Epilogue

LILY

I can’t believe that in just two short hours, I can say I officially finished my freshman year of college. It hasn’t been the easiest, but it also hasn’t been the worst.

Well, only the first half of the year was tough. After New Year’s, everything seemed to just fall into place perfectly. My relationship with Sophia has grown stronger and stronger.

Part of me is sad that we won’t be living together again next school year. We just work so well living together in a tiny room, although Brittany hates it.

She sends me at least seven Instagram reels every single morning, reminding me she is my best friend. Sophia takes great pleasure in winding her up and calling me her BFF, her ride-or-die, and her soul sister.

This has been my best volleyball season of my whole life. I really thought after my accident, I would never get back to the player I was.

Which I haven’t. I feel like I’m a better, more focused player now. Maybe that’s because Brittany is my partner.

Together, we won the conference championship! Even though we crushed it as a double, as a full team, not so much. I mean, we got fourth place, so we didn’t completely suck.

Anna lost her shit when we lost, confirming she is a crazy bitch. Mandy had to drag her away. Speaking of Mandy, she did stop trying to hit on Mason.

She’s now trying to dig her claws into Oliver, who loves the attention. They seem like the perfect match. She’s an obsessive stalker, and that is perfect for his enormous ego.

Oliver and Cameron have become best friends. According to Stan, they are both very disliked by the entire football team, even the coach.

He benched Cameron for the rest of the season, and rumor has it he won’t be on the team next year. Neither Cameron nor Oliver bothers me anymore.

Both are shit scared of Stan. My anxiety and fear about Mason leaving me have eased up, partly due to therapy and partly because he’s been showing me he’s not going to leave me.

Like the time we decided to go to a frat party, which happened to be a toga party, and I drank way too much and was puking all night and most of the next day.

Instead of just dropping me off at my dorm and leaving, he took me back to his apartment, got me out of the stupid toga and into one of his shirts, then gave me water and Tylenol.

He held my hair back for me every single time I puked and even helped me brush my teeth afterward. I was so embarrassed and even told him to leave me to die alone on his bathroom floor.

To this, he simply laughed and said no. We’ve ticked everything off our list except for one thing: jumping into the fountain in the quad, which I plan on surprising Mason with today since it’s our last day of classes.

For the last three weeks, I’ve been setting up the perfect plan. After our class, we always buy lunch and sit on the edge of the fountain to eat and talk.

So today, when he’s least expecting it, I’m going to push him in. It’s going to be perfect.

As we’re leaving class, I start to head toward the café, but Mason stops me.

“I made lunch,” he says as he leads us to the fountain, where there are already a few students sitting.

“What did you make?” I ask, sitting down and dumping my bag next to my feet.

“Chicken and mayo sandwiches,” he replies as he digs through his bag and pulls out two sandwiches.

“Did you really make these?” I question. It reminds me of when we hiked for ages to the waterfall, and he made Tayla make us lunch.

“I did.” He nods, taking a big bite of his sandwich.

Since he hasn’t been playing football and the season is over for Liam, it’s been nice eating normal food when I stay over on the weekends. I’ve also learned Mason is actually a really good cook.

Like, so good that he could become a chef.

“You really amaze me.” I smile. Even though he amazes me, I’m still going to push him into the fountain. I lean forward and kiss him softly.

His hand cups my cheek before moving down to my neck and shoulder. He pulls away slightly and whispers, “I love you.”

Then, the next thing I know, I’m falling. My eyes go wide for a split second before I’m underwater.

I hear the bubbles of the fountain and muffled laughter before I sit up out of the water, feeling completely shocked.

“Did you just push me into the fountain?” I gasp, looking at Mason, who is trying to hide his laughter. Not only am I shocked that he actually pushed me, but I’m also shocked that he stole my plan!

“I couldn’t help myself,” he says, holding his hand out.

I grab hold of his arm and pull him into the cold water with me.

Mason is underwater for only a moment. He then sits up, shaking the water out of his hair, which has finally grown out.

He looks at me with an amused smile that makes butterflies dance in my stomach. I bite my lip and splash him.

Right in the face.

