She laughs, sitting up, turning to face me. She leans her arm on my chest and curls her legs to the side. “Really fast. I mean, I didn’t know you could move that fast. You were a blur.”
I love this woman. “Well, you know, that’s what all the ladies say about me.”
She drops her forehead on my chest, giggling. Best sound ever.
As her giggle trails off, I brush her hair off her forehead. Time to stop running. “Was it really a surprise, Evie?”
Her eyes soften. Stroking her fingers down my beard, she shakes her head. “No, I guess it wasn’t. But you just…put it out there.”
“Yeah baby, I did.”
“Why?” she asks softly.
“Because Ransom asked, and I…just couldn’t lie about it. I know we’ve only been on one fucking date, but I know you, Evie. Even before we met, there was something drawing me to you. But once I met you? I didn’t have much further to fall. I don’t see the point of hiding it from anyone. My brothers already fucking knew. I think you were the only one who didn’t.”
She stares unseeing at my neck, absentmindedly stroking the collar of my t-shirt. Every muscle in my body wants me to crack a joke to break the tension, but I don’t. This is too big to run from anymore. The possibilities are too big.
I know how she looks at me. I know she has a smile just for me. None of my brothers get that smile, the one that curls the corner of her mouth at the same time as her eyes soften. But she plays her cards close to her chest, so I feel pretty fucking exposed here.
“I’ve never been in love.” She says, frowning. “I dated a bit. I had a long-term boyfriend, but looking back, I don’t think I loved him.” She reaches up, running her finger over my eyebrow, wiping away the frown I didn’t know was on my face. “What I feel for you makes the way I felt with him seem…basic, maybe? I didn’t wake up early, excited to see him each morning. I didn’t think about him at all during the day. But you? It feels like a million times a day I want to call you and tell you about something I saw, or something I did.”
Her finger runs down the bridge of my nose, giving it a little tap at the end. “My parents didn’t love me, Colt. They never seemed happy to see me. It was the opposite, actually. They’d be more likely to frown at me, to make hurtful comments about my clothing or my weight.” My frown is back. She smiles gently, running her fingers back over my brows until they’re relaxed. “If I didn’t have Mia. If I didn’t love her with everything I am, then I wouldn’t have recognized it.”
Clearing my throat, I ask maybe the second most important question I’ll ever ask in my life. “Recognize what baby?”
She throws her leg over my hips and lays her body over mine, burrowing her face into my neck. She exhales, her whole body relaxing. I’m torn between rolling her over to grind into that soft pussy pressed against me, and holding my breath so I don’t miss a word of what she’s going to tell me.
If she’s about to say what I would give anything to hear, then I know I’m going to want to pull this moment out thousands of times over the next fifty years and remember exactly how she felt, how she smelled, how she sounded.
Her lips brush my cheek as she whispers those words. “Recognize that I’m madly in love with you. I tried to pretend it was a crush, but I knew I was lying to myself a long time ago.”
I hoped they were coming. I thought I was prepared for them, but they still hit me like a wrecking ball. She fucking loves me. I band my arms around her and flip us over. Rising over her, trying desperately to ignore how amazing she feels under me, I crash my lips into hers. I just need a moment, a taste. “Say it again.” I breathe against her mouth.
“I love you,” she whispers. I reward her with another deep, pulling kiss. The woman’s a fucking genius, and catches on quick. Her “I love you’s” coming one after the other, kiss after kiss. She’s mine. All mine.
I’m not stupid. I know that we have more hurdles to face. That the words don’t magically mean everything will be sunshine and unicorns from here on out, but the words matter. They mean she’s in this with me. That we’re both invested in us, in the possibility of us.
I register the click of the front door, and Mia’s cheerful chatter. We have seconds before she runs in here. But I can’t let her go yet. Not until she knows. “Evie, I love you so fucking much. I don’t know that you’ll ever fully grasp it. It’s bigger than anything I’ve ever known.”
Stealing one more kiss, I raise up on my arms. “Thank you for trusting me. For letting me in. I’ll make damn sure you won’t regret it.”
I take a mental snapshot of her, all mussed up, hair everywhere, lips swollen and red, eyes still hooded from sleep. I’ve traveled the world, and I swear I’ve never seen anything as amazing as she is. At this moment, I am very aware that I’m the luckiest guy in the whole fucking world and will do anything to make sure I don’t fuck this up. Anything.
31
EVIE
“Why now Chris? Why do they want to see me now? Why do you care for fuck’s sake? I don’t see the point. Nothing about my life has changed. I still have a little girl, and mom and dad are still raging racists.”
“I think that’s taking it too far, Evie. You surprised them. They weren’t expecting you to adopt a baby, and then you come home with one that’s premature, born addicted to drugs, and…”
His voice trails off, and I’m glad. I don’t think there’s any way for him to say “not white” that wouldn’t give me an aneurysm.
My gaze swings to the door as Colt lets himself in. He’s got the lumberjack thing going on today, and all my bits are happy about it. He stalks straight to me, pulling me into his arms and buries his face in my neck, breathing deeply. I let myself relax into him, enjoying the sensation of his beard tickling my neck. The tension caused by my brother’s phone call isn’t gone, but it’s so much less with Colt’s massive arms around me.
“You still haven’t answered my question, Chris. Why now? Why do you all want to see us now?”
He sighs heavily, like I’ve just asked a stupid question. I can feel a river of anger rising in my throat. “They’re getting older, Evie. They realize they’ve made a mistake and are trying to make it right. You would know this if you hadn’t changed your number. I had to call in a bunch of favors to find your new one. Shouldn’t family be able to contact you, Evie? Why wouldn’t you inform us?”
