kiss them. “I met a crazy, ornery, hell on heels, beautiful woman, and it changed everything I thought I knew about life, about me, about love.” The crowd breaks out into a congratulatory applause, the look of relief rife on everybody’s face. “There’s just one problem.” I silence the room with a lift of my finger. “It’s against my pledge with the university to have any contact with her.” Another round of gasps, faces agog once again. A few guys look pissed that I’m hogging their playtime, and I can’t blame them. “That’s why tonight is not only the final date for Group C—it’s the final date with the TSE. The Social Experiment will conclude this evening. There will be no going forward from here. I’m putting an end to The Social Experiment, and I’m leaving Leland.”

“Shit,” someone hisses from behind me. Crew I suspect. I couldn’t have briefed them on it. Word would have gotten out.

“But—tonight’s show must go on. Please enjoy your final foray in reality romance courtesy of Leland University. You have all been a pleasure to work with.”

“Who’s the girl?” someone shouts from the back, and I freeze a moment, lips parting as I glance to Ember. I lift the mic back to my mouth. “I’m not here to put anyone under the spotlight. Tonight is about you and your happiness, not mine.” I hop off the stage, and the room explodes with chatter.

“I’m the girl!” a tiny voice calls out over the blooming chaos, and I cringe. For the life of me I never wanted to put Ember through this. “It’s me!” she sings as she speeds this way like a blue torpedo. She snatches the mic from me and jumps on stage as if she were next up at karaoke. “I’m in love with Dexter Houston.” Her dark hair gleams under the harsh lights. Her chest pants wildly as she strides toward center stage. The room has stilled once again, all eyes, all camera lenses are pointed right on that beautiful flame I can’t live without. “I don’t think we have anything to hide.” She looks my way and presses out a kind smile, her breathing still rough as it pumps through the speakers like a windstorm. “It’s going to come out eventually because I refuse to filter the man I love from my life. Yes, I’m a part of Group C. And yes, I met a very nice friend in Lenard. But I found something more in the man who was navigating me through the experiment. Neither of us set out to fall in love. In fact, we were the least likely suspects. And the way we came at each other in the beginning wasn’t conducive to a textbook romance either. But that’s how love works. It can find you when you least expect it, in the grocery store, in the bookstore. It can even find you if you’re dangling off a cliff.” Her eyes glitter as they come to rest on me. “Dexter and I may not have been looking for love or even believed in it—but we were tackled to the ground, hit hard by an entire arsenal of Cupid’s arrows. What we once thought was an impossibility, we now live out as a beautiful reality. There is someone out there for each one of you in this room tonight. I don’t know if you’re going to find your true love as a part of this experiment or if it’s going to be down the road in life, but I do know that whenever it happens, it will be worth the wait. You might have to weed out an awful lot of frogs on your way to forever, but don’t get overwhelmed—fate won’t let you miss out on it. And when it does find you”—she holds her hand out toward me, and Dan knocks my knee out from behind so I head on up—“don’t hide it from the world. Shine your light. You’ll shine twice as bright.”

Ember pulls me in by the fingers and crashes her mouth to mine in what will go down as the most freeing moment of my existence. Ember and I share a kiss that rises above the hoots and hollers of a room full of college students, one that rises far above any ratings we could hope to garner. It flies into the stratosphere, into the face of time and space, and rings a bell that lets the entire universe know that we have arrived, we are here, and we are most certainly not going anywhere. Life was good, but with Ember, it’s sublime in every way.

---

If Moon Ridge had a premier restaurant establishment, it would most definitely be the Pinewood Steakhouse. My brother and I have indulged our bovine desires more often than I can count, right here within these walls, but tonight I’m here with Ember, with Rowen and Sophie, Lane and Violet, as I treat the entire lot of us to a night of fine wine and dining.

Ember and I opted to have the Porterhouse, as did Rowen and Lane. The other girls opted for a pescatarian fare, which had Ember lamenting she should have swum with the fishes partway through her meaty meal.

“I can’t believe you ate that beast.” She tosses her napkin onto my lap like the white flag of surrender, her plate virtually untouched.

“It takes a beast to feed one,” I say before stealing a bite from my fork and flashing a grin her way.

“Oh, honey, you are most definitely a beast.” Her cool finger curls just under my ear.

“All right, you guys”—Sophie sings from across the table—“one more hour tops and you can beast out all you want.”

I raise my brows her way before downing my wine. “I will most certainly ‘beast out’ as you indelicately put it.”

Rowen lets the smile glide off his face as a frown takes over. Rowen Garrett is deep waters. Dangerous waters, considering he was a ringleader in what could have easily provided my demise with Ember. Although, I would like to believe that nothing, not even childlike antics could have stopped what Ember and I have today.

