by Tay Marley
“Aw man,” Eric said, “that’s so cool, bro. You’ve nailed it. Els!”
Ellie turned her attention to the sound of Eric calling out for her and made her way over to us.
“Hello, beautiful Momma.” Eric pulled her into a bear hug, and I said hello to Amber. “Leroy was just telling me about what a superwoman you are. Got shit locked down, huh?”
“I do try,” Ellie said, modest as ever. “Leroy is a huge help, though. I couldn’t do it without him.”
She gave me more credit than I deserved. Watching Ellie raise our children gave me an entirely new level of understanding toward what women sacrifice for their kids. Her body had changed—not that I minded at all; she was still perfect as far as I was concerned. Her life now revolved around our twins. She couldn’t act on impulse and meet up with girlfriends or go to the thrift store without first loading the car up with the diaper bags and strollers. Showers had to be scheduled events. Her sleep was broken, and she was exhausted all the time. But she was happiest when she was with the three of us and I’d never loved her more. I would give her the world if I could and it still wouldn’t be enough.
We held hands and the six of us went inside to pay for our turn on the course. Ellie and I walked behind everyone else and I kissed her cheek, grazing the side of her mouth. “When are we getting married?”
She bit down on a grin. “After you’ve graduated.”
“That just seems so far away. I think we should bring it forward.”
“We talked about this,” she said, angling her face up to look at me, a light dusting of summer freckles across her button nose and rounded cheeks. “Graduation first, house second, wedding third.”
“We could be traditional. We could get married first.”
“You sound so impatient,” she teased. I stopped walking and tugged on her hand so that she spun around and collided with my front.
“I am impatient,” I said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “But I’ll do whatever you want. Always.”
She threw her arms around my neck. “I guess being traditional wouldn’t be the worst thing. I’d be a Lahey. That would be nice.”
“Mrs. Lahey.” I stared into the distance and smacked my lips as if I was tasting something delicious. “I love the sound of that.”
She gave me a quick kiss. “Can we do something before we go back to your parents’ house this afternoon?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Find somewhere private and quiet where we won’t be disturbed for an hour?”
My blood rushed south, and I swallowed. “We should absolutely do that. We could do that now. Should we bounce?”
“Come on, you two!” Eric waved us over, holding our putters in his hand. The group was wandering toward the double swing doors where the course waited on the other side. “Let’s go.”
“Come on,” Ellie took my hand again and winked. “We’ll have our time alone later, promise.”
“Yeah,” I said. “We will.”
Besides, this girl was my forever. We had all the time in the world.
The End.
Acknowledgments
Book number two would not have happened without the beautiful people who were so supportive of The QB Bad Boy and Me. Every private message of appreciation, every Instagram post and story that I was tagged in, photos of the book and the reviews on Goodreads—it all made a world of difference.
Thank you to the team at Wattpad for taking a chance on me and working alongside me to bring this book to life. Deanna for her excellent notes and editing help. Jen for her incredible advice when it came to tying the book into a nice little parcel with a ribbon on top. Monica for answering every question and email that I sent, and the marketing team that sent me emails on how to promote the book on social media. The staff at Wattpad are an incredible group of people that strive to help hundreds of writers reach their dreams. It’s incredible to see what has been done for so many people like myself.
Thank you to God who answered my prayers and gave me strength when I was struggling over late nights and sore eyes.
Thank you to my friends and family and husband for helping with the kids when I was rushing to meet a deadline or needed a bit of a break. I have an incredible support system around me. A wonderful mum and sister, grandparents, best friends.
Thank you to my three children who, while stuck in quarantine with me, had to deal with the fact that there were days when Mummy absolutely had to work on edits, and were gracious enough to be patient when I couldn’t play all the time. It wasn’t easy to balance the children being at home 24/7 and working at the same time. They discovered just how much time I spend on my work and some days they struggled with it, but they never complained. They’re wonderful kids and I feel blessed.
A list of people from Instagram I want to mention because of the friendships we’ve developed: Ashley Marie, Alyssia May, Taylor Hale, Cathron, Alexandra Marie, Danya, Tayler, Krissy Dunnigan, and Lauran J.
Trust me, I know there are a hundred more names that I could add to this list. If you’ve ever sent me words of encouragement or support, you have a special place in my heart. Thank you. I could never say it enough.
About the Author
Tay Marley wears many hats: bibliophile, entrepreneur, wife, mother, and featured Wattpad author. Her whirlwind journey on Wattpad began in 2017 and led to one hundred thousand dedicated followers, a five-part series, and three stand-alone books—including her breakout story, The QB Bad Boy and Me—which have amassed over forty-one million reads. She resides in New Zealand with her husband. When she isn’t writing about confident women and their love interests, she’s teaching her three small children how to be the leads of their own epic tales.
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 Tayler Marley. All rights reserved.
Published in Canada by Wattpad Books, a division of Wattpad Corp.
36 Wellington Street E., Toronto, ON M5E 1C7
www.wattpad.com
No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the express written permission of the copyright holders.
First Wattpad Books edition: July 2020
ISBN 978-1-98936-567-0 (Trade Paper original)
ISBN 978-1-98936-568-7 (eBook edition)
Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric intent, is coincidental.
Wattpad, Wattpad Books, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Wattpad Corp. All rights reserved.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication information is available upon request.
Cover design by Ysabel Enverga
Images © yanlev
Typesetting by Sarah Salomon
About the Publisher
About Wattpad Books
Wattpad Books, a division of Wattpad, is the leader in data-backed publishing. Leveraging billions of daily insights from Wattpad’s global community of 80 million book lovers, Wattpad Books combines the best of art and science, using human expertise and story DNA machine learning technology to identify the trends, voices, and stories that are the future of publishing. By elevating the stories of diverse communities around the world, Wattpad Books is creating new space for writers and fans of every genre.
Wattpad Books
A division of Wattpad Corp.
36 Wellington St. E.
Toronto, ON M5E1C7
www.wattpad.com
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