Accidental Bibliophiles

Epilogue

Jack

Two Months Later...

"We gotta hurry, baby girl. We're running late and Ev's gonna be  pissed." I say, grabbing Bri's hand as we rush into the coffee shop. 

"And who's fault is that?" she asks, grinning up at me. 

"Yours." I say back. She snorts in disbelief, rolling her eyes. 

"How is it my fault?" she asks. 

"Because you have that perfect pussy I just couldn't wait until after book club to get a taste." I murmur in her ear, making her face blush. 

"Cutting it a little close, aren't you?" Ev asks, glowering at me. 

"Let's just go." I say, pushing him towards the book store entrance. He hands Bri and I our books. Harper already has hers. He leads the way to the back room with the bookcases where the ladies are already gathered. 

I sit on a chair and tuck Bri in my lap. Harper and Ev sit on the loveseat he and I shared the first night. I look around the room and smile when I see Annie and Gwen sitting next to each other, Annie's arm wrapped around Gwen's shoulder. 

"So nice of you to join us." Dawn says, smiling at us. "And to bring new members!" she adds, smiling warmly at our girls. 

"You do know what the book is about this time, right boys?" Gwen teases. 

"Yes, we know." I say. 

"Do we get new bookmarks? I don't want to use the pink 'Smut slut' one anymore." Ev says. The ladies all giggle and Julie stands, handing a new bookmark to each of us. 

"Yes. We figured we'd get you ones that suited you a little better." she says. 

The new one is dark blue with gold lettering that says 'Real men read dirty books'. I smile and look over at Ev who's showing Harper his excitedly. 

"These are great. Thank you." I say just as Bri nudges me. 

"Oh! Tell them your joke, love!" Harper says excitedly. Ev rolls his eyes before addressing the group. 

"Since you all told me to tell Harper jokes when we first started dating, it's kind of become our thing. And she loved my new one so I have to tell it to you. What do tofu and dildos have in common?" he asks. He waits a moment, but none of us say anything. 

"They're both a meat substitute." he says. We all break out into laughter until Bri nudges me and points at something. 

"Why is there a drawing of a vagina on the wall?" she asks. 

I look up to see the diagram Dawn drew that first night of book club. My mouth drops and I look over at Ev who's face is so red you'd think he ate a ghost pepper. 

"Oh that? Well, we had to teach the boys how to find the clit." Gwen says. 

"Yeah. It kind of became our little group joke after that. I didn't have the heart to take it down." Dawn adds. 

"Well, thank you for your service." Harper says, saluting them both and they burst out laughing. 

"Yes, thank you." Bri adds, giggling hysterically next to me. 

"It's a public service, really." Gwen adds. Annie leans over and whispers something in her ear and Gwen's face goes red. She bites her lip and looks at Annie before nodding and I have a pretty good idea of what they're going to do when they get home. 

I see movement from the corner of my eye and look over to see Julie pulling something from her bag. It glints in the light as she turns it towards us. It's a large picture of Pearl, smiling brightly. She stands up and walks towards the book shelf, putting the picture up so it's facing us. 

"I thought she'd like to be here." Julie says, sitting back down. 

"Well, she never missed a book club." Dawn says nodding. 

"I mean, I could bring her ashes next time." Annie offers. 

"Nah, babe. Too much." Gwen says, patting her knee. We all dissolve into laughter and I tuck Bri closer to me, kissing her cheek and taking a moment to appreciate the fact that she's here with me and how far we've come.

It's crazy to think the last time we were in this room, she and I weren't together. I was just a pining puppy dog doing anything I could for scraps of her attention. Now, I'm just waiting for us to get home so I can pull the ring box out of my dresser drawer and ask this amazing girl to marry me. To promise to spend the rest of my life making her the happiest woman in the world. 

Then after I'll prove to her that I definitely know where the clit is. 

I look over at Ev who's smiling at me. He must know what I'm thinking since we went ring shopping together. He's got one waiting for Harper too. Hopefully tomorrow, we'll both be engaged. 

"Well?" Julie asks, gaining all of our attention. "Should we get started?" she asks just before Gwen shouts. 

"How much longer until we get to the smut?!"