Her face was splashed with red after a quick day trip the day before. She warned me she burned any time she was in the sun too long, but I didn’t think that was possible if the sun wasn’t out. She always proved me wrong. Chuckling, we started walking the trail again.
“I fucking graduated yesterday,” I said in disbelief.
“Why are you surprised?” She cocked her brow.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I didn’t think I would do it a year ago.”
She stopped walking, watching me curiously, then placed a hand on my cheek before kissing me softly. “Look how far you’ve come since then.”
Shoving my hands into my pockets, I nodded. “It’s crazy how much it all changed. Tyler’s leaving, you’re moving in with me. It’s all crazy.”
She laughed, and it was beautiful. The green moss hanging from the trees was the perfect contrast against her bright red hair piled on top of her head.
“I don’t remember that conversation.”
“You don’t? I swear you agreed to it. Maybe you had too much wine when you agreed? It’s probably too late to back out now.”
“I’ve never really been a fan of coercion, so you’ll have to do a little better than that.”
I grabbed her hand, spinning her around and into me. “Autumn Miller, I’m in love with you and I want to spend the rest of my life arguing over the remote and toothpaste with you and only you. Will you move in with me?”
I loved her grin. As much as I hated sounding cliché, my world stopped when she turned the corners of her mouth up. She fought hard for that smile, and I would fight every day to make sure it stayed on her face.
“Jeez, I give up. You’re incorrigible.”
“I knew I’d wear you down eventually.” Entwining our hands, she smiled at me as we neared the end of the trail.
“I probably would’ve said yes the day you moved in if Tyler didn’t lay claim.”
Groaning, I rolled my eyes. “Fucking Tyler.”
“You’ll miss him. So will Gabby.” She frowned.
“It’s not too far. They’ll see each other on weekends,” I reminded her.
“Would you be okay with just seeing me on weekends?” She gave me a pointed look.
“Fair point.”
We walked up to the small campsite we’d set up for the night. I’d convinced Autumn we could survive one night in a tent, though she had her doubts. She was giving it a try. Mt. Rainer was in the background, under pillars of snow and dark clouds.
“So, Coach, when do you officially start?” she asked. Picking up her water, she took a sip as she sat on the picnic table closest to our tent. She looked adorably outdoorsy in her plaid shirt, jeans, and hiking boots. I had a feeling if I told her that she would roll her eyes and change, so I kept that to myself.
“Assistant Coach,” I corrected her. “And next month. When they start summer practice, I’m going in to introduce myself.”
I sat across from her, taking the bottle from her hand. “So, tell me. Do coaches wear the pants? Because if you say no, I’m afraid I can’t make it to the games.” She clenched her teeth, pretending to be serious.
“For you, Autumn, I’ll wear the pants.”
She placed her hand across her heart, pretending to be touched by the sentiment of seeing my ass in baseball pants.
“Your dad looked happy at graduation. He even seemed happy you took that job at the high school,” she said.
Sighing, I nodded. After the night he tried to drag me into his business dealings, I decided to forever keep him at arm’s reach. Sure, I’d call him on birthdays and holidays, but that was as much as I need from him.
“He seemed okay. I wasn’t looking for his approval,” I said, and she tried to smile.
I know it hurt her. It was us against the world. Our mothers left us too soon, and our fathers caused us too many problems to keep them in our lives. She’d just found out her brother’s death wasn’t a suicide, just an accident with a lot of coincidences. He had planned on taking his life, but he was better. The note was just one he had written months before that happened. It made her feel better knowing she couldn’t have stopped it. It was a mere accident.
The truth was that most people’s families sucked. They just did a better job of slapping on a fake smile and forcing themselves to be around each other.
I took her hand in mine. “We get to pick our own families. As far as I’m concerned, you and I have friends who are way better than those we were dealt by blood.”
“I like the way you think,” she said, smiling.
“Here’s to planning our life however the hell we want,” I said, raising the bottle of water to her. Laughing, she shook her head at me.
“And never a dull moment.”
