by J. Saman
“You’re the only one other than Kyle that I said those words back to.” His eyes search mine. “And I only ever fully meant them with you.”
His eyes slam shut, clenched so tight. “Tell me you still mean them. Tell me I didn’t ruin this.” His eyes open, his hand against my face, his heart pounding against mine. “Tell me you still love me, because I will only ever love you.”
I nod my head. No longer able to deny that he’s what I want.
“I love you.”
His smile lights up his whole face and then his lips are on mine. Crashing down into a searing kiss that is so intense and passionate, I’m breathless. “Good. Because you’re mine and I’m never letting you go again.”
“So domineering,” I tease as he continues to kiss my lips, my face, my neck.
“Oh Abby,” he grins. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
EPILOGUE
Three years later
I HATE THE SNOW. I’M a Georgia boy at heart so the fact that I’m sitting in Vail Colorado in the middle of February, surrounded by the messy cold white stuff is beyond me. I don’t ski or snowboard, or really do anything other than hot tub and drink when it’s like this.
But my girl does.
And her brother, who’s also my best friend, does.
And he’s teaching his girlfriend Nina, who is my girl’s best friend, how to board.
So here I sit, in the backyard of Abby and Aubrey’s parents’ huge ass mansion with the fire pit going surrounded by fucking snow.
Admittedly, I could go inside and be warm in there, but that would defeat the purpose of everything I have going right now. Being outside in twenty-degree weather with the crackling fire not even three feet from me is the key to everything.
There are trees with names that I do not know, and mountains everywhere. Even the cynical part of me has to admit that it’s beautiful here.
More so now that Abby is finally making her way to me with a smile. She has the most adorable red indentations along the bridge of her nose and under each eye from her goggles.
Abby is a hellion on the slopes. I learned not to watch two years ago, because the girl just makes me nervous. Jumping off a lift on a board and going down a mountain at sixty miles per hour is not my idea of fun, but that’s exactly where she just was. She has the glow of someone feeling the rush.
Good. That’s what I want her to feel.
“What are you doing out here all alone?” she asks, bundled up in her large puffy jacket, snow pants and boots. She looks like something out of a magazine. My gorgeous redhead with those piercing green eyes that seem to find the darkest nooks and crannies of my soul and burrow inside them.
We all graduated two years ago, but Abby and I stayed in Georgia when I was offered a job in Atlanta working for a financial firm there. Where Abby lives doesn’t matter, because she can write anywhere.
And she does.
She’s an amazing writer. She’s found her voice and uses it to speak to millions. Literally. Her first book made it onto the New York Times bestseller list and her second book is set to be published next month. She’s fucking awesome. I couldn’t be more proud of her.
But now, things have changed. Things have changed and I need to discuss it with her without an audience around.
Hence me sitting outside in the cold.
“Come sit with me, baby.” I smile carefully, patting my lap for her. She doesn’t hesitate, just walks right over, practically jumping on me. At least she’s not in her gear anymore. I wrap my arms around her, wishing we didn’t have all these layers between us, as she snuggles into my chest. Her long soft hair, that smells like wind and snow and Abby, is tucked against my cheek.
When I fall silent again, she squirms a little. Always my impatient girl.
“You okay?” she asks softly, enjoying the warmth of the fire that is snapping and popping only a few feet from us. It’s the only sound as we fall silent again.
The back patio here is incredible. A built-in kitchen is off to the side, closer to the back door, which is really just a wall of glass on the back of the house. The stone patio continues around, cutting into the side of where the house abuts the mountain, and on the other side, nothing but forest. This house sits on something like four acres so neighbors are not visible.
The fire pit in front of us is a large stone orifice that is wide enough to probably cook a small animal or two, but I’ve piled it high with wood and somehow managed to get it ablaze. Snow is starting to lightly fall around us, creating the perfect moment in time as the sunless sky slowly darkens with the impending twilight.
After a quiet beat, I offer, “I’m great, but there is something I need to talk to you about.”
Her head raises up from my chest as her body twists to face me. My tone demands her full attention.
“What’s up?” She looks nervous. As she should.
“I have something to show you.”
Abby sinks her white teeth into her full bottom lip, but doesn’t say anything as she patiently waits. But it’s not what she thinks as I adjust us to reach into my left jacket pocket and hand her the piece of paper I’ve been dying to give her for the last two weeks.
“Here.”
Her eyes widen as she looks into mine for a half second before lowering them to the paper that she just accepted. And then they widen even more. “What is this?” Her voice is soft, like she wants to believe it, but is far too scared to hope.
“What does it look like?” God, I’m such a dick.
“It looks like you bought us an apartment in Brooklyn, Xander, but I don’t understand why or how, so just what the hell?” My fiery girl.
“I did buy us an apartment in Brooklyn. It’s in a really nice area, close to Aubrey and Nina. It even has a backyard with grass.” I smile as her eyes continue to flip between mine and the page she’s holding. “It needs updating though, baby. New kitchen and bathrooms, but I think that will be a fun project for you once we move there.”