Rowen nods over to me. “Leland’s not going to be the same without you, man. You put your mark on it, and it’s not coming off anytime soon.”

It’s true. I’m no longer at Leland in any capacity. I resigned the night I gave that speech to a room full of shocked faces. It was for the better. It saved the university the embarrassment of having to let me go, and it saved me the embarrassment of having a black mark on my record. As it stands, I’m living off real estate investments I’m thanking God I happen to have in my portfolio. Dan says he’ll help me manage the brewery if it comes to it. But it’s not coming to it, just yet at least.

Lane shifts in his seat. “I heard there was buzz about taking the show off-campus. A high-rise in New York? Is that true?”

“It is.”

Ember stiffens by my side. I let her know I had big news to share with everyone tonight. No matter how hard she tried to get it out of me, I wouldn’t budge. I promised her she’d love it. And judging by those large eyes of hers, that pale look of shock, she’s not loving the sound of picking up and moving to New York. But she doesn’t have to worry about it. I won’t be going either.

“But I’ve opted not to go with the project.” I clasp my hand over hers, and she’s quick to jerk it away.

“No way, no how, Dexter Houston,” she scolds loud and clear, inspiring a few patrons at surrounding tables to turn their heads our way. “I am not about to let you put your life on hold because of me. I’m not some desperate babe in the woods who doesn’t trust her man to be more than five feet away. If you want to fly to New York and light Manhattan on fire, I’ll be”—her chest bucks as her fingers fumble to her lips a moment—“I’ll be just fine.” Her voice breaks as she looks to the girls.

“Oh, honey!” Vi leans in and offers her a firm embrace.

“Okay, here it is.” I lean my elbows onto the table as the rest of them tilt in this direction. “It’s been a month since we were all in that room, sweating out the last and final night of my social baby. Okay, so no one was sweating but me. I will admit, it wasn’t the easiest thing to pull the plug.”

Ember takes up my hand and gives it a squeeze. She nods as tears glitter in her eyes, preparing for the worst—New York once again, I’m assuming. But I couldn’t stand to be apart from her.

“No. I’m not going to New York.” No sooner do I get the words out than her face grows red with rage. Ember Sparks most certainly lives up to her fiery name. I pull her hand to my lips and press a simple kiss over it. “I’m staying put right here in Moon Ridge, and so is The Social Experiment.”

“What?” the five of them balk at once.

I look to Ember and exhale a breath that feels as if I’ve been holding for the last twenty-four hours. “I got an offer yesterday by the university—keep The Social Experiment rolling on campus, but do it as a free agent. The university lawyers will ensure that as a contract worker, who is paying dearly to use the university’s grounds for filming, I’ll be of no liability to them if I’m linked in any way to a student.”

The table erupts in cheers, and this time the entire restaurant turns to take a look at the commotion.

Ember lands over me with a tight embrace. “I knew they’d be foolish to let you go. You’ve single-handedly put Leland on the map.”

Lane shakes his head. “It may have been on the map before, but the applications for next fall went up ten-fold from the year prior. You’ve made Leland into one of the most sought-after universities in the country—seemingly overnight.”

“You did,” Vi offers as she leans into him. I’ll admit, it warms me to know I played a small part in the four of them finding their happily ever after, and I do believe they have it.

“Thank you.” I look to Ember. “So we are free to be who we are—and everything, right down to Seth and Petra, that ratty old psychology basement stays the same.”

Rowen lets out a howl as he lifts his glass to me. “To Group D in the fall?”

I lift my own, and everyone does the same. “To Group D in the fall.” I offer a crooked grin to Ember. “I’m determined to find Lenard his own plus one.”

“Ah!” Ember falls onto my lap and dots my lips with a kiss. “I knew deep down you were a romantic at heart. Thank you for that. Lenard really is a sweetie. You might want to make sure his prospects speak Klingon. He confessed to being a Trekkie at heart.”

We share a laugh on poor Lenard’s behalf. We finish dinner, and I pick up the bill just like I promised.

Soon it’s just Ember and me, strolling through the heart of Leland, hand in hand. The summer air is sweet, perfumed with the night flowers blooming by my side. I pause and pull her in before brazenly kissing her under the supervision of that fifteen-foot high brass cougar adorning the campus.

Ember hikes up and presses in with a heated kiss that assures me killing the New York deal was the right thing to do. I couldn’t be a dozen states away from her. As it stands, I can’t be a dozen feet.

“Come back to my place,” I whisper as I run a heated kiss just under her ear.

A dark laugh brews in her chest. “Is that an invitation or a command?”

“Both.” I take a bite out of her earlobe, and she lets out a yelp of a laugh. “And you’d better get ready,” I whisper. “We’re about to pull an all-nighter.”

