He presses a kiss over my cheek and pulls me in tight.
“Hello, Blair,” Morgan seethes. My body vibrates with the tenor of his voice as he growls over at her. “Coach Wexler let me know he shared some good news with my girlfriend.”
I pull back and my mouth falls open at what this might mean.
His dimples dig in, but it’s becoming evident he’s more than a little pissed.
“Great news.” He glances down at me. “I made Garrison’s baseball team with a full scholarship.”
“Morgy!” Kendall dives over to him with a hug.
“Almost lost it too.” He glares over at the blonde she-devil in our presence. “That’s the last time you get away with this shit. Cruise may have let you off easy, but I’m reporting you to every fucking authority outlet that will listen, starting with the school. The dean of admissions is very interested in speaking with you about tampering with another student’s private affairs. He mentioned it was grounds for academic expulsion, which would be great since Ally and I will be spending the next several years here.” He digs a smile in the side of his cheek. “So, Blair, you can take the next psychological vendetta you’ve got brewing and shove it up your ass because I’m not going to let you hurt another person. Except maybe him.” He nods at Rutger. “I’ve never seen a better-matched couple.” He picks up my hand and looks me in the eye. “We’re the exception, of course.”
Blair’s eyes fill with fire. “I’m the only one in this circle who belongs at Garrison.”
“You won’t for long.” Morgan wraps his arms around my waist and returns his eyes to mine.
Blair’s mouth opens and nothing but choking sounds comes out. She glares at me with a not-so-veiled threat before spinning on her heels and taking off.
Morgan leans in and crashes his lips over mine, and the room, the people melt away. The music, the noise of the crowd dissipates until all I hear, feel, is the beating of our hearts pounding over one another’s chests.
He pulls back and looks at me. Our circle of friends and enemies has long since disbanded.
“I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“I love your surprise,” I squeal, jumping up and wrapping my arms tight around his neck. “But you’re all the surprise I need.”
“This is a better surprise.” Morgan gives a heartfelt smile and nods toward the door.
He leads us through the crowd, and we slip outside Sigma house under the feathered branches of a weeping willow.
“Wait just a second.” Morgan dashes to his truck parked a few feet away and returns with a large square box.
“What’s this?”
“It’s for you.” He hands over the flat package with a black-and-white checkered bow on top, and I’m quick to open it.
“Oh my God!” I gasp, removing the oversized scrapbook—then I see it—Ruby’s beautiful face staring back at me from the cover. “Morgan!” Tears flood my vision as I open the book. It’s page after page filled with pictures of Ruby growing up—including ones I’ve never even seen before. Pictures of those precious infant years—her first photo taken just hours after she was born. I flip the page, and my heart stops. The tears start flowing, and I can’t control them. It’s the picture Janice took when she came to the hospital to bring her baby home. She asked if she could take one of the two of us, and I didn’t protest the idea. There I am, holding my precious angel, my teary-eyed face, nothing but a baby myself.
“This is the one,” I whisper. “She went from my arms to Janice’s right after this.”
“I hope you don’t mind I included it.”
“No.” I wipe the tears away with the back of my hand. “God, no. I can’t believe she gave these to you.”
“Actually, she let me take pictures at the party with my phone. I told her that I wanted to help replace your scrapbook, and she didn’t mind opening up her photo albums.”
“You did that for me?”
“I wanted to. I’d give you everything in the world if I could, Ally.” His eyes widen and for the first time, Morgan looks boyish, vulnerable.
“In the world, huh?” I bite down over my lower lip. “Morgan, all I want is you in my life forever.”
A smile of relief bounces to his lips. “Lucky for me, because that’s exactly what I want too—you in my life forever.” He pulls me in by the waist. His warm hands ride low over my back.
“I’m the lucky one around here.” I slip my hands into his back pockets as his dimples press in deep as oil wells. “So I guess you’ll be needing someplace to stay.” I lick the rim of my lips with a promise.
“I’ve got sixteen bucks to my name, and I’m willing to make a trade-off.” His hand curves over the seat of my pants.
“Morgan!” I laugh, jostling him in the process. My features soften as I take him in like this, so perfectly gorgeous and sweet I could cry. “I guess happily ever after does exist.”
