For Better or For Worse (Book 2)

Epilogue Pt. 2

*Two Years Later*

The best way to bug a guy is by flirting with someone else's husband. And that's exactly what Sierra and Leah are doing. They look up at Shawn with dreamy eyes, giggling and leaning in as close as possible. His smile is huge, and he doubles over with laughter as he's oblivious to their ulterior motives. I shake my head and suppress a grin, knowing exactly what they're doing seeing as they asked for permission to flirt with my husband.

Tyler and Tay stand off in the shadows, glaring at the girls as they fawn over Shawn's shirtless torso. Shawn holds a red solo cup in his hand, and when Sierra reaches to take a sip from it, I see the look in Taylor's eyes go from mad to furious. He strides over and grabs Sierra's arm, practically having to drag her away from her interesting conversation.

He looks down at her with hard brown eyes, his expression pure jealousy. "What do you think you're doing?"

Sierra pulls out the innocent act. "Having fun! It's a pool party, Taylor, you're supposed to let loose and have some real fun!"

She sashays away, her skirt flowing behind her in the gentle Canada breeze. But I know Taylor isn't going to let this go; they've been dating for a year and she's long lost the privilege to flirt with other guys. Even when it's just to spite him. But I see that Sierra's plan has worked when Taylor runs after her, spins her around almost too forcefully, and smashes his lips onto hers.

Prepared, Sierra leans into him, so obviously enjoying the kiss given the blissful look on her face. When Taylor pulls away, he's ready for anything Sierra throws at him.

And when she pats his chest and says, "See, now you're having some fun!" he doesn't let her walk away. Instead, he turns to Jack, who tosses him something and urges him on.

Oh my God. This is it. I step closer to them to get a better look at what's happening, just as Taylor gets down on one knee. Sierra gasps, totally not expecting this, and I can see a tear slip down her face.

"Sierra Dallas," Taylor starts, his eyes now happier than I've ever seen them. "Marry me?"

It's short and simple, but it works for him. Sierra barely waits from him to put the ring on her finger and gets to his feet before throwing her arms around him. He bends down to embrace her, then spins her around until she stops shrieking.

"I love you, Tay," I hear Sierra whisper, and Taylor returns it with the three beautiful words of his own.

I look over at Shawn, who stands with his broad shoulders pushed back, grinning at his friends. His gaze finds mine and I mouth a thank you to him, which he just says I love you to and winks at me. I wiggle the wedding ring on my finger, the special day flashing in my head: the five teams of florists we hired, the anxiety of my dress being tailored on time, and the happiness of being bonded for life to my one true love, as cheesy as that sounds. The maid of honor and the best man, Sierra and Zac. The groomsmen, Tyler, Taylor, Rixon, Cam, Nash, Jack and Jack, the bridesmaids, Leah, and Aaliyah and all of the guests in their gowns and tuxes. It was an amazing day that I'll never forget, especially since it was the day after I turned 21.

It's the last day of summer into my junior year of college, and my friends and I are gathered for one last party before we all go our separate ways. Rixon, out of college and single, is still taking care of Aaliyah while Shawn, Tyler, and I are away with Zac at Crawford University, and his little sister, Leah, has just finished her sophomore year at Capilano University, one of the top photography schools in the country.

Taylor, both Jacks, and Nash couldn't manage to split up, so they rented an apartment together off the campus of Everest College, just north of Vancouver.

The twins didn't want to leave each other either, so they both enrolled at Washington State University at Vancouver, within an hour of all the rest of us. Luckily, we are all in a two hour radius of each other, and can visit on weekends and most of the summer when we are free to hang whenever we want to.

Shawn and I got hitched four months after he proposed during the game of manhunt, and it's been a flawless marriage for a year and a half. I glance over at him, and see he has Valerie in his arms, her hands fidgeting with the gold crucifix that hangs around his neck. Her twin brother, Michael, is balanced On Tyler's hip, who now looks down at a laughing Leah. except she's not swooning over Shawn anymore; she's hysterical about something he said, because Tyler smirks, proud of himself. We all know he's on the verge of proposing to her as well, but wants to wait long enough to have his own special moment. I guess he and Jack J. were the only ones to know about Tay's plan to pop the question. Plus, Leah us only 19 and he feels she's still young and naive, which makes a lot of sense to me.

Jack G. and Nash tackle each other in the deep end, screaming about who's stronger and more masculine. I shake my head at them. Boys.

Cam sits in a lounge chair reading a book, being his usual anti-social self. But when Rixon splashes him from the pool by "accident," he jumps up and hurls himself at Rixon, landing right on top of him and dunking him under. Sputtering and coughing, Rixon surfaces and gapes at Cam playfully, grabbing his head and throwing his body onto him to push him underwater.

Smiling at them, I walk over to Shawn, who sits on the stairs of the pool with Valerie on his lap. She splashes the water playfully, and I notice how tight Shawn's grip on her chubby waist is. He's such a great father, something that must have came out of his lack of parental authority. He's done such a good job with Aaliyah, and now he's got two kids of his own to worry daily about.

"Hey, you," I say, kissing Shawn's cheek and plopping down next to him. "Having fun?"

Shawn nods, smiling as Valerie giggles, her wet hair sticking to her face. "Rixon throws sick parties, we all know that."

I let out a laugh, but the statement hangs true. The get together's are always held at his house. "I've missed hanging out altogether this year."

"Yeah, me too." Shawn agrees, swiping the damp hair off his forehead. "I love getting together like this."

"Agreed." I catch sight of Tyler's lopsided grin as he tosses a squealing twelve year old Aaliyah into the pool, against Leah's protests of it not being safe. And then, for some reason, something occurs to me. "Hey, did you remember to pay the electricity bill this month?"

Shawn sighs playfully. "Yes, of course I did. I said I would, didn't I? And I'm a man of my word."

I wiggle my finger in his face, taunting him with my shiny diamond ring. "You sure are!"

He laughs, slapping at my hands, but pecking my lips all the while. "You need to pay some of the bills, too!" He teases. "I'm doing all the work, here."

"I hate you," I mutter against his lips.

But Shawn just smiles. "You know what the first thing I knew about you was?"

"What?" I ask, playing along. I don't know where this is going, but Shawn's devilish smirk is back, and I'm grateful for that.

"You're a terrible liar."