“An all-nighter, huh?” She pulls me in by the collar, her eyes glowing like stardust. “I guess if you want to keep me on my toes, you know what you’d better do.” She ticks her head toward the campus coffee shop with such a goofy name I refuse to say it.

“Seeing that my love was worth a year-long coffee spree, I’ll not only pick up this cup, but I’ll pick up every one after that, too.”

“Free coffee for life?” she muses while ringing her arms around my waist, pulling me in that java-riddled direction. “Honey, I’m in. And as a token of appreciation for your unbridled benevolence, I’m going to prove to be extra generous with you in every room of that mega mansion you hole yourself up in. Be prepared to have the time of your life.”

“Every room? I like your blonde ambition—never mind. I’m loving this dark side that’s taken over.” I give her hair a little tousle.

“You do realize I’m still blonde where it counts.” She slips her hand into my back pocket and gives a firm squeeze.

“I will conduct a thorough investigation to determine if this is true. I promise, I will leave no thigh unturned.”

“You are a thigh turner—and a twister. You definitely bring out the contortionist in me.”

“I can’t help it. You bring out the beast in me, and I happen to like you on all fours. It’s a good look on you.”

She swats me as we enter the tiny establishment, the scent of coffee thick in the air, and my arousal for this woman by my side already hitting its zenith.

We pick up our coffee to go, a bucket of extra leaded before heading back out into the night. I pull her close as we take a moment to marvel at the starry sky, crushed diamonds over velvet.

“Chelle wanted me to ask if you’d stay tonight. She’s coming over in the morning and wants to spend the day with you.”

“Oh, Chelle wanted you to ask, did she?” She glides her finger over my chest. “Does her daddy want me to stay the night? And maybe spend the day with me?”

“Only every day.” I take a healthy bite out of her neck.

“That’s the second time you’ve bitten me within the last twenty minutes. You must be hungry.”

“Just for you.”

“You up for a steady diet of what I’ve got to offer?”

“I’m ready for a steady diet of anything you’re willing to throw my way.”

“Good.” Her hand hooks to the lip of my pants. “Because I’m a little hungry myself, and I’m feeling particularly mean and nasty tonight.” She snaps her teeth like castanets.

“Ouch.” I wince. “The boys just retracted with that move. You might have to sweet talk them if you want them to come out and play.”

“Oh, sweetie, I’m not sinking my canines into those precious boys of yours. They happen to be housing our future children.” Her eyes widen a notch as if testing fertile ground, and she is.

“Children?”

“Yes—you know, the future brothers and sisters we’re going to give Chelle eventually.”

And just like that, Ember melts me—a blowtorch to a glacier. “I can’t wait to have kids with you.” I take a quick nibble from her bottom lip. “Can we start tonight?”

“We can practice tonight, but opening day doesn’t begin until I round out home base with my degree in hand. Arlo might be moved to kill you if I did it with a belly full of babies.”

A dull groan comes from me. “I’m good with practice for now. And maybe we should shelf the topic of your brother for another night.”

“Why? Is Arlo a mood killer?” She gives my ribs a quick pinch.

“Are you kidding? He’s a seek and destroy missile who only wishes he could take out my libido.” I take another grazing bite from her neck. “Sorry, Arlo. My mouth will be indulging in far more interesting places later this evening, and you’re not welcome to join us.”

“Now you’re killing my libido. The last thing I want to do is imagine my brother in the room watching. Ugh!”

“Shh.” I cover her mouth with mine and disintegrate any thoughts of anyone even remotely related to her. I pull back and take in her angelic beauty. “Do you know who you look like?”

Her brows rise in sharp peaks of amusement. “Your next conquest?”

“My next wife.” There is no greater truth than that. I’d marry her tonight if she’d agree to it.

Her mouth falls open. “Well then, I guess I have a proposal to look forward to.”

“I guess you do.”

Ember bounces with a laugh, with pure joy written over her face, and it warms my bones knowing I put that look on her face.

She dots a kiss to my cheek. “Take me to your place and make me forget the rest of the world exists.”

“Funny, I’m pretty determined to make you acutely aware of your own existence until you’re driven to scream.”

“I do like screaming. Will this involve pleasure or pain?”

“Which would you prefer first?”

“First?” She swats me over the chest while bubbling with laughter.

I hand her my drink and pick her up, striding toward the parking lot like a man on a mission, and I very much am. I’m determined to bring Ember every ounce of pleasure. I’d like to put the pain far behind us.

Ember and I light up the night with our love, bright as a blaze the size of a skyscraper, the size of a university, the size of our hearts.

We take it one kiss, one bite at a time, taking it slow, taking it rough and dirty, slow and beautiful. And each step along the way, we’re savoring it, making it last, soaking in the now while on the brink of forever.