“I guess it does,” he whispers. “I want you as a part of my life.” He grows altogether serious. “Ally Monroe, will you be my forever?”
His words echo in the night long after they drift from his lips. They linger in the air like the crisp scent of jasmine, so sweet and delicious, you could never get enough.
“I want to be your forever.” The words quiver from my lips. “I want to be your everything.”
Morgan leans in and kisses me with a tenderness I’ve never experienced before. His lips press in soft; his tongue gives a careful swipe before dancing over mine.
Ruby’s book is sandwiched between us, solidifying us as a family as we linger with hungry kisses that stream out into this new forever we’re forging. The long braids of the willow brush gently over our shoulders. I can feel my mother watching us from the sky, smiling down over the two of us with her approval through the magical lavender night. She was right. I would find my forever when I least expected it, and here he is, warming my body with his love for me. I guess in the end my mother’s wisdom prevailed—I got my happily ever after in the last place I’d think to look—and God, I’m glad I looked. Maybe Pretty Girls wasn’t such a bad life move after all. Sometimes, a strange turn takes us exactly where we need to be. Sometimes when we fall, destiny makes sure the right person is there to catch us.
I’m glad I tore down the walls of judgment I erected during that crazy time in my life. It took a lot of growth and learning on my part, but with Morgan I was able to persevere.
With Morgan Jordan by my side the world has recaptured that rosy glow that died out so long ago with my mother.
He pulls my hand to his mouth before pressing in a kiss.
“I can’t wait to build a future with you,” he whispers.
“Perfect.” I pluck a set of keys from my pocket. “Just got these today. Looks like we get to decorate our first apartment.”
“Nice.” He pulls back and his dimples go off like bombs. “I’ve got one word for you—taxidermy.”
I belt out a laugh as we walk toward his truck.
“What’s so funny?” He pulls me in close.
“Nothing. I’m all about compromise. If a stuffed deer makes you happy then I want that too.”
“Really?” He blinks back with a grin. “Because I was thinking more like a bear.” He holds his hand in the air like a claw. “I’m teasing. As soon as you walk into that apartment it’s already going to have everything I’ll ever need. It’s going to have you.” He presses a searing kiss over my lips. “I love you, Ally.”
“I love you too, Morgan.” I give him a quick peck on the lips. “Hey, what would you have done if you didn’t get a spot on the team?”
“I was going to get the rest of my things and haul ass right back here. We’d figure the rest out later.”
“We—I like the sound of that.”
Morgan pauses. He touches his thumb to my cheek and admires me as if I were a treasure. “Fr
om now on it’s you and me no matter what life throws our way. We’ll get through it together. We’re a team.”
“We’re a team.”
Morgan presses in an explosive kiss under the dazzling starlit sky.
Summer was the prelude to the rest of our forever. It came and went like a shooting star, and, now, here we are, ready to turn the page and write the next line in our story. I’m pretty sure we’re starting with the words happily ever after. You can’t go wrong with an opening like that.
And with Morgan Jordan by my side, every day gets a happy ending.
Thank you for reading Someone Like You. Look for Someone for Me, the continuation of Kendall and Cruise’s story, coming in 2014.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my wonderful readers, thank you for believing so strongly in Someone to Love. And because of you this book was born. I hope you enjoyed Ally and Morgan’s story in Someone Like You just as much. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your kindness and support. You really do rock!
Thank you to the wonderful folks over at Skyscape for helping my dreams come true. Thank you to Marilyn Brigham and the awesome Jenna Free for helping me through edits. And an extra thank-you to Jenna for putting up with me!
To my kids, thank you for doing the dishes. And to my husband, who kindly and wisely treated me to sushi each time I got frazzled, which was often. I may have manipulated that.
And finally, to Him who holds the world in the palm of His hands—I owe you everything.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Addison Moore is a New York Times, USA TODAY, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who writes contemporary and paranormal romance. Her work has been featured in Cosmopolitan magazine. For nearly a decade, she worked as a therapist on a locked psychiatric unit. She resides on the West Coast—where she eats too much chocolate and stays up way too late—with her husband, four wonderful children, and two dogs. When she’s not writing, she’s reading.
Feel free to visit her blog at:
http://addisonmoorewrites.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Addison-Moore/140192649382294
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AddisonMoore
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