Three years later
Last week, I graduated. The day after, Liam proposed during our annual camping trip to Mt. Rainer. As it turned out, sleeping in a tent with Liam isn’t so bad. There’s a lot of fun to be had outdoors with him. Grinning, I shook my head. I shouldn’t be having these thoughts at a high school baseball game.
I looked up, finding Liam standing in front of the fence, winking at me before heading back into the dugout. The players’ moms loved him, and I always heard comments after he blew kisses at me or winked. I just laughed them off, knowing they were just having fun.
Watching him walk away in those tight pants, his gray eyes shining under his ball cap, I had the same thoughts. The scrimmage game was over, and I waited patiently on the bleachers while he finished up in the locker room.
“LET US SEE!” One of the mothers came up to me, gesturing to my ring.
I held up the small, sparkling pink stone, and they cooed over it. Liam wanted a ridiculous ring, one that would weigh my finger down, but I insisted on a small one. Something different.
“It’s perfect!”
“Do you have wedding plans yet? I know some gorgeous places…”
“Not really,” I said, lying. “We aren’t to that point yet.” This summer, one day when we wake up, we’re getting on a plane or getting in our car and going wherever we feel like it to say, ‘I do’. We have a license and are just waiting for the perfect day.
“Congratulations, you two!”
“Thanks!” I called to the pack of ladies leaving us to ourselves.
I looked up, finding Liam walking up behind me still in his coach uniform. He carried a small backpack across his shoulder, and a shy grin on his face.
“I could hear them on the field,” he said, nodding toward them, and I giggled.
“Can you blame them?”
“Just so we’re clear, I’d punch a guy for saying that stuff,” he said, grinning.
“Sure, you would.” I placed a small kiss on his cheek. “Good news!”
“You got the job!”
“I got it!” I squealed, jumping into his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist, kissing him with such passion it made him back me into the bleachers. He patted my backside, setting me down.
“We need to get home. Like now.” I couldn’t have agreed more.
My stomach always did a little flip each time he said ‘home’. Three years into living together, and I still couldn’t get over the fact that I got to come home to him every day. I laced our fingers together as we walked toward our car. Tonight, he was living out his dream. In two months, I would get to start working with a non-profit to help kids of abuse. We had each other. We had our dream jobs. And this summer, we would make it official.
“I love you, Liam Shafer,” I said, grinning at him. He placed a soft kiss on top of my head.
“I love you, too, Autumn. Now let’s get that last name changed.”
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THE END.
My biggest thank you goes to Callie at Literary Designs. I can’t stress enough how wonderful you guys are. From logos to promoting, you made this book release process fun and easy. I can’t wait to work with you more in the future.
My editor, Kim Huther at Wordsmith Editi
ng, you were wonderful to work with! You’ll never know how much you helped me. Without you, The Autumn Leaf would’ve never been the story it is today.
For my family, especially my son Avery. Thank you for your patience and understanding as I spent many days and nights away from you to finish this. To my mom, my brother, and husband, thank you for all you do to help me achieve my goals.
And last, but certainly not least, everyone who continues to believe in me. My social media friends, my readers, my small book club, thank you all. I wouldn’t have a reason to write if it wasn’t for you guys!
I have always had a crazy imagination and I loved writing. So, I started writing Forever Careless to see if I had it in me. It was too much fluff for me, however my friends loved it. So, I wrote another, this time I pushed to boundaries of fluff.
One day, while in an awfully bad mood, I thought of a story without a happy ending. One with real problems and real people. A story that was awfully close to my heart. It nagged me constantly. Months later, I sat down and started Hazed. At first, he was going to be a part of the Forever Series. Just come in and wreck their lives. Instead, I went another route.
Only weeks later, hazed was finished. I was obsessed with it. It took me over a year to finish my first novel and weeks to finish this one. I knew what that meant. I liked to write about bad people who do bad things. I like to get inside their minds and feel their crazy. So, if you are looking for hearts and flowers, you will not find them here. My stories are real, and they are not pretty.
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The Autumn Leaf Page 19