“Move there?” She’s shaking her head. “Why are we moving to Brooklyn and why didn’t you talk with me about this before you up and bought us a place?”
I run my hand through the soft lengths of her hair, one of my favorite things in the whole world, along with her smile and her eyes and her laugh and her everything.
“Because I was offered a job in the city and it was far too good to pass up.” I shift her a little, reaching into my other pocket, but she doesn’t notice. She’s far too engrossed in the fact that we’re moving closer to Aubrey and Nina—who I know she misses the hell out of—and the fact that I bought us a place she hasn’t seen.
Abby hates things like that. Surprises.
“So that’s where you were a few weeks ago when you told me you were going on a business trip?”
I nod and her eyes narrow.
“I’m not really sure how I feel about this. I mean, I like the idea of living up north again. Of being near Aubrey and Nina and even my parents, but just what the absolute fuck were you thinking buying a place for us that I haven’t seen?”
I sigh. “Well, Abby, I was thinking it could be my wedding present to you.” Her eyes widen into huge green saucers. The color of summer grass. I move the small jewelry box between us and open it, revealing the diamond that belonged to her grandmother, but I’ve had it reset to be more Abby.
It’s a two carat oval diamond and I’ve added a row of black diamonds around the stone that is now set on a thick platinum band.
“Oh, holy Jesus.” Her hands fly up to her mouth and the tears quickly pool in her eyes. “Xander.” My name is a whisper.
“Abby,” I remove her shaky hands from her mouth, holding them so tight in mine, “the moment I met you, I knew my life would forever be different. Better. That you were the answer to all of my unknowns.” My eyes blaze into hers. There is nowhere else I want to look. “But these last three years with you have been everything I never thought possible. You are my home, my heart, and my eternal happiness
. And that’s all I want to give you. I want to give you a home, a place we can begin together and grow our future family in. I want to fill your heart with so much love that there is no room for anything else in it. Make every moment of your life nothing but the happiest. Because I love you. And I will always love you. My sun rises and sets with you. Please, Abigail Scofield, do me the unbelievable honor of being mine forever?”
Her head is nodding up and down as beautiful tears fall down her rosy cheeks. “Yes,” she sobs. “Of course I’ll marry you. Oh my God.” Her arms fly around my neck as she laughs and shakes against my body. “I love you so much. Oh my God.”
“I love you,” I whisper into her ear, unable to hold the huge smile from my face any longer.
This girl just does it for me. Totally and completely.
She pulls back from me as I take the ring out of the box and slide it on her long, slender finger.
A perfect fit.
“It’s so gorgeous.” She shakes her head, staring in what looks like disbelief down at her hand. “I love it.” Her eyes come up to mine. “I love you.”
“I love you back.” I smile even bigger, which I couldn’t have imagined was possible. Her tear-stained face raises to mine and I cup it gently as I bring my lips down to hers. She’s cold and salty and tastes like my own personal version of heaven.
No way I’ll ever get enough of her.
Every time I’m with her I just want more.
So I guess it’s a good thing she said yes.
The End
END OF BOOK NOTE
I WANT TO THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read Love Rewritten. This story was originally entitled More and I published it at the beginning of 2016. But then I re-read it and well, I hated Xander. Seriously, he was the biggest asshole on the planet and definitely not worthy of Abby. The end was very different than the one you just read and I reworked the story and finally got it to a point that I liked. Hopefully Xander came around for you.
I hope you noticed that Kyle was Abby’s high school boyfriend and “first love”. Kyle is in fact Ryan Grant’s brother. If this is the first book of mine that you’ve read, then you have no idea what I’m talking about, so sorry about that. Ryan Grant is the male protagonist in Start Again. In Start Again, Kyle is only mentioned by name. We don’t actually meet him until Start Over and then, the scene is brief. But I liked the idea of tying all of these characters together even though the stories are different and this book is not part of the Start Again Series.
Speaking of the Start Again series, Start with Me, which is the excerpt below, is set to be released sometime in the fall winter. I would love some feedback on the prologue if you’d like to give it. It’s not edited so don’t get your panties in a twist about that. This draft is not the final one that will end up in the book most likely. I’m more curious about your thoughts on the wedding, Claire and Kyle.
Also, if you liked Abby, then you’ll get a surprise in Start With Me. That’s all I’m saying. If you’ve read Forward, then there might be a surprise for you in Start With Me. I’m not a hundred percent sure yet though.
If this is the first book you’ve read by me and you liked it, I have three others currently in publication. If you didn’t like it and want to let me know why, I’d be grateful for that too. Please feel free to email me at [email protected] or you can find me on Twitter, Facebook, my Website, or Goodreads. You can also subscribe to Mailing List.
Many thanks!!
J. Saman
Oh, and please leave me a review wherever you purchased the book from. I’m an indie and need all the help I can get with that! <3
Other books I’ve written:
Forward
Start Again (Start Again Series #1)
Start Over (Start Again Series #2)
Start With Me (Start Again Series #3) – set to be released this fall/winter
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Epilogue
End of Book Note