Page 50 of Collide

“Ivy,” he groans. “I want it all. Happily ever after and all that falls before it. Fights and fucking. Kissing and cuddling. I want family. More than the band, who are my brothers, I want something for me. And you’re it.” His hand covers my belly. “All of you. Baby. Lawson. Tommy.”

“Okay,” I say softly, rubbing my belly and keeping my eyes on him.

“Okay? Okay! That’s all you have to say.” His voice rises as he slaps a hand on his jeans-covered thigh. He turns his head, averting his eyes from me.

“Okay,” I whisper, tears filling my eyes as I stare at him. Please don’t walk away.

“Wait.” He pauses, twisting his head to face me. “Wait. Okay what?” He exhales. “Okay, as in okay, you’ll marry me?

With tears spilling down my face, I slowly nod, still holding my belly where the baby is bumping and kicking inside me. “I’ll marry you.”

Gage continues to stare at me, unblinking. He steps forward, grabbing both my hands.

“Oh my God, Ivy. Yes. You’re saying yes.” He starts to laugh and swipes at his eye. His face clouds before me, and then his mouth crashes over mine. The kiss is happiness and promises and forever. He doesn’t release my lips as his tongue joins the celebration. He swallows my relief and my fear and my love.

“I’m going to love you so hard, Ivy,” he says when he pulls back. “Love you both.” His hand comes to my belly, and he smiles when the baby presses back against him with a happy kick.

“Now will you have sex with me?” I tease, and he laughs, a hearty head-tipped-back laugh.

He lowers back to my forehead. “Nope.” He chuckles again and then kisses my nose. “Not until it’s legal. And stop trying to get me to fuck you. You can have in my pants whenever you wish.”

If only my wish could come true this second.

“But I want you in me,” I whine, pressing up to place my lips against his while I speak.

“Good God, gorgeous, are you trying to kill me?” he teases. “I want to let loose in my jeans when you talk like that to me.”

I respond with a pouty, petulant lip, but I suddenly see the sweetness in waiting. He wants to prove to me it isn’t sex. It’s me. All me.

“Soon, gorgeous. So soon.”

22

GAGE

The guys sublet our apartment when we moved to Seattle until June, and I can’t touch her like I want at her uncle’s, so I book us a room for the night at the Ritz-Carlton after we return to her uncle’s place for our things.

Ivy says she isn’t hungry since we had a long lunch with her brother. I watched in wonder as she spoke to him, and he communicated back to her in his unique way. I might have fallen in love with her a little more if that was even possible. When we enter the hotel room, I suggest a bath for her. I want her to relax. I think we both know tonight is going to be a game changer for us, and we each need a minute. I start the bath for her, testing the temperature, and then pour in a ton of bubbles.

“You should join me,” she teases, but I kiss her temple.

“Take a few minutes for yourself, okay? Meet me on the rooftop when you’re ready.”

She sheepishly smiles at me and nods to agree.

The rooftop won’t offer us a hundred percent privacy, but as it’s a cool March evening, only a few guests linger on the low-lit pool deck. A bar rests in one corner of the space with outdoor heaters, and the minimal patrons stick to that area. Double-sized loungers surround the illuminated pool with enough space between them for private conversations.

I secure a lounger in the furthest corner and order a whiskey on the rocks. I’m dressed in jeans and a white button-down with a suit jacket. It isn’t my normal attire, but I want the moment to be more than my ratty jeans and tight-fitting T-shirts. Ivy must feel the same way because she crosses the pool deck in an ankle-length dress with scrunched material over her breasts.

She giggles as she shivers when she draws near me. “It’s chillier than I thought.”

She takes my breath away as I watch her walk. Her eyes reflect in the pool’s light. Her skin seems to glow. The dress accentuates her pregnancy. She looks gorgeous with her hair piled on top of her head. I stand to shrug off my jacket and wrap it around her as steps up to me. Holding the coat over her shoulders, I kiss her tenderly, tugging on her lips, not missing a curve or dip of the sensitive skin.

When we pull away from one another, I still hold her wrapped in my jacket.

“Let’s sit,” I say, leading her to the lounger. A thin mattress covers the teak bottom and numerous pillows cover one end. I brought a blanket, anticipating the cold. Ivy scoots to her side, and I cover her legs while I perch on an elbow, stretching mine to cross at the ankles.

“I wish we could see the stars better,” she says, and I look up to see a smoggy haze over the black backdrop of the sky. We stare upward a few minutes, and then I turn back to look at Ivy.