“I can’t believe you.” He laughs, shaking his hair once again before he splashes me right back. This starts a splashing war.

“What the hell are you two doing?” a voice snaps, stopping us.

Standing in front of us are Brittany and Sophia, who both have their arms folded across their chests and a hip sticking out. Behind them are Liam and Stan, both looking very amused.

“He pushed me!” I exclaim, pointing accusatorily at Mason.

“You pushed her?” Sophia gasps.

Brittany just rolls her eyes and sits in the spot I was just sitting.

“Don’t feel bad for her,” Brittany says. “She was planning to push him, and he just did it first.”

I had told her my plan to push him in on the last day. At first, she thought it was strange, especially when I mentioned that it was the last thing on our list. Then I remembered no one other than me and Mason knew about our list.

“He got me out of nowhere,” I fake pout, holding my hand out for her to help me up.

She reaches to help me, and I grab a hold of her wrist and tug.

“Lily!” she squeals as I pull her body into the cold water. “You bitch!” she coughs as soon as her head is back above the water.

I give her my best innocent smile as I hear Sophia laughing hard.

Brittany’s eyes narrow at her, and Sophia instantly stops laughing. She holds her hands up in a defensive manner.

“Hey now. We’re on the same team,” Sophia says, flickering her eyes to each side of her, almost like she’s trying to figure out her escape plan.

Sophia goes to run, but Stan scoops her up and dumps her straight into the water. I have a sneaky suspicion that those two have started dating or at least sleeping together in secret. Both of them blush when they look at each other, always trying to be close to each other.

Stan and Liam are laughing together, but the second Sophia sits up, Stan stops. This makes Liam laugh harder.

“You asshole!” Sophia exclaims, splashing both of them from inside.

“Hey, hey, hey. It wasn’t me!” Liam says, trying to dodge the water.

Sophia splashes again as another girl squeals, making all our heads whip to the other side of the fountain, where someone has pushed their girlfriend in too.

Soon enough, the fountain is full of students squealing, laughing, and splashing. Stan even jumps in, yelling, “Cannonball!” and making a huge splash, getting practically everyone.

I move over to Mason. Wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, I hold on tight. He smiles and grabs a hold of my ass.

“Our freshman list is officially done,” I say. “I can’t believe you pushed me in, though. Brittany blabbed, didn’t she?”

He nods, and I shoot daggers at my best friend as I mutter, “Typical.”

“I love you, Lily Bennett,” Mason says, pulling my body closer to his.

“I love you too, Mason Cooper,” I reply before I place my lips on his.

This year has been hard.

But we got through it.

Now I know that whatever life throws at us, we will get through it.

As long as we’re together.

Mason gently pulls his lips away from mine before he tugs his shirt over his head. He says he’s gotten flabby since the injury, but I can’t help but stare at his abs, which are still popping.

“Actually, we have one last thing to tick off our list,” he says as he pulls off his shoes and chucks them near our bags.

“We do?” I question with a slight frown. I can’t remember what’s left until he strips his jeans off and hands me his underwear, leaving him fully naked, cupping his manhood. Seeing him like this has me flashing back to the beginning when I saw him coming out of the lake naked by the running trail.

“Come on, Princess, don’t tell me you forgot,” Mason says with a wink.

“Streaking…,” I whisper to myself, fear creeping into my voice.

“Streaking!” Stan yells, beginning to strip off his clothes. Suddenly, everyone around the fountain is disrobing.

“Come on, Princess,” Mason urges. “If it’s on the list, it’s on the list!”

“Yeah, Princess, get buck naked right now,” Brittany commands, her usual bossy self. She’s already stripped down and seems completely at ease, baring it all for the world to see.

I realize there’s no escaping this situation.

As soon as I’m naked, one arm covering my breasts, the other shielding my lower body, Mason leans in. I expect him to compliment me or say something sweet, but instead, he whispers, “Race ya!” He then leaps out of the fountain, whooping like a child as he streaks away. A procession of naked people trails behind him.

I take off running, laughing as I shout, “You cheated!”

He glances back with a mischievous smile.

Mason Cooper never ceases to surprise me.

End of Book 2